Virginia Moffett, 80, Cofounder Of Snoqualmie Summit Ski Area

Virginia Robinson Moffett was, quite literally, in on the ground floor of the development of Snoqualmie Pass ski area, where thousands of skiers now flock to enjoy the sport on a winter day.

Mrs. Moffett, along with her husband, Webb, leased the summit area in 1936 and installed the first rope tow. Before that, if you wanted to ski, you hiked up the mountain, lugging your skis.

For years the couple ran the skiing area as a sort of mom-and-pop operation. Gradually they upgraded and consolidated it into what now is the largest day-skiing area in the United States, according to their son David Moffett, who runs the ski area.

When Snoqualmie Pass Lodge was nothing more than a surplus World War II Quonset hut, "She was flipping hamburgers and renting equipment, while Webb was making sure the machinery ran and collected the money," said longtime friend Lou Lenihan, a vice president with Ski Lifts Inc., the ski area's parent company.

"She was just amazing," recalls Lenihan. "Virginia was a real businesswoman in an era when there were not many, especially in the male-dominated (ski) industry."

Mrs. Moffett, who had been incapacitated since suffering a severe head injury in an automobile accident 11 years ago, died Tuesday, July 2, at the age of 80.

Lenihan credits Mrs. Moffett with establishing the Chapel of St. Bernard, the interdenominational chapel at the summit, even though there was fierce resistance to holding combined services for Catholics and Protestants. "They said it couldn't be done and she ran right over them," Lenihan said. The chapel opened for the 1959-60 ski season.

David Moffett says his mother became responsible for the marketing and public relations of the ski area, as well as supervising the ski schools and gift shops.

"My dad was an engineer and he kept the ski lifts running, but she did everything else," he said.

For all her involvement, Mrs. Moffett didn't ski, at least after 1940. That season, his father rented her boots to a skier when he ran out of size 7 1/2, Moffett explained. She was not an enthusiastic skier in the first place and she used that as an excuse not to continue, he said.

Virginia Tanner, who along with her husband, Reidar, owned neighboring Ski Acres until selling it to the Moffetts in 1980, said Mrs. Moffett was instrumental in convincing the Legislature to approve funds for the snowshed that for years covered a portion of the eastbound lanes of the highway near the summit.

"We were strong competitors but good friends with the Moffetts," Tanner said. "She was a brilliant woman and we had to keep on our toes (as competitors)."

A native of Seattle, Mrs. Moffett also worked as a journalist, contributing to skiing and boating magazines. Both Sports Illustrated and Life magazines featured the Snoqualmie ski area on their covers and his mother contributed to both those articles, David Moffett said. She and her husband also were founding members of the Corinthian Yacht Club at Shilshole.

Mrs. Moffett is survived by her husband. Other survivors include a son, Bill Moffett of San Francisco; daughter, Laurie Padden of Seattle; grandsons, Stephen Moffett of Manhattan Beach, Calif., and Michael Padden of Seattle; granddaughters, Katharine Moffett of Washington, D.C., and Christina, Jennifer and Mary Padden, all of Seattle.

Memorial services are scheduled for 2 p.m. Monday at the Church of the Epiphany, 1805 38th Ave., Seattle.

Remembrances are suggested to the SKIFORALL Foundation, Arbor Building 132, 1621 114th Ave. S.E., Bellevue, 98004, or the Chapel of St. Bernard, C/O Ski Lift Inc., 7900 S.E. 28th St., Suite 200, Mercer Island, 98040.