S. Joe Quinney Seymore Joseph Quinney was born in Logan, Utah in 1892 and graduated with a law degree from Harvard University in 1919. His promotion to the sport of skiing spanned more than five decades, four of which were directly related to the establishment and running of a ski area at Alta, Utah. In 1921, he was elected to the Utah House of Representatives where he gained a full understanding of the laws applicable to land under control of the U.S. Forest Service. He served as president of the Utah Ski Club from 1935 to 1938 and according to Alf Engen, “There were more accomplishments during Joe Quinney’s period as president than at any other time. The U.S. National Ski Jumping Championship held at Ecker Hill in 1937, under Joe Quinney’s direction, was the biggest and best sporting event ever held in Utah up to that time.”
In the late 1930s, Salt Lake promoters, under the leadership of S. Joe Quinney, agreed to organize a corporation which, under Forest Service permit, would “construct a ski lift and related facilities at Alta.” To that end, a corporation was established called the Salt Lake City Winter Sports Association. Quinney did all the legal work and served as secretary-treasurer of the organization from 1939 to 1958, when he became its president, a position he held for the next twenty-five years.
In 1967, Joe Quinney was the recipient of the Winter Sports Award, presented by the Salt Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, in recognition of his efforts to further the development of winter sports in Utah. This was followed by his election to the U.S. National Ski Hall of Fame in 1975. He passed away in November 1983 at age 90.