Skiing Heritage News

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Warren Chivers, 91

Dartmouth racer went on to teach and coach at Vermont Academy.

Warren Houston Chivers, 91, of Saxtons River, Vermont, died on Friday, Aug. 18, 2006, at the Springfield, Vermont, hospital. He had been ill for some time, and the immediate cause of death was pneumonia.

The son of Dartmouth Prof. Arthur H. and Helen W. Chivers, and the oldest of five brothers, Chivers grew up in Hanover, N.H., and was a member of the Dartmouth College Class of 1937. Ski racing delayed his graduation until 1938.

Throughout his college career, he was a member of the Dartmouth Outing Club and captain of the ski team. He was a member of the 1936 U.S. Olympic Ski Team, competing in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, in the Nordic combined events. He was also selected as an alternate to the alpine team.

Chivers was named to the 1940 Olympic team, which was to compete in Oslo, Norway, but due to the onset of World War II, the events were canceled.

From 1941 to 1946, he served as officer with the U.S. Naval Air Corp. His tours of duty took him to Annapolis, Md., Chapel Hill, N.C., Northwest Africa and, finally, to Deland, Fla., as commander of the naval air station. It was there he met and married his wife, Jean B. Stubbs, in 1946.

After the war he returned to Dartmouth for a degree in geology. Then he joined the Vermont Academy as a teacher and coach. In a career that spanned decades, he directed the ski program, producing championship teams over many years, as well as future Olympic athletes.

With the help of his students, Chivers constructed all of the ski facilities, including jumps, cross-country trails and an alpine ski area, complete with rope tow. He also directed the outdoor program, introducing many young people to hunting, shooting, fishing, canoeing and an overall love of the outdoors.

Chivers spent several summers at Keewaydin, a camp in northern Ontario, where he guided canoe trips to the Hudson Bay, and continued his work with young people. He felt privileged to be able to make a career of doing the things he loved.

He was appointed chief of interval timing at the 1960 Squaw Valley Olympics and went on to coach the Junior National Nordic Combined team of the mid-1960s.

Along with his duties at Vermont Academy, he was involved in many community organizations and activities. In 1986, he was honored as Citizen of the Year.

Chivers was elected to the United States Ski Hall of Fame in 1975, and to the Vermont Ski Museum Hall of Fame in 2005.

His wife Jean and four brothers, Howard, Roland, John and Edward, predeceased him. He is survived by his children, including Ted Chivers of North Springfield, Jennifer Armstrong of Cincinatti, Ohio, Chris Chivers of Jericho, five grandchildren and one great-grandson.

Memorial donations may be made to assist students at the Vermont Academy Scholarship Fund, Attn. Bob Barr, P.O. Box 500, Saxtons River, VT 05154.

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The International Skiing History Association is a not-for-profit corporation, whose mission is to preserve and advance the knowledge of ski history and to increase public awareness of the sport's heritage.

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