The Harriman Cup was first envisioned by Sun Valley’s founding father, Averell Harriman. Following the success of Sun Valley’s inaugural 1936-37 winter season, Harriman sought to elevate this momentum with the first international ski race held on American soil. Slalom and alpine combined races were scheduled for the developed, lift-served slopes of Dollar and Proctor Mountains, but a serious challenge arose for the downhill event: finding a nearby mountain with the necessary vertical drop to host a European-style downhill race.
To solve this problem, Harriman turned to two of his most renowned instructors, Hans Hauser and Sepp Benediktor, as well as Wasatch Mountain guide Alf Engen. It was also rumored that Sun Valley’s discoverer, Count Felix Schaffgotsch also aided in the search. At the time, Bald Mountain’s 9,100-foot summit had yet to be developed and was too densely wooded. Looking north, the four experts soon identified a 10,450-foot peak with a 3.5-mile precipitous descent and a 4,000-foot vertical drop—perfectly suited for a European-style downhill race. In 1937, the peak was named Boulder Mountain after the mountain range it occupies. The first Harriman Downhill off Boulder Mountain’s summit took place on March 13, 1937, during a snowy day, with 44 participants racing. Although Austrian and Swiss skiers were heavily favored, American Dick Durrance stunned the field with the fastest time, followed by Swiss ski legend Walter Prager in second place. Prager and American ski icon Charles Proctor proclaimed the downhill one of the longest and most difficult in the world.
During the summer of 1938, Alf Engen—then employed by the U.S. Forest Service—was hired by the Union Pacific Railroad and Harriman to clear obstacles and brush that had hampered the first race. Using a tractor and a crew of 15, he helped build a rudimentary road (still visible today) and removed willows and sagebrush from the lower sections of the course. These improvements allowed racers participating in the 1938 downhill to shave nearly a full minute off their 1937 times. A surveyor was also hired to provide more precise measurements of the mountain’s elevation, skiing distance, and vertical drop, confirming a course distance of 3.5 miles and a vertical drop of 4,000 feet from a top elevation of 10,450 feet.
Engen had previously guided Sun Valley’s discoverer, Count Felix Schaffgotsch, through the Wasatch Mountains of Utah and the Bonneville Mountains of Idaho in 1935. His guiding skills soon caught the attention of Averell Harriman, leading to a close friendship between the two.
It was later noted that another mountain to the immediate north also bore the name Boulder Mountain. At Harriman’s suggestion, the race’s mountain was renamed to honor its first champion: Durrance Mountain. The 1938 Harriman Downhill was held on a snowy March 12, with 37 participants. German ski great Ulli Beutter took first place, followed by Dick Durrance from the USA and Walter Prager from Switzerland.
Durrance Mountain never saw a third Harriman Cup downhill race from its summit. Ski school directors Hans Hauser and Sepp Benediktor were replaced ahead of the 1938-39 season by Fridel Pfeiffer, Sun Valley’s second ski school director and the driving force behind Bald Mountain’s early development. Pfeiffer pioneered the 1939 Harriman Cup downhill on the Warm Springs side of Bald Mountain, featuring a 3,100-foot vertical drop and chairlift rides to the race start, eliminating the need for climbing. Subsequent Harriman Cup downhill races were held on Bald Mountain’s River Run side with a 3,400-foot vertical drop.
Throughout the 1960s, Durrance Mountain’s terrain remained popular for both beginner and expert backcountry ski training. Its lower slopes provided avalanche-free terrain for intermediate and beginner skiers, while its upper treeless slopes challenged advanced skiers.
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