Lives

Atomic's chief of racing, R&D

Rupert Huber
Passing Date: August 2, 2021

Rupert “Killy” Huber, chief engineer and head of racing at Atomic until his retirerment in 2013, died August 2 after a long illness. He was 72 years old. Huber grew up racing in Radstadt, Austria, about ten miles from the original Atomic factory in Wagrain. When he was 16, Atomic founder Alois...

Heliskiing pioneer

Mike Wiegele
Passing Date: July 15, 2021

Mike Wiegele, founder of the Cariboos-based helicopter skiing operation that bears his name, and of the Canadian Ski Guides Association, died July 15 at age 82. He had been hospitalized for the past 10 months with dementia. Wiegele grew up on a farm in Lading Kärnten , in the rolling hills west of...

FIS chief

Gian-Franco Kasper
Passing Date: July 9, 2021

Gian Franco Kasper, who served 23 years as secretary general and 23 years as president of the International Ski Federation (FIS), died on July 9, after a short illness, and just one month after retiring. He was 77 years old. Kasper was born in St. Moritz, where primary education was (and still is)...

Ski sales executive

Kip Pitou
Passing Date: July 8, 2021

Augustus “Kip” Pitou III died July 8, 2021, in Laconia, New Hampshire, at age 81. He suffered a stroke in the spring of 2020 and was diagnosed with Covid19 on July 4. Pitou, with his big sister Penny, grew up skiing a rope tow in Gilford, New Hampshire, and at nearby Belknap Mountain (now Gunstock...

Olympian, retail pioneer

David Gorsuch
Passing Date: June 26, 2021

David Gorsuch David Gorsuch, one of the top US skiers of the 1950s and a pioneer of retailing in Crested Butte, Vail and Aspen, died on June 26 after a long illness. He was 82 years old. The son of a mining engineer in Climax, Colorado, David won the US junior slalom championship in 1953 at age 14...

Freestyle pioneer and training innovator

Bob Salerno
Passing Date: May 26, 2021

Bob Salerno, one of the freestyle movement’s first stars, a dominant competitor, innovative trainer and ski-deck pioneer, died May 26 of natural causes. He was 68. A native of Ogden, Utah, Salerno spent his youth at Snowbasin and neighboring resorts, first as a student and later as an instructor....

Olympian, resort developer

George Hovland
Passing Date: May 9, 2021

George Hovland, Jr., Olympian and resort developer in Duluth, Minnesota, passed on May 9, due to complications after hip surgery. He was 94. Born in Duluth, Hovland won the Minnesota slalom and cross-country championships at age 16 and later was caption of the University of Minnesota ski team. He...

Olympian, snowboard world champion

Julie Pomagalski
Passing Date: May 9, 2021

Julie Pomagalski, a two-time Olympian for France in snowboarding and former world champion, died in an avalanche in the Swiss Alps on May 9. She was 40.  Pomagalski was with a group of four freeriding on Gemsstock Mountain, near Andermatt, Switzerland. A second member of the party was also killed....

Norwegian Olympian, slalom world champion

Inger Bjørnbakken
Passing Date: February 13, 2021

Inger Bjørnbakken, the only female Norwegian world champion in Alpine skiing, died in a fire on February 13, at age 87. Born in Baerum, Norway, Bjørnbakken was the top female Norwegian racer in the late 1950s. She won seven national championships, then tied for sixth place (with Astrid Sandvik) in...

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...