When you step foot into the Goldminer’s Daughter, the lodge at the base of the Collins lift at Alta, Utah, it’s like taking a trip back in time. The place has welcoming, old-school vibes, tall glass windows that overlook the steeps of High Rustler, and everything from fine dining with white tablecloths upstairs to an open-to-everyone base-lodge café that serves up ski bum fare, like Sendy Tendies and Alta Bombs (a double shot of espresso dropped into a pint of PBR).
Filmmaker (and former Goldminer’s Daughter employee) Alex Mager created a short film—which was supported by Flylow—to celebrate the history of this place and the two ski industry pioneers who first established it. The film is called “We’ll Still Be There.”
Skiers Jim and Elfriede Shane built the lodge in 1961 initially to serve as a first-aid base for injured skiers; it eventually became a day lodge and employee housing and then a full-service hotel. “My favorite thing about the lodge was getting to know all the guests and why they came here in the first place,” Elfriede says in the film. “People have been coming here for 30 or 40 years.” Elfriede and Jim have both passed away, and the lodge came under new ownership in 2000.
Much of the material in this film was sourced from the extensive Special Collections Department at the J. Willard Marriott Library at University of Utah. Fellow ski pioneers Jim McConkey, Junior Bounous, and Alan Engen help share the story of Jim and Elfriede.