Lives

Ski resort exec, NSAA chief

Cal Conniff
Passing Date: January 8, 2021

Calvert Conniff, president/executive director of the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) from 1973 to 1990 and a 1990 U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame honoree, died on Jan. 8, a month shy of his 91st birthday.  Cal devoted his life to the betterment of the sport and business of skiing. His...

Alta Lodge Owner

Elfriede Shane
Passing Date: December 3, 2020

Alta ski lodge owner Elfriede Shane passed away December 3, 2020 at age 97. Born in Mannheim, Germany, Elfriede came to America at age three. In 1941 she married Jim Shane and settled in Salt Lake City. Elfriede worked for the Army Corps of Engineers and Jim served in the U.S. Army Air Force, After...

Biathlon Olympian

Bill Spencer
Passing Date: December 3, 2020

Olympian and biathlon sport leader William (Bill) Allen Spencer passed at his home on December 3, 2020 in Utah at age of 84.  Bill was born in Russellville, Alabama on June 23, 1936 to Elsie Josephine Martin and Thomas Aubrey Spencer and spent his early childhood in Bermuda.  At the age of twelve...

Swiss downhill specialist, Olympian, World Champion

Doris De Agostini
Passing Date: November 22, 2020

Doris De Agostini, who competed in two Winter Olympic Games and won a World Championships bronze medal, died November 22 following a short illness. She was 62. Born in Ticino, Switzerland, De Agostini burst onto the international race scene when she won her first World Cup in 1976 in the downhill...

Ski fashion editor, journalist

Patricia Doran
Passing Date: November 20, 2020

Pat Doran, the fashion journalist who covered the skiwear scene for a generation, died November 30, 2020, in New York City. Pat grew up in a colorful, complex and prosperous family in Atlanta, Georgia. She attended Bryn Mawr and in 1953 graduated from Atlanta’s Oglethorpe University. She then...

Ski jumper, inventor

Peter Florjančič
Passing Date: November 14, 2020

Peter Florjančič, the prolifically inventive ski jumper who patented the endless-carpet ski deck (among 400 other patents), died November 14 in his home town of Bled, Slovenia. He was 101 years old. Florjančič was born in Bled, where his family owned several resort hotels. At age 16, he competed as...

Aspen and Keystone CEO, environmental pioneer

Bob Maynard
Passing Date: November 11, 2020

Bob Maynard, a chief executive of several Colorado resorts and an early advocate of corporate environmental activism, died of natural causes at his home on Orcas Island, Washington, on November 11, at the age of 93. Born in Oakland, California, Maynard was introduced to the wilderness by Earl...

Boreal founder, NSAA president

Jay Price
Passing Date: October 30, 2020

Jay Price, a founder of Boreal Ridge Ski Area and longtime president of the National Ski Areas Association, died Oct. 30 after a four-year struggle with laryngeal cancer. He was 88 years old. Jay Edwin Price grew up in Pioche, Nevada and Eureka, Utah. He attended high school in Provo, Utah, where...

Race coach, instruction innovator

Izzy Ture
Passing Date: October 23, 2020

Isadore (Izzy) John Ture, one of the most influential instructors of his time, passed away October 23 in Saratoga Springs, New York, at the age of 87. He had a long and prominent career in the ski world, most notably with Professional Ski Instructors of America (PSIA), where he developed the...

Patron Saint of Taos Ski Valley

Jean Mayer
Passing Date: October 10, 2020

Jean Marie Mayer, the 1953 French junior champion who became founding director of the Taos ski school and owner of the Hotel St. Bernard, died October 10 at a hospital in Santa Fe, attended by his life-partner Elise Waters Olonia and his daughter Monique Jacobsen. Jean was 85, and suffering from...