OCR Text |
Show Volume XV Issue II The Ogden Valley news Page 21 January 1, 2008 SNOWBASIN cont. from page 11 to coach young racers after he retired from competition. Next in the Miller family ski racing lineage was Dale, who became a top competitor at the intermountain and national level. Dale won both the National Jr. Downhill and Giant Slalom in 1963, and the NCAA Western Regional Downhill in 1964. He placed 5th in the NCAA National Slalom. Dale would also Dale Miller return to the Snowbasin ski racing program as a highly respected coach. Alan and Dale Miller were teammates on the 1958 Jr. National Team, along with another local, John Rasmussen. Alan would take second place in the Downhill. Teammate Margot Walters, as already noted, would ski in the 1964 Olympics. In the mid-1960s, Alan Miller returned from military service and skiing on the European FIS Circuit to coach at Snowbasin. Earl was still active, but Alan became the director of the race program that was renamed the Utah Racing School. Duane Manful and Butch Hoffman were highly effective coaches working with Alan, and sons Rich Manful and Scott Hoffman developed into top racers for the program. Scott Hoffman eventually became Rookieof-the-Year on the pro racing circuit. Anne Manful, another top Jr. racer and now Anne Miller, Alan’s wife, also coached, as did Jack Lawrence. Alan’s young racers were known throughout the Intermountain race circuit as the toughest and fiercest of competitors. Perhaps adding to that legacy was the day the team roared into the parking lot for a race at Jackson Hole—helmets, goggles, full race gear on and ready for the start gate—in a car without a front windshield. An unlucky moose had come in contact with the team vehicle on the trip from Utah, but didn’t slow them down. In the mid-1960s, Jack Lawrence formed a second, competition ski team at Snowbasin. Larry Ross and Dave Langford helped with the coaching, and the team came up with an interesting innovation. With an old rope tow they purchased, they would head up to the early autumn snows of Monte Cristo to run gates and get a head start on the competition. Within a couple of years, under Alan Miller, the two teams had merged back into the Utah Racing School. The third of Earl Miller’s sons, Ray, was on skis before he was two. Under Earl, Alan, and Dale’s tutelage, he raced in the Jr. Nationals when he was 13. Twice he was selected Intermountain Junior and Senior Racer of the Year. He was NCAA Big Sky Racer of the Year in 1968/1969, and a NCAA All American. Ray was selected to the U.S. Ski Team in 1966. Again, following in his brother’s footsteps, he would later return to the race program as a coach. The Miller’s weren’t the only family contributing more than one outstanding athlete to the Basin’s race program. Peggy, Rick, and Paul Goddard were accomplished competitors during the 1960s. Peggy’s sons Casey and Chris Puckett were on several U.S. Olympic Ski Teams. The 1970s saw Dale Miller and Rob Wall take over much of the direction of Snowbasin’s race program from Alan Miller and his staff, and the team name was changed to the Snowbasin Ski Team. Ray Jones also coached, and his son Corey eventually medaled in the Jr. Olympics. Ray Miller completed the family circle in the late 70s when he returned as a coach for his brother Dale. The Sneddens were another local family that left a significant mark on the Team. Melisa and her brothers Curtis and Greg were each accomplished competitors, and Melisa went on to ski for the BYU Ski Team with a number of excellent results in national competition. Butch Hoffman formed another ski team at Nordic Valley in the late 1970s. He attracted a number of talented skiers who were drawn to its steep, icy race course. Among them were Kirk Langford, and Danny Lawrence who was nicknamed “Dangerous Dan.” According to Kirk, “He could fly, but he fell a lot. He was skiing down a cat track about 70 mph at Jackson and suddenly veered off into the woods. Amazingly, he didn’t get hurt. We asked him what happened. He said his neck hurt, so he put his head between his legs