More remarkable was that he was the first person from outside the Alps to win an Olympic downhill.
...and he predicted it, ala Joe Namath, when he began winning slalom races four months leading up to the Olympics and when he felt his practice runs showed that the conditions and course design matched his free-for-all stlye. It was a logical conclusion, but came off as bold and brash because of his personality and that he was American.
He personally transformed Mt. Hood from a very local ski resort to an international destination. Not long after his win, the U.S. Ski Team made Mt. Hood it's home for decades, when they discovered that a 200+" base was the norm up through the 70's. That changed the last four decades to where we only had 50" last year, but we're back to over 110" already this year. The Ski team could ski until mid-June in the past making it very practical.
Reply With Quote