Explains and shows how during World War II many top Austrian ski instructors and racers; such as: Sigi Engl, Luggi Foegger, Bill Klein, Toni Matt, Friedl Pfeifer, Herbert Schneider and Rupert and Werner von Trapp, were recruited to serve as ski and rock climbing trainers and leaders of the United States first division of mountain troops, the 10th Mountain Division, which trained at Camp Hale in the Colorado Rockies, and then served in the Aleutian Islands as well as in Italy. In Italy some of these Austrians fought alongside their American comrades against their German and Austrian compatriots. Much of this story is told by 10th Mountain veteran Herbert Schneider.
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Explains and shows how and why two generations of Arlbergers, not only molded the Arlberg into the world capital of alpine skiing, in particular of ski instruction and technique, but also in the process greatly influence the development of American skiing. The film starts with Hannes Schneider, (late 1800s – 1950s and considered by many as the “Father of Modern Alpine Skiing”) and his self-proclaimed disciples; such as: Luggi Foeger, Franz Gabl, Friedl Pfeifer, Otto Lang, and Benno Rybizka, followed by Professor Kruckenhauser & his Ambassadors, like, Othmar Schneider and Herbert Jochum.
Explains and shows how the top austrian racer, coach, and ski school director Friedl Pfeifer, with the help of the Americans Walter Paepcke and Dick Durrance, developed Aspen into a world class ski resort. While serving as a trainer in the 10th Mountain Division, the United States’ first division of mountain troops, which trained at nearby Camp Hale, Pfeifer visited the then run-down mining town and nascent ski area of Aspen. He saw potential in the surrounding mountains, which reminded him of his home-town of St. Anton, Austria, and so promised the townspeople of Aspen that if he survived the war he would return to build Aspen into a world-class ski resort. After suffering near fatal wounds in the mountains of Italy he returned to Aspen and realized his vision. Story includes interview with Friedl Pfeifer.
Explains and shows how the owner Everett Kircher, one of the first pioneers of snowmaking, and the Austrian ski racing champion and ski school director Othmar Schneider, who is interviewed in this section, worked together during the late 50s and 1960s to develop Boyne, Mtn., Michigan into the premier ski area and ski school in the Midwest - a breeding ground for so many of Americas’ skiers.
Explains and shows how and why Austria’s “National Sports Home” in St. Christoph am Arlberg, first developed under the leadership of Ernst Janner, with help from Hannes Schneider, in the early 1920s, then by Professor Stefan Kruckenhauser (1930s-1972), and now referred to as Ski Austria Academy, became the world recognized center of snowsports’ study, practice, and development. Consequently, 
Listen to Ian Scully, Director/Producer/Writer of the Legacy Ski History Series, explain how and why the series was made while gaining insight into his Austrian-American heritage, perspectives, and ski experiences. Ian Scully, son of an Austrian immigrant, is a tri-lingual (English, German and Spanish) global citizen, who grew up skiing in Franconia, N.H., where Austrians first came to teach Americans how to ski, and where he is a top-level - Level III - Professional Ski Instructor of America (P.S.I.A.), continuing the Austro-American ski teaching legacy at Cannon Mt./Mittersill, N.H..
Explains and shows how the concept of running gates (introduced by the Ski Club Kandahar’s Brithish leader Sir Arnold Lunn, in part through his connection and friendship with Hannes Schneider, and by association the Ski Club Arlberg), became a widely accepted and watched sport throughout Austria in the early 1920, when such races as the infamous Arlberg-Kandahar and Hannenkamm were established, and later in the Americas, where the first offically recognized downhill competition was held in 1927 on Mt. Moosilauke in New Hampshire.
Explains and shows how and why Austrians played an instrumental role in developing the Franconia area into a destination ski resort. First at Peckett’s on Sugar Hill, a high society resort hotel of the 1920s and 30s, they led the hotel’s ski school – the first resort ski school in the Americas; and, later they ran and staffed the ski schools of nearby Mittersill and Cannon Mountain ski areas. Mittersill was developed in the 1940s by the Austrian Baron Hubert von Pantz, who was the first in the Americas to pioneer real estate development, in the form of an Austrian alpine style hotel and chalets, as part of ski area development. Meanwhile, Cannon Mt. became a New Hampshire state entity, site of the Americas first tramway and the Franconia Ski Club, as well as home to the Austrian-Swiss duo of Paula and Paul Valar, who for years ran and developed the Mittersill and Cannon Mtn ski schools. Otto Lang, one of the Austrian instructors at Peckett’s, and Paul Valar, former Cannon Mtn. ski school director, as well as a founder and the first technical director of the Professional Ski Instructors of America, help tell this Franconia story.