to rest it and lost his focus. Head between his legs . . . at 70 mph . . . on a six foot wide cat track!” Dan is currently the Snowbasin Varsity Team head coach. Kirk Langford went on to ski for Weber Kirk Langford State and the University of Utah, and made a number of podiums in the early days of the pro circuits. In the 1980s, the Nordic team merged back into the Snowbasin program, newly named the Snowbasin Ski Education Foundation. Snowbasin hosted the Western Spring Series National Finals Giant Slalom in 1980, and many of the marquee names on the World Cup showed up. Phil and Steve Mahre, Cindy Nelson, Tamara Mckinney— Olympic Gold Medalists and World Cup Champions—all competed. The third generation of racing Millers— Brady, Dale, and Beth’s son—developed into top junior skiers. But Brady’s greatest accomplishment on a race course would come many years later in a national competition against a legendary name. After a stint as mountain manager at Nordic Valley, Ray Miller returned to Snowbasin to coach the ski team in the late 1980s. Brother Dale once again contributed his considerable coaching skills, as did Dan Lawrence and Corey Jones. Dan’s son Johnny, a ski team grad, skied in the North American Cup. Ray’s terrific coaching and leadership abilities are still displayed daily in his role as Head Coach of the Alpine Team. The F.I.S. NOR/AM Downhill was held at Snowbasin in 1989. Tommy Moe, who would win a gold medal in the Olympic Downhill, finished first. From the mid-1990s through the Olympics, Snowbasin hosted a number of major ski competitions. All four disciplines of the U.S. Nationals were held at Snowbasin in 1994. The National Alpine Championships came in 1999, and 2000 saw the first of the run-up events to the 2002 Olympics—the Women’s World Cup Downhill and Super G. 1996 brought a stunning announcement! Snowbasin would host six of the alpine events during the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. Earl Holding, the resort’s owner, marshaled his considerable financial resources, staff, contractors, and volunteers, and issued marching orders to transform the runs off the John Paul lift into the world’s best race courses; and Snowbasin into one of the world’s great ski mountains. The universal consensus was he succeeded in spades. In 2001 the Men’s World Cup visited Snowbasin’s Grizzly downhill course, designed by famed Swiss Olympic Champion and course architect Bernard Russi. The Grizzly, as well as the women’s Wildcat course, quickly gained fame as among the most technically challenging downhills in the world. The Gold Cup, the final U.S. Olympic Team slalom selection event, was the last major race held at the mountain prior to the big event. With a last shot at making the Team and competing at an Olympics in their home country, the competition was fierce. Snowbasin became ground zero—the undisputed epicenter of the ski racing world—for two weeks in February of 2002 as the three Olympic Alpine speed events were held at the mountain. Each race day 25,000 spectators crammed and wedged themselves into the grandstands and any other vantage point they could find, joining hundreds of millions more in front of TVs to watch the world’s elite ski racers perform on the world’s grandest stage. The drama was riveting, as Bode Miller wrenched his body from imminent disaster to win silver medals for the U.S. The accolades for the race courses, the event management, the volunteers, and the stunning beauty of the terrain, the resort and the lodges, were effusive and universal. Racin’ at the Basin had come full circle . . . and traveled light years from those willow branches and courses on City Hill. Troy Price joined the Snowbasin Alpine Team as a coach in 1997 while a student at Weber State. He had been a highly successful junior racer under Ray Miller, winning the overall J3 Championship for the Intermountain Division in 1991. Troy eventually quit a promising accounting career to pursue his passion—skiing and teaching Troy Price young ski racers—and was appointed Program Director for the Alpine Team in 2003. He was