Mary Elisabeth BIRD

Mary Bird was born in Chicago but learned to ski in New Hampshire where she represented the White Mountain Ski Club. She also trained at Otto Furrer’s Ski School in Sankt Anton am Arlberg, Austria, and she later taught skiing in Jackson, New Hampshire before marrying Chris Young, a ski film producer. Bird was also a friend of Carroll Reed, who developed a line of ski clothing, and in April 1934, she helped him bring over some of the skiers she had met while training in Austria, and they established the White Mountains as a ski center. Mary Bird is reported to be the first woman to ski the headwall at Tuckerman’s Ravine.