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...

Vermont racing promoters

Anne and Joe Jones
Passing Date: July 17, 2021

Joseph Clarence Jones, ski coach and co-founder of the Mid-Vermont Junior Alpine Racing Council and the Vermont Alpine Racing Association died July 17, 2021, in Rutland, Vermont. He was 97. Anne Jones, who together with Joe helped promote skiing and racing throughout the Vermont region, passed...

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...

Whistler exec, CWSAA president

Peter Alder
Passing Date: July 13, 2021

Peter Alder, resort manager and planner, lift inspector and one of the founders of the Canada West Ski Areas Association, died in July. He was 91. Born in Basel, Switzerland, Alder moved to Canada in 1951, settled in Squamish, British Columbia, and worked building utility power lines. He got his...

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...

Racer, pro-tour exec, entrepreneur

Paul Carson
Passing Date: June 5, 2021

Paul Carson, competitor, pro-tour visionary and entrepreneur, passed away June 5 at his home in Ketchum, Idaho, after a 14-year battle with cancer. He was 68. A native of the Toronto area, Carson grew up racing out of the tiny Don Valley Ski Centre. He made the Canadian national team at 17 and was...

Adaptive skiing pioneer

Hal O'Leary
Passing Date: June 3, 2021

Hal O’Leary, a pioneer in promoting recreational activities for people with disabilities, and one of the founders of The National Sports Center for the Disabled, died in June at Denver Hospice at the age of 94. Born in Montreal, O’Leary earned a business degree from the University of Montreal,...

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....