Lives

Nick Hock, 10th Mountain veteran and ski industry pioneer

Nick Hock
Passing Date: November 1, 2008

Nick Hock, 91 Nick Hock was born in 1917, and grew up in Grinzing, a western suburb of Vienna, amidst the ruins of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His father, managing director of a large paper mill, was an accomplished climber, and taught his kids to ski in the hilly Vienna woods. Like his siblings,...

Dick Barrymore, Ski film maker

Dick Barrymore
Passing Date: August 1, 2008

Dick Barrymore, ski film auteur By MOUNTAIN EXPRESS STAFF Dick Barrymore, maker of ski films and developer of a resort in Mexico, died at his Ketchum, Idaho home. He was 74. Barrymore was best known as the maker of action ski films, including Last of the Ski Bums, The Performers and Wild Skis. He...

Jim Woolner, Ski Equipment Importer

Jim Woolner
Passing Date: July 15, 2008

Jim Woolner, Ski Equipment Importer Jim Woolner, one of the ski industry's most respected businessmen, died at his home in Scarsdale, N.Y., on July 15, 2008. He was 88. As president of Beconta, a ski equipment importing firm that represented many of the ski industry's leading names and brands,...

George Bauer, SKI Magazine publisher

George Bauer
Passing Date: July 13, 2008

George Bauer, SKI Magazine publisher George Bauer, resident of Old Saybrook, Connecticut, passed away on July 13, 2008 after a long illness.  George was born in 1925 and Lived in Larchmont, N.Y. for many years. A graduate of New York State Maritime Academy, he served in the U.S. Navy during World...

Oakley Hall, author "The Downhill Racers"

Oakley Hall
Passing Date: May 12, 2008

By WILLIAM GRIMES Published: May 16, 2008 Oakley Hall, the author of the novels “Warlock” and “The Downhill Racers” and a literary heir to fellow California writers like Wallace Stegner, at his home in Nevada City, Calif. He was 87 and lived in Nevada City, Squaw Valley and San Francisco. Liz...

Jack Taylor, Pro mogul champ

Jack Taylor
Passing Date: April 13, 2008

The man, huge in everybody's eyes who ever knew him, died in a boating accident April 13, 2008, in Fernando Bay, north of Jacksonville, Fla. While rowing his dinghy from mooring to shore, the 1970s pro mogul king lost control in the rough seas. He was found dead in the marshes the next day. He was...

Jim Quarles, Racer and retailer

Jim Quarles
Passing Date: January 25, 2008

Jim Quarles, racer and retailer Jim Quarles, alpine and cross-country racer,retailer and distributor, died January 25, 2008 in Montreal. Born in Montreal in 1933, Quarles was a member of Canada's National Ski Team. From 1957 to 1963, Quarles was a member of the Canadian National Alpine Ski Team,...

David Bradley, Racer, writer, surgeon

David Bradley
Passing Date: January 7, 2008

David Bradley, 92, nordic combined champ, surgeon , author, anti-nuke advocate David Bradley died on Jan. 7, 2007 in Norway, Me. He was 92. Born Feb. 22, 1915, David John Bradley raced at Dartmouth, where he graduated in 1938, after winning the national nordic combined championship. He was named to...

Paul Valar, ski technique authority

Paul Valar
Passing Date: December 25, 2007

Paul S. Valar, 87, pioneer instructor Swiss racer, mountain guide was a force in New Hampshire skiing from 1950 onward. Franconia, N.H. -- Paul S. Valar, 87, skied across the finish line on December 25, 2007, dying as a result of complications from advanced prostate cancer. For the ski industry,...

Gene Bahniuk, binding safety guru

Gene Bahniuk
Passing Date: May 24, 2007

Gene Bahniuk, 81, binding safety guru Mechanical engineering professor drove development of safety standards Dr. Eugene Bahniuk, professor of engineering at Case-Western University, died May 24, 2007 at his home in Gates Mills, Ohio. He was 81. Born in 1926 in West Virginia, Bahniuk grew up in...