Buck Hill was named by early settlers, who noticed its summit was a gathering spot for Mdewakanton Dakota to watch male deer drink at Crystal Lake. The ski area was started by Chuck Stone, who discovered the sport as a child recovering from polio, and had worked as a lift attendant at Suicide Six in Vermont. Returning to Minneapolis, he wanted to start a ski area, and went to the public library to search out viable topography. The present ski area of Buck Hill was the tallest hill close to the Twin Cities, but was on private land, part of a remote farm owned by Grace Whittier. Stone and his girlfriend Nancy convinced Whittier to lease them the property, succeeding where previous wooers had failed, and the ski area began operating in 1954. Whittier left the property to St. Olaf College, in Northfield, Minnesota, upon her death.
ski racers Kristina Koznick and Lindsey Vonn learned to ski and race at Buck Hill. Koznick, now retired from international competition, was a top slalom racer. Vonn races in all five disciplines and is dominant in the speed events. She is among the best female ski racers in history, with four overall World Cup titles and was the gold medalist in the downhill at the 2010 Winter Olympics. She was also a double gold medalist in the speed events at the 2009 World Championships, taking the downhill and super-G. As of February 2015, Vonn has 63 World Cup victories, more than any other female ski racer in the sport's history. Both were coached by Erich Sailer, an energetic octogenarian from Austria who has been Buck Hill's racing coach since 1969. Sailer was inducted into the National Ski Hall of Fame in 2006.
Pro racing
The ski area hosted the pro skiing tour in early February 1973 as part of the Saint Paul Winter Carnival. It was raced in a head-to-head parallel format in elimination brackets for both giant slalom and slalom. Two-time defending season champion Spider Sabich won the slalom on Sunday at the McDonald's Cup at Buck Hill. That year's season champion, Olympic triple gold medalist Jean-Claude Killy, won the Saturday giant slalom and was the fastest qualifier in the slalom, but did not place. Killy and Sabich earned $2,500 each for their wins. Hugo Nindl of Austria won both pro events at Buck Hill in January 1974. He bested Sabich in the slalom final, and went on to win the season title.
