Kidd, Heuga celebrate 40th anniversary of their Innsbruck medals

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. (Feb. 8) –Olympians Billy Kidd and Jimmie Heuga – the first two U.S. men to earn an Olympic medal in skiing – marked the 40th anniversary of their historic achievement Sunday by skiing together through a snowstorm on Mount Werner.

Kidd, the longtime director of skiing for Steamboat Ski Corp. after growing up in Stowe, Vt., was the silver medalist behind Austrian Pepi Stiegler in slalom, and Heuga, who grew up in the Lake Tahoe region, was the bronze medalist.

Their momentous day was Jan. 30, 1964 but Sunday was the time in which the two of them could ski together. Heuga, seated in a bi-ski so his multiple sclerosis doesn't keep him from skiing, and Kidd – in his signature Stetson – ignored the snowfall to join a handful of friends for about an hour of skiing.

They went down Buddy's Run and included a stop at a bust on the mountain of Buddy Werner – U.S. skiing icon from Steamboat and their '64 Olympic teammate, who was killed a short time after the Games in Innsbruck in a European avalanche. They later met with several dozen friends to mark the anniversary in a reception at the Steamboat Grand Hotel.

Kidd said, "The powder was up in our faces." When Heuga good-naturedly muttered about sometimes finding it tough to breathe because he was down lower in his bi-ski and the powder was so thick, Kidd kidded his decades-long buddy, telling him to get a snorkel. After looking at black & white films of their accomplishment four decades earlier, Heuga said, "We were in disbelief when we came down." They couldn't believe they not only had reached the medals podium but they'd done it together. "Billy and I are punching each other on the shoulders because we can't believe it really happened."