Sanford Morris “Sandy” Treat Jr. died at Vail Health Medical Center September 1, at age 96.
Raised in New York City, Treat learned to ski during winter vacations at Lake Placid. At Deerfield Academy he became fluent in Spanish and French, and raced on the first ski team. He was a freshman on the Dartmouth ski team when Pearl Harbor was attacked. Volunteering for the 10th Mountain Division, he trained at Camp Hale and was promoted to drill sergeant. After the Italian campaign, the Army called on Treat’s language skills and assigned him to Army Intelligence in the north of Spain, chasing down fleeing Nazis.
Back at Dartmouth, he captained the ski team, graduating in 1949. That summer he married Marion Knudson, daughter of Norwegian immigrants.
Treat worked in Montreal for Alcan Aluminum, eventually landing in Geneva, Switzerland, where he attended the Centre d’Etudes Industrielle and worked in aluminum operations all over Europe. After a long career managing Alcan sales across North and South America, the couple settled with their three kids in Greenwich, Connecticut, and acquired a farm in West Dover, Vermont, within walking distance of Mount Snow. When Alcan relocated to Cleveland, Ohio. Undaunted, Treat formed a local USSA junior team to keep his kids racing. Daughters Cindy and Leslie became Midwest champs. Son Sandy III raced at Holderness School.
Marion died of cancer in 1975. While managing Alcan sales in Canada, in 1982 he married Barbara Danuke of Toronto. After retiring from Alcan in 1984 the couple moved to Vail, reuniting with Pete Seibert and other 10th Mountain friends. Treat took up Masters racing with great success, and worked as a volunteer at the 1989 Alpine World Championships. He served as a director for numerous local nonprofits, and conducted weekly lectures on the history of the 10th, at the Colorado Snowsports Museum. He was inducted into the Colorado Snowsports Hall of Fame in 2010.
Barbara died of cancer in in 2006, and Sandy III in 2015. The family asks that contributions in Treat’s memory be made to the Colorado Snowsports Museum and Hall of Fame.
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