Using land that connected their two parcels, Otto Wallingford and Dr. Camille Gardner opened Lost Valley Ski Area in 1961, primarily so Wallingford would have something to do in winter-downtime for his family apple orchard. At Lost Valley Wallingford, who had a degree in agricultural engineering, put together the state's first snowmaking system and introduced Down-Easters to night skiing. But his biggest contribution to skiing came in 1971 when he started towing a cylindrical steel grate behind a tractor to convert hard snow crust into groomed powder.Read more