Alexander C. Cushing, the founder and chairman of Squaw Valley Ski Resort, died of pneumonia this weekend at his summer home in Newport, Rhode Island.

Cushing was 92.

He opened the resort in 1949 with one chairlift, a rope tow and a 50-room lodge.

Cushing helped launch the sport in the United States by bringing the 1960 Winter Games to Squaw Valley.

Cushing initially bid for the games as a publicity stunt, never dreaming he might get them.

Ironically, Cushing acknowledged he was never much of a skier.