2012 Maine Ski Hall of Fame class
This year’s class of pioneers, builders, coaches and instructors follows.
Bruce Fenn
Bruce Fenn was one of the pioneers in ski instruction in the East. After the war he taught at Stowe with Fred Isling and started the Wildcat ski School when that area opened. He was among the earliest examiners for PSIA and served for many years maintaining the high standards for instructors. His greatest service toMaine skiing came at an age when many ski instructors retire, when he joined the Lost Valley Ski School. Thanks to his sharing of his knowledge of instruction and the certification process, LostValley instructors achieve one of the highest pass rates at the exam of any ski school
LL Bean
Leon Leonwood Bean is well known for his devotion to all things outdoors and when skiing was in its infancy he was a leading promoter of the sport. Starting on the 1920’s he began selling ski equipment both in the store and through his catalogs. The Worldwide distribution of the LL Bean catalog played a key role in the growth ofMaine ski products, Bass ski boots and Paris skis. His legacy is a store and catalog that to this day continues to promote cross country skiing and the outdoors as a way of life.
Andre Benoit
Andre Benoit began skiing over 75 years ago at Jockey Cap in Fryeburg and he skied through high school and college at Kimball Union and Bowdoin. Graduating in 1943 Benoit joined the 10th Mountain Division and after Training in Colorado served in the Italian campaign. Returning to Maine after the war he continued his passion for skiing creating a ski shop within the AH Benoit store in downtown Portland. In the fifties and through the growth years of the sixties, this store played a vital role in promoting skiing inMaine and he continued giving after his retirement as a volunteer at Maine Handicapped Skiing.
Erlon “Bucky” Broomhall
Bucky Broomhall follows three of his brothers, Chummy, Ray and Slim into the Maine Ski Hall of Fame, and like them he took the skills developed in Rumford to success in competition and coaching. As a competitor in college he led his ski teams at Western State in Colorado to a pair of NCAA Championships. In the years since he has coached successfully in Maine at Fryeburg Academy and Mexico High, and from 1966 to 1992 Bucky coached skiing in Vermont in both high school and the Torger Tokle League, now the Bill Koch League.
Frank Howell
Frank Howell was one of a small cadre of free style skiers that came out of Pleasant Mountain in the sixties and seventies putting Maine on the map as a hotbed of the discipline. He competed for more than ten years on the freestyle circuit winning the US National Combined Championship in 1977. Among his innovative firsts in freestyle were a 720 in ballet and a helicopter spread in an aerial competition. Following his retirement from active competition Frank became a judge at the World cup level and traveled the world judging events.
Walter Stadig
The Grandson of a ski builder, Walter Stadig manufactured skis in the thirties and sold them throughout northern Maine. In 1936 he was the oldest starter in the 176 mile Bangor to Caribou race and over 50 at the time was one of only five to finish the race. Following World War II Stadig turned to ski area development designing and building the first chair lift in Maine at Michaud Hill in Soldier Pond. He later built lifts at Thorn Mountain in NH and Blue Hills in MA. Walter Stadig was a ski pioneer as a ski maker, athlete and developer.
Philip Hussey
Philip Hussey as President of Hussey Mfg. Company in the thirties looked for a way to add to the companie's product lines and as a skier organized a winter Sports Engineering Group that built lifts and ski jumps. Their first project Belknap Recreation Area (Now Gunstock) was to design and build an entire area, roads, parking lots, trails, bridges, water and sewer, and the first chairlift east of theMississippi. The first project was a 60 meter ski jump later enlarged to 79 meters. In 1936 Hussey was selected to build another large and famous jump, the Nansen Ski Club jump in Berlin,NH. Due to the leadership of Philip Hussey his company was a key contributor to ski area development in the 30’s and even into the 60’s
Natalie Terry
Few instructors have brought along as many skiers as Natalie Terry. Since 1969 Natalie has taught skiing full time uninterrupted as part of the Sugarloaf Perfect Turn Program and in her late eighties shows no signs of letting up. Her devotion to each student has led to her being the most requested instructor at Sugarloaf for private lessons and an award for the second most requested is given in her name, because no one else comes close. PSIA recognized her maintaining full level three certification with a life time membership and she has been recognized by Skiing Magazine as one of the top 100 instructors in the country.
Each of these skiers has contributed to Maine skiing and a full house is expected at Lost Valley Friday October 26 to honor them as they are inducted into the Maine Ski Hall of Fame.