Explains and shows how and why Austrians played an instrumental role in developing the Franconia/Sugar Hill area into a destination ski resort. First at Peckett’s on Sugar Hill, a high society resort hotel of the 1920s and 30s, they led the hotel’s ski school – the first resort ski school in the Americas; and, later they ran and staffed the ski schools of nearby Mittersill and Cannon Mountain ski areas. Mittersill was developed in the 1940s by the Austrian Baron Hubert von Pantz, who was the first in the Americas to pioneer real estate development, in the form of an Austrian alpine style hotel and chalets, as part of ski area development. Meanwhile, Cannon Mt. became a New Hampshire state entity, site of the Americas first tramway and the Franconia Ski Club, as well as home to the Austrian-Swiss duo of Paula and Paul Valar, who for years ran and developed the Mittersill and Cannon Mtn ski schools. Otto Lang, one of the Austrian instructors at Peckett’s, and Paul Valar, former Cannon Mtn. ski school director, as well as a founder and the first technical director of the Professional Ski Instructors of America, help tell this Franconia/Sugar Hill story.
Explains and shows how and why the Austrians Hans Gmoser, founder of Canadian Mountain Holidays, and Mike Wiegle, founder and leader of Mike Wiegele Helicopter Skiing, pioneered helicopter skiing in the Canadian Rockies. This segment chronicles their stories in large part via interviews with them interspersed by footage and photos of their operations amidst the Canadian Rockies.
Explains and shows why and how in the late 1800s and early 1900s Mathias Zdarsky, followed by Hannes Schneider, who is considered by many as the “Father of Modern Alpine Skiing”, molded and started the legacy of Austria as the world capital of alpine skiing, in particular of ski instruction, technique, and racing... a legacy that continues to this day.
Explains and shows how the original owner, Paul McCollister, with the help of Pepi Stiegler, the Austrian champion from the 1964 Olympics turned Jackson Hole ski school director, developed, via years of arduous work and marketing, this cold and remote area into a world-class ski resort known for its steep trails and spectacular scenery.
Explains and shows how and why this town developed into a world famous ski resort area, via the establishment of the famous Hahnenkamm races and the Kitzbuehel Ski Club, and how during the 1950s and 1960s became home to some of the world’s best racers, i.e. Christian Pravda, Ernst Hinterseer, Hias Leitner, Anderl Molterer, and Toni Sailer, all of whom enjoyed considerable success in Austria as well as in the Americas.
Explains and shows how Toni Sailer, referred to as the “Schwarzer Blitz” (Black Lightning), and Anderl Molterer the “Weisse Blitz” (White Lightning), Christian Pravda, Ernst Hinterseer and Hias Leitner lead the Kitzbuehel based Wunderteam, which from 1952 to 1962 won an incredible 15 of 24 Olympic medals and 11 of 16 World Championship medals. Together they created “The Austrian Decade” and made the Kitzbuehel Ski Club proud indeed. Story told in part by Ernst Hinterseer and Hias Leitner.
Listen to the Austrian Mike Wiegle, one of the first pioneers of helicopter skiing, recount his first years in the United States and Canada, where he led a life of ski instructing, filming, and leading ski tours, which by the early 1970s developed into a helicopter skiing business of his own - the well known Mike Wiegle Helicopter Skiing, Snowboarding and Hiking Company, located in Blue River, British Columbia, Canada.
Explains and shows how and why in the 1930s-1960s this area of New Hampshire became home to numerous ski areas and ski events that featured some of Austria’s best, world-renown ski instructors and racers. Benno Rybizka was the first to arrive. He worked first as ski school director at Black Mountain in Jackson, N.H., and soon thereafter at nearby ski area of Mt. Cranmore in North Conway, developed by the successful banker Harvey Dow Gibson. Rybizka was then joined by Toni Matt, who performed the unforgettable feat of schussing the Tuckerman Ravine Headwall, and soon thereafter by Hannes Schneider, their mentor from St. Anton, Austria, along with his son Herbert. In Austria Hannes had become a ski god, due to his status as ski film movie star, originator of the world renowned Arlberg ski technique, and director of the world famous St. Anton ski school. In the Americas, where he fled to escape Nazi occupied Austria, Hannes made North Conway his home as he successfully worked along with his son Herbert to make Mt. Cranmore a destination ski resort. For all he accomplished he is widely acclaimed as the “Father of Alpine Skiing”. Much of this segment is told by Hannes’ son and long-time Mt. Cranmore director, Herbert Schneider.
