Lives

Pachita Ochoa, Olympic slalom champ

Paquito Ochoa
Passing Date: November 6, 2006

1972 Olympic slalom champ  Francisco Fernandez “Paquito” Ochoa, 1972 Olympic slalom champion at Sapporo, died Nov. 6, 2006  after a long battle with cancer. He was 56. Ochoa, the only Spanish winter gold medalist, remained active in the Spanish Olympic movement, and his funeral, at his home town...

Robert Bunny Bass, ski boot pioneer

Bunny Bass
Passing Date: October 27, 2006

Key figure in ski boot history -- and a founder of Sugarloaf. Robert N. "Bunny" Bass, 89, died Friday, Oct. 27, 2006, in Falmouth Maine. Bunny Bass had a busy decade in the 1950s. He spent it running his family’s boot and shoe business, helping to launch Ski Industries America (SIA), and helping to...

Alexander Cushing, Squaw Valley founder

Alex Cushing
Passing Date: August 19, 2006

Squaw Valley founder was aggressive builder, promoter; brought 1960 Winter Games to California. Alexander C. Cushing, one of the founders of Squaw Valley and the man who brought the 1960 Winter Olympics to the resort, died of pneumonia on Aug. 19, 2006 at Sea Cove, his summer home in Newport, Rhode...

Warren Chivers, Olympian and coach

Warren Chivers
Passing Date: August 18, 2006

Warren Chivers, 91 Dartmouth racer went on to teach and coach at Vermont Academy. Warren Houston Chivers, 91, of Saxtons River, Vermont, died on Friday, Aug. 18, 2006, at the Springfield, Vermont, hospital. He had been ill for some time, and the immediate cause of death was pneumonia. The son of...

Hans Gmoser, heliski pioneer

Hans Gmoser
Passing Date: July 5, 2006

By Chic Scott (from the CMH website) Banff, AB - Hans Gmoser, the eminence grise of Canadian mountaineering, died July 5th, 2006 from injuries sustained in a fall while cycling the 1A highway near Lake Louise. In recent years Gmoser had shunned the limelight, content to enjoy his two favourite...

John Elvrum, jumper

John Elvrum
Passing Date: July 4, 2006

John Elvrum, 97, jumper and Snow Valley developer Hall of Famer held U.S. jumping record in '30s, then served in 10th Mountain Division. U.S. National Ski Hall of Fame member. Elvrum, born in Trondheim, Norway, developed Snow Valley Ski Area in California's San Bernardino Mountains for three...

Frank Snyder, Stratton Mountain founder

Frank Snyder
Passing Date: June 26, 2006

Frank Snyder, 83, founder of Stratton Mountain Skier, sailor was president of NSAA and commodore of the NY Yacht Club. Frank Snyder, the lawyer and chemical company executive who played a key role in founding Stratton Mountain, died June 26, 2006, a few days short of his 84th birthday. He suffered...

Richard Kohnstamm, Timberline Lodge savior

Dick Kohnstamm
Passing Date: April 25, 2006

Richard Kohnstamm, 80 Rescued and managed Timberline Lodge Government Camp, Ore.,  Richard L. Kohnstamm, who transformed Timberline Lodge into a national skiing institution in the 1950s, died April 25, 2006, after becoming ill at his family's cabin on Mount Hood. He was 80 years old. Kohnstamm...

William Kirschner, K2 founder

Bill Kirschner
Passing Date: April 23, 2006

Vashon, Wash. -- H. William Kirschner, 87, the founder of K2 Corp., died April 23, 2006, of pneumonia. Bill Kirschner was born in Seattle in 1918 and graduated in 1939 from the University of Washington with a degree in engineering. He married Barbara Rankin, and spent the war years managing a mine...

Burt Sims, award-winning ski journalist

Burt Sims
Passing Date: February 1, 2006

Born in Los Angeles in 1918, Burt Sims began his career as newspaperman in 1934 when, at age 15, “Boys Day in Industry” brought him to the city room of the Los Angeles Examiner. While a senior at Washington High, he was hired to report high-school sports scores. Burt spent the next 40 years in...