Buddy Werner

Wallace "Buddy" Werner (February 26, 1936 - April 12, 1964) was an American ski racer in the 1950s and early 1960s. Born and raised in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, Werner and his siblings were accomplished skiers, and competed in both alpine and nordic events on Howelsen Hill. Werner raced for the University of Colorado in the mid 1950s, making the Olympic team in his sophomore year, joining his elder sister Skeeter Werner Walker.

Buddy Werner was selected for the U.S. Olympic Team three times: 1956, 1960, & 1964. His best chance to medal was in 1960 at Squaw Valley, but Werner broke his leg two months before the games while training in Aspen.

A year earlier, he was the first non-European to win the famed Hahnenkamm downhill race in Kitzbühel, Austria in 1959, at age 22. [cite web|title=Hahnenkamm champions, men, downhill|publisher=Kitzbüheler Ski Club|url=http://www.hahnenkamm.com/cms/en/winners_courses/honor_roll_the_champions/men/downhill/index.html|accessdate=2008-08-27] (The only American to win since was Daron Rahlves in 2003, on a fog-shortened course.) Although Werner never won an Olympic medal, he is considered the first world-class ski racer from the U.S.; he excelled in all three alpine disciplines.

Following the conclusion of the 1964 racing season (at the U.S. Championships in Alaska), Werner retired from competition at age 28 and embarked on a new career. He traveled to Europe in early spring to film the ski movie "Ski-Fascination" for Willy Bogner. Werner and German racer (and Olympic medalist) [http://www.fis-ski.com/de/606/615.html?sector=AL&competitorid=24377&type=result Barbi Henneberger] , age 23, [http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Henneberger] were suddenly caught in an avalanche on the Trais Fleur slope near St. Moritz, Switzerland, and died on April 12, 1964. Werner skied out of the first avalanche, but was caught up in a second; their bodies were found hours later, deaths attributed to suffocation. [http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1075859/index.htm]

Werner was posthumously inducted into the National Ski Hall of Fame later that year. Storm Mountain, the primary mountain of the new Steamboat Ski Resort in his hometown, was renamed Mount Werner in his honor in February 1965. He was inducted into the Colorado Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame in 1977.

Notes and references

External links

* [http://www.coloradoskihalloffame.com/images_bio_htm_files/Buddy_Werner.htm Colorado Ski Hall of Fame] - Buddy Werner - inducted in 1977
* [http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5673 Teton Gravity.com] - Buddy Werner - reprint of "Denver Post" article by John Meyer - Dec 2003
* [http://skihall.com/current-members.asp National Ski Hall of Fame] - list of inducted members - Buddy Werner - inducted in 1964
* [http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?article=34109&section=104&archive=true Stars & Stripes] - archives - photos of Buddy Werner - 08-Feb-1959 - "European edition"
* [http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/cover/featured/7855/index.htm "Sports Illustrated"] - cover - 27-Jan-1964 - Winter Olympics preview - Buddy Werner
* [http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/cover/featured/7400/index.htm "Sports Illustrated"] - cover - 14-Mar-1955 - Buddy Werner
** [http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1129415/1/index.htm Olympic Gallery] - by William Johnson

* [http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1075859/index.htm "Sports Illustrated"] - The Man with No Luck - 20-Apr-1964 - death of Buddy Werner

*FIS|S=AL|ID=65836