Explains and shows why and how in 1936 in the American Northwest Otto Lang not only starred in the film Ski Flight and wrote Downhill Skiing, which together did much to raise awareness and level of alpine skiing in the Americas, but also inaugurated the first American Hannes Schneider franchise in the American Northwest on Mt. Rainier in Washington State. Within two years, Otto would open two additional Hannes Schneider ski schools in the Northwest, one on 
Explains and shows, through interviews with him, as well as his friend Konrad Staudinger, how and why Pepi Gramshammer, the Austrian downhill champion and later pro racing champion, became such an integral player in the development of Vail as a destination ski resort
Explains and shows how in the 1960s and 1970s, due in large part to the leadership of the Austrian ski school director Emo Henrich, Stratton, Vermont, became home to numerous top-flight skiers and a birthplace of freestyle skiing and snowboarding, as pioneers of freestyle skiing, like Austrians Hermann Goellner and Stefan Schernthaner, and later Jake Burton of snowboarding fame, resided and worked at Stratton. The Stratton story is told in large part by Ann and Emo Henrich, and Stefan Schernthaner. The Stratton story is followed by an explanation of how and why the Austrians Hans Gmoser, founder of Canadian Mountain Holidays, and Mike Wiegle, founder and leader of Mike Wiegele Helicopter Skiing, pioneered heli-skiing in the Canadian Rockies. This part chronicles their stories in large part in their own words. And lastly, this story ends with a explanation and summation of Austria’s large, continual influence on the world of skiing, as well as a forecast for the future of skiing from three key Austrian ski pioneers, i.e. Werner Woerndle, former Austrian Ski Team Coach and director of Ski Academy Austria in St. Christoph am Arlberg, as well as Hans Gmoser, and Mike Wiegele.
Explains and shows how with the help from the Austrian Olympic Champion and ski school director Othmar Schneider, along with his cadre of top-notch and famous Austrian racing and instructor colleagues, the American Purcell family developed Portillo, Chile into one of the world’s most famous and best ski resorts. Othmar Schneider tells much of this story.
Explains and shows how under the leadership of Professor Kruckenhauser (1934 to 1973, except for during World War II, when he served as a photographer on the Eastern Fronts) Austria’s National Sports Home, the Bundessportheim on St. Christoph am Arlberg, became the world’s recognized center of snow sports’, particularly alpine skiing, study, practice, and development. Whereas Hannes Schneider had widely been regarded as the God of Austrian skiing, Kruckenhauser came to be known as the Skipabst, the pope of Austrian skiing. In addition to administering the Bundessportheim for thirty plus years, he also: pioneered the use of photography and film to analyze skiing, created and then marketed his famous wedeln technique, established and maintained innumerable international contacts, many of whom requested Austrian certified instructors, and started Interski, a international gathering, now held every four years, at which the latest ski technique and ski instruction methods are presented and discussed for and among ski instructor associations from throughout the world. Professor Kruckenhauser’s legacy is told in part by 
Explains and shows how the Austrian ski racer and pioneer resort developer Friedl Pfeifer started the Pro Racing circuit in the 1960s by recruiting top ski racers of the day, many of them Austrians, such as Pepi Gramshammer, Ernst Hinterseer, Hias Leitner, Anderl Molterer, Christian Pravda, and Toni Spiss, who went on to win innumerable pro races.
Explains and shows over the past hundred years 
Explains and shows how then Stratton Mtn. ski school director Emo Henrich advised Jake Burton in his initial attempts to develop the first of his now famous Burton snowboards.
Explains and shows how Stowe, Vermont became “The Ski Capital of the East” under the leadership of the Austrian Sepp Ruschp on Mt. Mansfield (1930s-1960s), and Johannes von Trapp at the Trapp Family Lodge (1970s - ). Sepp Ruschp, with the financial backing of AIG founder and owner C.V. Starr, led the development of the downhill ski area, which included his ski school that featured many top Austrian skiers, while Johannes created the first cross-country ski resort in the Americas. This story is told primarily by Johannes von Trapp, originally well known as member of Trapp Family Singers, but now better known as the owner and head of the Trapp Family Lodge.
Explains and shows how under the leadership of Sepp Ruschp (1930s-1960s), and his prominent Austrian ski instructor recruits, Mt. Mansfield in Stowe, Vermont became “The Ski Capital of the East”. This story is told in part by Johannes von Trapp, youngest of the famous Trapp Family Singers, who resided in Stowe and knew Sepp and his Austrian ski instructor recruits, and Othmar Schneider, the Austrian Olympic Champion, who for years graced the slopes of 
Explains and shows how Stratton, Vermont, developed in large part by Frank Snyder, who wanted to create an Austrian style resort in southern Vermont, hired the Austrian Emo Henrich to be its first ski school director, and how with Frank’s support Emo developed a first-rate ski school that featured many Austrians who were not only top-flight skiers, but also accomplished musicians. Together Emo, an accomplished musician himself, and his instructors regularly provided their skiing guests with Austrian alpine après skiing music and dance as their band became known as the Stratton Mountain Boys, a band which became so beloved and sought after it began touring North America in the off-season. Also, during this time, 1960s-1970s, Stratton became a birthplace of freestyle skiing and snowboarding, as pioneers of freestyle skiing, like the Austrian Hermann Goellner and Stefan Schernthaner, and Jake Burton of snowboarding fame resided and worked at Stratton. The Stratton story is told in large part by Ann and Emo Henrich, Stefan Schernthaner, present leader of the Stratton Mountain Boys Band, as well as their well-known Austrian 1960 Olympic medalists and ski instructor colleagues and friends Ernst Hinterseer and Hias Leitner, both of whom raced for Stratton on the pro racing tour.
