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 worked for US military intelligence during World War II, when he assisted in the interrogation of the leading Nazis Hermann Göring and Albert Speer.

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.

Blake was born Ernst Hermann Bloch in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1913, the son of Jenny (née Guggenheim), a Swiss mother and Adolph, a German father,[1] who was an industrialist, and produced the raw material used to make felt hats.

[3][5] In December 2013, the hedge fund billionaire Louis Bacon purchased Taos Ski Valley from the Blake family.