selected Head Coach of the J3 Jr. Olympic team and Coach of the Year for the Intermountain division in 2006. Earl Miller family. Under the leadership of Troy and Head Coach Ray Miller, the Snowbasin Alpine Team and the racing organization of the Snowbasin Ski Education Foundation has been highly successful over the past decade. The team slogan is “Turning Impossible… into…I’m Possible.” The coaches and staff work long and hard to carry out their mission—to “provide a fun, yet challenging way for young men and women to improve their skiing, and develop skills and disci- pline that will provide lifelong enjoyment of an active, outdoor life.” The Snowbasin Alpine Team is comprised of the J1 and 2 and J3 Jr. Olympic Teams, the Varsity and Jr. Varsity Teams, and the Devo Elite and Devo Teams. Current coaches working under Ray Miller and Troy Price include Brady Miller, Tyler Callentine, Dan Lawrence, Jay Sawyer, Cody Brice, Angie Galloway, Brittany Cudmore, Ryan Bexell, Richard Douglas, Tate Callentine, Brad Davidson, Megan Hanrahan, Aaron Larsen, Patrick McCall, Laura Sawyer, and Ben Vandenberg. In addition to the numerous races hosted by Snowbasin, teams and individual athletes in the program compete in events at the regional and national level, often traveling to Intermountain races in Idaho, Wyoming, and Colorado. Over the past decade, 19 athletes representing the program have been selected to the Jr. Olympic Team—John and Daniel Lawrence in 1998; Cortney Sutherland in 1999; Patricia Clapham in 2000, 2001, and 2002; Jayme Bergseng, Michelle Brady Miller Hammond, and Cara Jones in 2001; Riley Bergsend and Patrick Hepburn in 2002; Melissa Frogh in 2004, 2005, and 2006; Loudon Fruth in 2004, 2005, and 2006; Alex Smith in 2005; Allison Leininger and Mac Wymore in 2006; Josh Elston in 2006 and 2007; Zane Elders and Brittni Thomason in 2007; and Timber-Ky Jones in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006. A history of Racin’ at the Basin would not be complete without recognizing the latest national titles won on a high profile stage by a few of our local older ski racers. Every year Masters competitors, led by Keith Rounkles, Bob Chambers, and Rollie Karjalainen, compete and consistently reach the podium in regional and national races. But 2007 saw a group of local athletes representing Snowbasin qualify and head to the Nastar National Championships in Steamboat Springs with extraordinary results. Oliver Zeh placed 4th after leading in the first run, Dawn Goode won a silver medal, and Dave Goode won bronze. Kristy Miller and Shiloh Famsworth both won gold. Brady Miller…yep, that family name again…also won a gold medal, beating fourtime Olympian and World Cup winner A.J. Kitt. What a fascinating journey it has been from those willow branch training gates. And the Alpine Team, competitors, and competition at Snowbasin have never been as dynamically successful—nor held more promise—than they do today. Note: Copies of the DVD “Racin’ at The Basin” are available for a $20 donation, and may be purchased on The Ogden Valley Business Association website at <www. ovba.org> Proceeds benefit The OVBA and The Snowbasin Ski Education Foundation. 5 bedroom, 3 bath brick home on .91 Just Listed! Nordic Valley home on one Beautiful 4 BD, 3 full BA, log home. Rock 5 bedrooms, 3 baths, on over 1 acre horse forested acres. Next to Wolf Creek Golf acre. 2 bedroom, 2 car garage, wrap around fireplace, hardwood floors. Home inspec- property. Great location in east Huntsville. $370,000 Course. $425,000 deck, large shop, lots of trees $340,000 tion and repairs completed. $399,900 Building lot in Elkhorn Subdivision. Views of Valley, Wolf Creek, Golf Course, & surrounding mtns. Price Reduced! $235,000 Sheep Creek / The Preserve .34 acre level building lot. Lots of open space. Great views! $198,000 5 bedroom, 3 bath home on 5.1 acres of 5 BD, 3 BA 1.21 acre horse property w/30’x55’ lush irrigated ground. Secluded setting, $625,000 two story shop! Owner/agent $397,000 barn. Drastic Price Reduction! Beautiful Dyan Gill (801) 644-5853 dyangill@hotmail.com |