Explains and shows why and how the Austrian Emo Henrich, the first ski school director at Stratton, with the support of Stratton’s owner Frank’s Synder, developed a first-rate ski school that featured many Austrians who were not only top-flight skiers, but also accomplished musicians. Together Emo, an accomplished musician himself, and his instructors regularly provided their skiing guests with gemultichkeit (coziness and collegiality) with their Austrian alpine après ski music and dance as their band became known as the Stratton Mountain Boys, a band which became so beloved and in demand that it began touring 
Explains and shows how Sun Valley, one of the Americas’ first grand ski destinations, built to resemble a European ski resort and site of the world’s first chairlift, attracted Hollywood glamour in part by featuring a world-renowned ski school led and staffed for years by top-flight Austrian skiers; such as: Hans Hauser, Friedl Pfeifer, Otto Lang, Sigi Engl, Sepp Froehlich, Konrad Staudinger and Hans Muehlegger. This story, which includes the internment of some of the Austrian Sun Valley instructors during World War II, is told in part by Friedl Pfeifer, Otto Lang, and Konrad Staudinger, as well as Bill Lash, a former Sun Valley resident, and founder and first president of the Professional Ski Instructors of American Association.
Explains and shows how in the late 1930s the well known Austrian racer Hannes Schroll, along with the help of the area’s first ski school director - the Austrian Bill Klein, convinced well heeled celebrities and families, such as Walt Disney, and the Hills of the Great Northern Railway fortune, to invest in the development of the Sugar Bowl just above Donner Pass, not far from Lake Tahoe and within driving and train range of San Francisco, and Reno. Thereafter for a number of decades the Sugar Bowl was the premier Californian ski resort as its many top-flight Austrian ski instructors, racers and coaches attracted many a skier while creating a sterling reputation for skiing excellence and Austrian style après-ski conviviality. This segment is told in part by Bill Klein, long time Sugar Bowl ski school director and ski shop owner in both the Sugar Bowl and San Francisco, and Ernst Hager, former Sugar Bowl instructor and later U.S. Women's Ski Team Coach.
The singing legacy of the Trapp Family Singers, who favored Austrian independence from Germany and thus opted to flee the Nazi takeover of their country, is well known and documented; however, what is less known is that upon immigrating to the United States the family created a significant skiing legacy. The two older brothers, Rupert and Werner, served in the 10th Mountain Division, America’s first division of mountain troops, while later the younger brother, Johannes, created the first cross-country ski resort in the Americas, alongside the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vermont. That the Trapp Family Lodge cross-country center is still in operation today is a testament to the success of Johannes',and the 
Explains and shows how and why the Austrian racer and hotelier Pepi Gramshammer was instrumental in helping Dick Hausermann, Bob Parker, Pete Seibert, and Morrie Sheperd, successfully develop Vail. The story is told mainly by Pepi, the Austrian racer, instructor and hotelier of Gasthof Gramshammer, who was hired in the early 1960s to be Vail’s official ambassador to the public and media. Since then Pepi and his hotel have in many ways become fixtures in and symbols of and for Vail.
Explains and shows how Bill Lash, founder and first President of the Professional Ski Instructors Association of America (P.S.I.A.), started in 1987 the Veteran Ski Instructors Reunion to, as he says, recreate, “skiing together in the mountains, and bring back the golden years of skiing, because P.S.I.A. was not having a national convention. Ski instructors meeting that they have in the Spring were about clinics and technique and lectures. I wanted to do something where we all get together and ski together, and talk about the old days, and that is why I decided to start honoring people who were important to my life in skiing and contributed a lot to skiing. And I honored my friend Alf Engen, and I had that wonderful reunion, I call it the Arlberg Reunion with Friedl Pfeifer, and Otto Lang and Herbert Schneider. And I have continued to honor people every year.” 
Explains and shows how the 1936-37 winter sport season opened in America with the 1936 Winter Sport Shows at New York's Madison Square Garden and the Boston Garden, which together attracted over 200,000 spectators. The shows promoted 
