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Still Going Downhill

Legends of Showdown · The George Willett years, 1973–2020

1990s Joe Pinski sitting on deck smiling

1990s Joe Pinski sitting on deck smilingGeorge Willett Collection

Joe Pinski

Mountain manager and head groomer — there on George Willett's first morning, and for close to thirty years

Legend of Showdown

Born
First skied at Showdown
First worked here: April 1973, on George Willett's first morning as owner
Years at Showdown: 1973–c.2001
Positions: Mountain manager of Showdown — so named in print in 1978, 1981, 1990, 1992 and 1999
Mountain maintenance manager, March 1986; maintenance supervisor, 1986-87
Head of the grooming staff, 1991; head groomer, February 2000

What they did

18 entries

April 1973On George Willett's first morning as owner, came up through four feet of snow in a half-ton pickup; the two made their way to the lodge and went to work, and the first skiers were handed shovels
1 November 1973The one name on Showdown's first help-wanted advertisement, for lift operators, parking attendants and kitchen help
1974On the crew of George Willett's second season, as Chris Quinn remembers it, with Wayne Ellington, Steve Theisen, Johnny Kowalski, Idaho Trenberth and Jimmy Hoxter
1977Went to Switzerland with George Willett and Johnny and Renee Kowalski to buy the lift that became the Payload triple chair
1978Built the Payload triple chairlift with Jimmy Hoxter, landing its towers off a helicopter's line
December 1978Photographed as Showdown's mountain manager at the new triple chair's load test, beside the Swiss maker's engineer, Fritz Schmutz
Early 1980sWith Jimmy Hoxter, cut the trees and moved the earth for Rick Hodas's extension of Lower Ripley into a longer downhill course, now Ski-Bums-Way
Early 1980sGreased the chairlifts for fifty below zero, so Showdown opened on a forty-below day when every other Montana area closed
Summer 1981Built the new learn-to-ski slope with a rented D-9 Caterpillar, to Rick Hodas's eight-percent grade, and designed its rope tow to adjust to the depth of the snowpack
Summer 1981Widened the top of the Prentice run, until then the width of a narrow mountain road, on a Caterpillar D8K bulldozer
March 1986Showdown's mountain maintenance manager, running two 250-horsepower snowcats that, he told the Tribune, could climb a tree if the bark wouldn't slip
Summer 1990With Jimmy Hoxter, built three new black-diamond runs: Geronimo, Gun Barrel and Speculation
1991Head of grooming when Showdown bought its first new snowcat since 1976, an LMC 3700-C captioned Joe's Dream Machine
January 1992Profiled in the Great Falls Tribune as mountain manager, with the new 260-horsepower snowcat
Summer 1992Put a new gearbox in the double chairlift with Jimmy Hoxter and Dick Nebel
1 July 1995Best man at Bill "Idaho" Trenberth's wedding
1998-99Built Showdown's biggest terrain park yet from the snow off the whole Mizpah run, after touring parks around the country
17 February 2000Head groomer, working long hours pushing snow back up the terrain-park landings, Showdown's own message board said

Photographs

50 in the archive

1978 Triple Chair cement truck, Jimmy Hoxter in white shirt, Joe Pinski in brown shirt — 1978 Triple Chair cement truck, Jimmy Hoxter in white shirt, Joe Pinski in brown shirtGeorge Willett Collection

1978 Triple Chair Construction 1 - Joe Pinski, Jim Hoxter — 1978 Triple Chair Construction 1 - Joe Pinski, Jim HoxterGeorge Willett Collection

1978 Triple Chair Construction, Joe Pinski — 1978 Triple Chair Construction, Joe PinskiGeorge Willett Collection

1978 Triple Chairlift Construction Jim Hoxter, Joe Pinski and others setting tower — 1978 Triple Chairlift Construction Jim Hoxter, Joe Pinski and others setting towerGeorge Willett Collection

1978 Triple Chairlift Construction Jim Hoxter, Joe Pinski setting tower — 1978 Triple Chairlift Construction Jim Hoxter, Joe Pinski setting towerGeorge Willett Collection

