Alec Cushing

Brought the 1960 Winter Olympics to Squaw Valley. Cushing, the founder of Squaw Valley, was known as an innovator in the development of the ski industry in America. He attended Groton School, Harvard University, 1936 and Harvard Law School, 1939. He practiced law for the New York firm of Davis, Polk and Wardwell and also for the U.S. Dept. of Justice, where he argued a case before the Supreme Court. The day after Pearl Harbor he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and was a member of the first officer training class at Quonset. He served in South America and the Pacific for five years retiring as a Lieutenant Commander. After the war he rejoined Davis, Polk, and Wardwell, but became restless. It was on a ski trip to the West with his friend Alexander McFadden when he first set eyes on Squaw Valley, CA. This transforming experience led him to found the Squaw Valley Ski Corporation. At that time, there was no road, no bridge, and no houses. His father and sister were artists. Choosing the mountains as his canvas, he claimed Squaw Valley was his work of art. Cushing opened the ski area in 1949 with a double chairlift, a rope tow and a fifty room lodge. He is survived by his wife Nancy, his three daughters, Justine Cushing, Lily Kunczynski, and Alexandra Howard, his six grandchildren, and three great grandchildren.