History

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. The Powder Maker became an essential grooming tool and was the signature product of Wallingford's new company,Valley Engineering, which he sold in 1975.

"The Powder Maker was as important an innovation in the '70's as the tiller is today," says Greg Sweetser, executive director of Ski Maine. "Otto was an important part of the Grand Era of the sport. . . . He certainly was the innovator in snow farming." Wallingford had always been a presence at LostValley even though he and Gardner sold the ski area in 1988.

"The guy was a genius," says Connie King, general manager at Lost Valley.She describes Wallingford as a valuable local asset for his advice on all aspects of running a ski area. He was known for a mind constantly working on creative solutions to common problems.