Lunn, Arnold, 1888-1974

Arnold Henry Moore Lunn (1888-1974) was a British skier who developed Mürren, Switzerland, as a resort for winter sports. He invented the modern slalom in 1922 and gained international and Olympic recognition of both downhill and slalom racing. Lunn published 63 books: although the majority of these were centered on mountaineering, 16 were focused on Christian apologetics.

John L. Jerome (Jerry) Hart (1904-1986) was the donor of Lunn's Oxford Mountaineering Essay in which this letter was found (see bibliography below). Hart attended Harvard at the age of 16 and received his A. B. degree in 1925. After Harvard, Hart was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship and attended Oxford where he received three additional degrees. In 1948, he joined the Denver law firm of Holland and Hart (with co-founders brother Stephen H. Hart and Josiah C. Holland). There, he specialized in taxation, trusts, and estates. Hart began climbing mountains at the age of ten and became a very accomplished mountain climber. He was a member of some exclusive mountaineering clubs, such as The American Alpine Club (Hart was the youngest member of this club in 1925), The British Alpine Club, charter member of the Harvard Mountaineering Club, and "Honorable Secretary" of the Oxford Mountaineering Club. As a member of these different clubs he was able to meet some very prestigious mountain climbers, such as Sir Francis Young-Husband, General Bruce, and Sir Edmund Hillary.

From the guide to the Sir Arnold Henry Moore Lunn Letter (MS 170), 1927, (University of Colorado at Boulder Libraries. Special Collections Dept.)