December 12th, 2024

You may find the name Toni Matt to be inexplicably familiar without being sure where you've heard it. This was the case for me when I first heard Matt's name mentioned in conjunction with Catamount, and the answer took me all the way back to a short paper I wrote in high school about the history of skiing. Amongst all the tidbits and fun facts included in my paper, one stood out above the rest and has stayed with me ever since: the third American Inferno race.

The American Inferno is the kind of story that makes you feel like you missed the glory days of skiing. Held only three times, the race began at the summit of New Hampshire's Mount Washington, ran down the upper snowfields, over the headwall into Tuckerman's Ravine, down the 45°+ headwall face, and on down the narrow, windy Sherburne Trail to the base. The first two Inferno races were held in 1933 and 1934, and the final event, which attracted nearly 3,000 spectators, was held in 1939.

As you may expect, the long wooden skis, rudimentary bindings, and short leather boots of the era led to a somewhat conservative style and approach to the terrain when compared to skiers today... for most people, that is. While most racers tackled the headwall with a series of short turns, Toni Matt made just a few turns on the upper face, soared off the top of the Tuckerman's headwall, and continued to straightline down the headwall face and Sherburn Trail at speeds of 85 mph. Despite narrowly missing a tree, Matt finished the race in a time of 6 minutes, 29 seconds, crushing the previous record by over 6 minutes, setting a record that still stands today, and cementing himself as a true legend in skiing.

While the Inferno is arguably Matt's most widely celebrated accomplishment in skiing, it is very far from his only impressive one. In 1938, Matt became the Austrian Junior National Ski Racing Champion, shortly before coming to the US with Herbert Schneider to teach skiing at the Hannes Schneider Ski School in North Conway, NH. Among many other ski racing wins, he became the National Downhill Champion in 1939 and the National Downhill and Combined Champion in 1941. Not long after the US entered WWII, Matt enlisted in the US Army and was assigned to serve in the newly formed 10th Mountain Division. A few years after returning from service, Matt made his way to Montana, where he was an integral part of the development of Whitefish Mountain. He later left Montana and returned to the northeast, where he was hired in 1960 by Catamount's founder, Jack Fisher, as our Ski School Director. He continued to run the Catamount Ski School until 1974, when he accepted the same position at Whiteface in Lake Placid, NY.

While I've only conveyed a glimpse of Toni Matt's life and connection to skiing, I hope it's apparent why I use the term "legend" in reference to him. "Legend" is a term that gets casually thrown around, but in circumstances like that of Toni Matt, the stories are so timeless and evoke such awe that it becomes the appropriate description.

You can watch some actual footage from the American Inferno race in the film "Legends of American Skiing" from 1982. The film can be watched on YouTube at the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj0Hlc7QdVY
There is general footage of Tuckerman's Ravine at about 1:04:00, and footage of the Inferno (including Toni Matt) begins at 1:04:50.

On Saturday, December 14th, Catamount's primary race trail will be renamed from "Race Slope" to "Toni Matt" in honor of Matt's incredible impact on Catamount and the sport of skiing. A trail dedication ceremony will be held at 1:00pm at the base of the "Toni Matt" trail, and we invite anyone to attend. 

If you have any stories, marketing materials, photos, fun facts, or anything else from Catamount's history that you would like to share, we would love to talk to you! Please send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..