SKI not only chronicled these developments, it influenced them, adding innovations of its own. In 1935, Alf Nydin, a young Seattle reporter, decided to launch a national magazine about a niche sport. He called it SKI, publishing its first issue in 1936. Nydin, oddly enough, didn’t ski, but saw a publishing opportunity to cover the emerging sport after watching boisterous Olympic downhill tryouts on Mount Rainer. Over the next 75 years, SKI evolved along with the sport.