Lives

Ski industry public-relations executive

Tony Furman
Passing Date: February 20, 2017

Ski-industry public relations executive Anthony “Tony” Furman died on February 20, 2017, after a short illness at the age of 83. Tony founded his sports marketing and public relations firm Anthony M. Furman, Inc. in New York City in 1966, growing the business and his national reputation as the “...

Bill Beck: Olympian, national downhill champion

Bill Beck
Passing Date: February 16, 2017

William (Bill) L. Beck of Middlebury, Vermont passed away peacefully on February 16, 2017 at the age of 87 following a brief Illness. He was born in Malden, Massachusetts on September 1, 1929, the son of the late William M.H. Beck, Jr. and Ruth Clark LeBaron Beck. Bill graduated from South...

Adrien Duvillard Sr: Champion racer, Rossignol engineer

Adrien Duvillard (père)
Passing Date: February 14, 2017

Adrien Duvillard Sr, who won every downhill on the European schedule in 1959, has died on the slopes of his home town Megève, of an apparent heart attack. He was 82.   At age 17, Duvillard was 1951 French National Champion in both slalom and GS. By 1955 he was growing strong in downhill, but as he...

Hyak founder, resort design consultant

Frederick (Skip) D. Voorhees
Passing Date: February 12, 2017

Hyak founder, resort design consultant Resort founder and design consultant Frederick (Skip) D. Voorhees, 92, died February 12, 2017. Raised in Connecticut and on his family’s ranch in Idaho, he graduated from the Hopkins School in 1942. He served as an Air Force flight instructor, then attended...

Vermont nightclub and restaurant owner

Tony Perry
Passing Date: January 21, 2017

Tony Perry died on January 21, 2017 in Vail, Colorado of complications of melanoma. A successful entrepreneur, his Five Flys nightclub and Sirloin Saloon restaurant were longtime après-ski hotspots in Manchester, Vermont. He was 79. Perry was born in May 1937 in Greenwich, Connecticut and spent his...

Racer, manufacturer, adventurer

Chris Schwarzenbach
Passing Date: January 19, 2017

Jean-Christophe Froelicher-Schwarzenbach, one of the most colorful figures in California’s skiing scene, died on January 19, 2017, at age 98. Chris was born in Quogue on Long Island. His father, born in Zurich, ran the New York office of the family silk-weaving business, and his mother was born in...

Canadian downhill racer, Olympian, FIS official

Gerry Rinaldi
Passing Date: January 9, 2017

*/ Canadian downhill racer and Olympian Gerry Rinaldi passed away on January 9, 2017 at the age of 72, in Kelowna, British Columbia. Born in Kimberley, BC, Rinaldi learned to ski at Kimberley Resort and was named to the Canadian national team in 1963. He competed in the 1968 Olympic downhill,...

Hungarian racer and coach

Barnabas Kovacs
Passing Date: January 1, 2017

Barnabas Kovacs, 70, a significant figure in the Hungarian skiing community, died in a car accident on January 1, 2017. Kovacs became Hungarian junior alpine champion several times and was a member of the national team. Starting in 1985, he worked as alpine head coach variously for the Netherlands...

Olympic champion, resort developer, sportswear exec

Jean Vuarnet
Passing Date: January 1, 2017

Jean Vuarnet, Olympic champion in downhill at the 1960 Squaw Valley Olympics, founder of the Avoriaz ski resort and of a successful eyewear and fashion company, died January 1 after a stroke. He was 83 years old. Raised in Morzine, Vuarnet skied for the University of Grenoble, while studying for a...

Importer, Buying Group Pioneer

John J. Sherwin
Passing Date: December 27, 2016

John J. Sherwin, a businessman who founded one of the ski industry’s first buying groups, died December 27, 2016, at age 94, at his home in Rye, New York.   John was born in Berlin, Germany and raised in Switzerland. As a teen he was an avid ski racer and rowed crew on Lake Geneva. Leaving...