John Jay

Biography

John Jay (1915–2000) was a pioneering American ski filmmaker. He helped fashion the ski film into its modern form, and shared his unique style in travel adventure lectures, books, and magazine articles for over sixty years. Jay was an early promoter of skiing, and his films captured the growth of the sport from early rope tows to helicopter skiing. He was commissioned by Williams College, the Canadian Pacific Railway, and Panagra airline to produce promotional films in the late 1930s. His first feature film was Ski the Americas, North and South (1940). During World War II he served as meteorologist, photographer and public relations officer with the 87th Mountain Infantry Battalion at Fort Lewis, Washington and later the 10th Mountain Division where he made training and recruiting films and evaluated equipment for winter warfare. Ski Patrol (1943), filmed in Sun Valley, was his second feature film and helped produce a wealth of new recruits. In late 1943 he was named Commanding Officer of the 10th Reconnaissance Troop. He wrote a History of the Mountain Training Center in 1944, which was released in 1948. From 1946 to 1970 he resided at Williamstown, but traveled the world filming and presenting in lecture format a new ski film each year. He "virtually invented the ski film in its modern form," said prolific ski filmmaker Warren Miller.