Ernie Blake

Ernie Blake (March 24, 1913 – January 14, 1989), originally Ernst Hermann Bloch, was the German-American founder, together with his wife Rhoda, of Taos Ski Valley, New Mexico. He was born in Germany, grew up in Switzerland and went to university in Germany and Switzerland before emigrating to the US in 1938. He worked for US military intelligence during World War II, when he assisted in the interrogation of the leading Nazis Hermann Göring and Albert Speer. His code name was Ernie Blake, and after the war, he chose it as his real name.

Always a keen skier, he met his future wife Rhoda whilst skiing in Vermont, and followed her to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she was studying art. He was helping to run other ski areas and flying a small plane between them, when he spotted what was to become Taos Ski Valley.