Dave Murray (skier)

Dave Murray (September 9, 1953, in Vancouver, Canada - October 23, 1990) was an alpine ski racer. He was noted for being a member of the Crazy Canucks, the Canadian downhill racers of the late 1970s and early 1980s known for their fearless (and sometimes reckless) racing style. His teammates in the group were Ken Read, Dave Irwin, and Steve Podborski.

As part of the Crazy Canucks, Murray was considered the team mediator.^[1] He earned three podium finishes^[2] including two second place finishes behind fellow Crazy Canuck Ken Read. In 1979, he was ranked third in the world in downhill, but he never won a World Cup event.^[3] At the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, he finished 10th in the downhill.

Murray retired from competitive skiing following the 1982 season.^[2] After retiring, he returned to British Columbia and founded the Dave Murray Ski School in 1988. It has since become one of the most renowned ski schools in Canada, attracting visitors from across the nation.^[2] The downhill course at Whistler has been named the "Dave Murray course." It hosted World Cup Downhill and Super-G races from 1993-95 and will be used again at the 2010 Winter Olympics; it has been noted as being among the best in the world.^[4]

After a battle with skin cancer, Dave Murray died on October 23, 1990; he was 37 years old.^[1][4] Murray's daughter, Julia Murray, who was only 22 months old when he died, is a member of Canada's Ski Cross Team, and Olympian for the 2010 Winter Olympics to be held in February 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia. His wife, Stephanie Sloan, was a pioneer in freestyle skiing and a world champion.^[5]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Andrea Radke. "Ups and downs of the crazy crew". Calgary Sun. http://jam.canoe.ca/Television/TV_Shows/C/CTV/2005/01/29/914202-sun.html. Retrieved 2007-12-04. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} "Crazy Canucks". Canada's Walk of Fame. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. http://web.archive.org/web/20070927011353/http://www.canadaswalkoffame.com/inductees/06_crazy_canucks.htm. Retrieved 2007-12-04. 
3. ^ "Dave Murray Dies". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 1990-10-24. http://archives.cbc.ca/IDCC-1-41-417-2420/sports/crazy_canucks/. Retrieved 2007-12-04. 
4. ^ ^{a b} "Murray course reined in - a little". Canadian Press. 1990-03-23. http://tsn.ca/skiing/news_story/?ID=201278&hubname=skiing. Retrieved 2007-12-04. ^{[dead link]}
5. ^ "Olympic ski hopeful hot on her dad's trail". The Star (Toronto). 2010-01-11. http://olympics.thestar.com/2010/article/749004--olympic-ski-hopeful-hot-on-her-dad-s-trail. 

External links

• FIS-ski.com - race results - Dave Murray
• FIS-ski.com - World Cup season standings - Dave Murray - 1975-82
• Ski-db.com - results - Dave Murray
• Dave Murray dies CBC archives
• Crazy Canucks profile at Canada's Walk of Fame.

Persondata
Name	Murray
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1953-09-09
Place of birth
Date of death	1990-10-23
Place of death