1978 Triple Chairlift Construction Joe Pinski and Jim Hoxter landing tower — 1978 Triple Chairlift Construction Joe Pinski and Jim Hoxter landing towerGeorge Willett Collection

1978 Triple Chairlift Construction Joe Pinski and others — 1978 Triple Chairlift Construction Joe Pinski and othersGeorge Willett Collection

1978 Triple Chairlift Construction Joe Pinski near tower foundation — 1978 Triple Chairlift Construction Joe Pinski near tower foundationGeorge Willett Collection

1978 Triple Chairlift Construction Joe Pinski, Jim Hoxter walking down — 1978 Triple Chairlift Construction Joe Pinski, Jim Hoxter walking downGeorge Willett Collection

1978 Triple Chairlift Construction Joe Pinski, Jim Hoxter — 1978 Triple Chairlift Construction Joe Pinski, Jim HoxterGeorge Willett Collection

1981 Joe Pinski — Prentice Run — Building Upper Prentice — 1981 Joe Pinski — Prentice Run — Building Upper PrenticeGeorge Willett Collection

1981 Joe Pinski building the upper Prentice Run2 — 1981 Joe Pinski building the upper Prentice Run2George Willett Collection

1981 Joe Pinski building the upper Prentice Run3 — 1981 Joe Pinski building the upper Prentice Run3George Willett Collection

1981 Joe Pinski building the upper Prentice Run4 — 1981 Joe Pinski building the upper Prentice Run4George Willett Collection

1981 Joe Pinski — Prentice Run — Building Upper Prentice — 1981 Joe Pinski — Prentice Run — Building Upper PrenticeGeorge Willett Collection

1981 Joe Pinski building the upper Prentice Run6 — 1981 Joe Pinski building the upper Prentice Run6George Willett Collection

1981 Joe Pinski building the upper Prentice Run7 — 1981 Joe Pinski building the upper Prentice Run7George Willett Collection

1981 Joe Pinski building the upper Prentice Run8 — 1981 Joe Pinski building the upper Prentice Run8George Willett Collection

1999 Steve Theisen, Joe Pinski — Rope Tow — 1999 Steve Theisen, Joe Pinski — Rope TowDiane Carter Collection

1999 Joe Pinski, Montana Decker — Lower Ripley — Montana sitting in the Snow Cat — 1999 Joe Pinski, Montana Decker — Lower Ripley — Montana sitting in the Snow CatDiane Carter Collection

1999 Joe Pinski — On a snowmobile — 1999 Joe Pinski — On a snowmobileDiane Carter Collection

1999 Joe Pinski — On a snowmobile — 1999 Joe Pinski — On a snowmobileDiane Carter Collection

2000 Baron Noble, Montana Decker, Joe Pinski — Outside the lodge — Summer Party — 2000 Baron Noble, Montana Decker, Joe Pinski — Outside the lodge — Summer PartyDiane Carter Collection

2000 Baron Noble, Montana Decker, Joe Pinski — Outside the lodge — Summer Party — 2000 Baron Noble, Montana Decker, Joe Pinski — Outside the lodge — Summer PartyDiane Carter Collection

2000 Summer Party Joe Pinski, Idaho Trenberth — 2000 Summer Party Joe Pinski, Idaho TrenberthDiane Carter Collection

2001 Joe Pinski winning helmet — 2001 Joe Pinski winning helmetGeorge Willett Collection

2001 Joe Pinski winning prizes, Joe Pope, Ty Jacobs in back — 2001 Joe Pinski winning prizes, Joe Pope, Ty Jacobs in backGeorge Willett Collection

2001 Jimmy Hoxter, Joe Pinski, Katie Boedecker — Outside the lodge — Around the fire pit — 2001 Jimmy Hoxter, Joe Pinski, Katie Boedecker — Outside the lodge — Around the fire pitDiane Carter Collection

2002 Montana Decker, Joe Pinski, Bill "Idaho" Trenberth — The Lodge Deck — Summer Party — 2002 Montana Decker, Joe Pinski, Bill "Idaho" Trenberth — The Lodge Deck — Summer PartyDiane Carter Collection

