| Birth: | Dec. 23, 1917
Lander
Fremont County
Wyoming, USA | | Death: | Jul. 19, 2005
Arvada
Jefferson County
Colorado, USA | 
Olympic Athlete. An American skiing pioneer, he was born in Lander, Wyoming, and raised in Hot Sulphur Springs, Colorado, he was on skis by age four and was still skiing 84 years later in the winter before his death. Won his first prize at age 13 when he captured the Western Boys Jumping Championship. After winning the National Class B Ski-Jumping Championship in 1935, he switched to alpine skiing and collected a series of awards that eventually included every major race in North America. Among them were the National Downhill, Slalom, and Combined Championships, along with the Harriman Cup (1942); the National Combined (1946); the Roch Cup Combined (1947); a special Alpine Combined at the St. Moritz Olympics (1948) where he was captain of the United States Olympic Ski Team and won medals in three events; and the National Ski Association's Veterans Race in 1956. At the time of his death, he held the record as the oldest American ever to compete in an Olympic alpine skiing event. Served in the Army Air Corps during World War II as an arctic survival specialist and instructor pilot. In 1947 he was awarded the National Ski Association's All American Ski Trophy for his all-around contribution to the sport, followed by the Halstead Trophy of the Southern Rocky Mountain Ski Association for the same reason, and the Robert Russell Memorial Trophy as Colorado's outstanding athlete of the year, the first time ever for a skier. Inducted into the National Ski Hall of Fame in 1959, the Colorado Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame 1978 and later into the International Legends of Skiing Hall of Fame. In 1996 he was recognized as an American Skiing Legend by "SKI" magazine. After retiring from competitive skiing, he remained active in the ski industry as a manufacturer's representative. Died of natural causes in Arvada, near Denver, Colorado. (bio by: Fred Beisser)
Search Amazon for Robert McLean
Inscription:
A MAN WHO MATCHED THE MOUNTAINS.
| | | Burial:
Crown Hill Cemetery
Wheat Ridge
Jefferson County
Colorado, USA
Plot: Block 3, Lot 137, Space D-2 |
Maintained by: Find A Grave
Originally Created by: Fred Beisser
Record added: Jul 28, 2005
Find A Grave Memorial# 11439826 |
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