Lives

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...

Activewear pioneer

Monika Tilley
Passing Date: December 23, 2020

Monika Tilley, an innovative fashion designer and activewear pioneer, died December 23 in Manhattan. She was 86. Born in Vienna, Tilley earned a master’s degree from the Vienna Academy of Applied Arts and came to the United States in the late 1950s. She first worked as a magazine illustrator, then...

Aspen and FIS official

Devid Stapleton
Passing Date: December 10, 2020

Aspen native David Stapleton, a FIS race official and safety activist, died December 10, 2020, from complications due to COVID-19. He was 86. Stapleton grew up on his family’s ranch, which became the Aspen airport, and raced for the Aspen Ski Club beginning in 1945. He qualified for the Junior...

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...