1970s 3 Skiers Joe Pinski — 1970s 3 Skiers Joe PinskiGeorge Willett Collection

1970s Joe Pinski helping Dave Cleary off snowcat — 1970s Joe Pinski helping Dave Cleary off snowcatGeorge Willett Collection

1980s Joe Pinki in D7 on hill — 1980s Joe Pinki in D7 on hillGeorge Willett Collection

1980s Joe Pinski Skiing — 1980s Joe Pinski SkiingGeorge Willett Collection

1990s Joe Pinski Skiing — 1990s Joe Pinski SkiingGeorge Willett Collection

1990s Joe Pinski and unknown woman with snowmobile on top the mountain — 1990s Joe Pinski and unknown woman with snowmobile on top the mountainGeorge Willett Collection

1990s Joe Pinski clearing trees with D7 — 1990s Joe Pinski clearing trees with D7George Willett Collection

1990s Joe Pinski sitting on deck smiling — 1990s Joe Pinski sitting on deck smilingGeorge Willett Collection

1990s Joe Pinski wearing hat funny and smiling — 1990s Joe Pinski wearing hat funny and smilingGeorge Willett Collection

1990s Joe Pinski, Montana Decker, Vera-Mae Mathews — The Hole in the Wall Saloon — 1990s Joe Pinski, Montana Decker, Vera-Mae Mathews — The Hole in the Wall SaloonGeorge Willett Collection

1990s Joe Pinski, Jimmy Hoxter — Summer Crew — 1990s Joe Pinski, Jimmy Hoxter — Summer CrewGeorge Willett Collection

1990s Joe Pinski. summer work — 1990s Joe Pinski. summer workGeorge Willett Collection

1990s Snow Groomers, Joe Pinski in front, Jimmy Hoxter in back — 1990s Snow Groomers, Joe Pinski in front, Jimmy Hoxter in backGeorge Willett Collection

1990s Theis, Joe Pinksi, Terry Stevens, Phil Glaspy, Mark "Mickey Rat" Miner, unknown male in bar — 1990s Theis, Joe Pinksi, Terry Stevens, Phil Glaspy, Mark "Mickey Rat" Miner, unknown male in barGeorge Willett Collection

1990s Joe Pope, Joe Pinski — The Hole in the Wall Saloon — Joe Pope hold a chair above Pinski's head — 1990s Joe Pope, Joe Pinski — The Hole in the Wall Saloon — Joe Pope hold a chair above Pinski's headGeorge Willett Collection

1990s unknown woman, Joe Pinski, Joe Pope on lift — 1990s unknown woman, Joe Pinski, Joe Pope on liftGeorge Willett Collection

2000s Joe Pinski in snowcat on winch — 2000s Joe Pinski in snowcat on winchGeorge Willett Collection

2000s Joe Pinski on Deck — 2000s Joe Pinski on DeckGeorge Willett Collection

1980s Joe Pinski fixing equipment — 1980s Joe Pinski fixing equipmentGeorge Willett Collection

1990s Joe Pinski, Montana Decker, Steve Theisen, Vera-Mae Mathews — The Bar — 1990s Joe Pinski, Montana Decker, Steve Theisen, Vera-Mae Mathews — The BarGeorge Willett Collection

1980s Joe Pinski — The Mountain — Grooming with the snowcat — 1980s Joe Pinski — The Mountain — Grooming with the snowcatDave Elmquist Collection

All photographs of Joe Pinski in the search →

In the papers

3 documents

The Showdowner Winter of 90 IssueWinter 1990 · page 1
The Showdowner Fall 1992Fall 1992 · page 1
The Showdowner 1995–1996 Ski Season Newsletter1995–96 season · page 1

Search the papers for Joe Pinski →

Also

Built the Payload triple chairlift, 1978, with Jimmy Hoxter
Built the learn-to-ski slope and its rope tow, summer 1981
Built Geronimo, Gun Barrel and Speculation, summer 1990, with Jimmy Hoxter
Built the terrain park on the Mizpah run, 1998-99
Named for him Pinski Pass, the run called Compromise Pass until the 2022 trail map

Added by the people who were there