Bill Beck

Bill Beck, of Middlebury, Vermont, was a member of the National Ski Team from 1951-1957. He had the best downhill finish by an American male with his fifth place in the downhill at the 1952 Olympic Games. His record stood for 32 years until Bill Johnson won the gold medal in 1984. Beck also finished 5th, in 1952, in the prestigious Arlberg-Kandahar Downhill, again a best ever by an American skier. He was a member of the 1954 World Championship Team, the 1956 Olympic Team Captain, and coach of the 1960 Olympic team. He remained active in the ski industry after retiring as a coach, industry representative, sport shop owner.

 Click here to hear Bill Beck.

Erlon "Bucky" Broomhall

Erlon "Bucky" Broomhall, originally from Rumford, Maine, dedicated his career to giving opportunities to young skiers in Southern Vermont. Broomhall had a successful college career racing for the Western State College Cross Country Ski Team. He came to Bennington in 1966 "to head a total ski program for the kids of all ages from kindergarten through high school." He coached cross country, jumping and downhill, winning 5 Vermont State High School championships and helping at least 25 skiers to the Junior Olympics. He was one of the first in the nation to coach a girl’s team and brought the first girl’s team to Junior Olympics in 1968. In 1969, he left his coaching position to start the Torger Tokel League, now known as the Bill Koch League to develop skiers not yet in high school.

 Click here to hear Bucky Broomhall.

Suzy Chaffee

Suzy Chaffee, from Rutland, VT, had a successful career on the US Women’s Ski Team competing in the downhill. Due to a miscalculation in wax, she did not fulfill her Olympic potential in the 1968 Games, but she received press for her silver racing suit. She used this press to launch many ventures including a modeling/endorsement/film career, a designer clothing line, and ski equipment made for women. She has been a strong advocate for women’s equality in sports. She joined the freestyle ski team as professional in 1971 and competed with the men since there was no women’s division; she won titles in 1971-73. She was one of the first two women to serve on the USOC's Board of Directors; she assisted in the passage of the "Amateur Sport Act of 1978"; she served on president’s council on physical fitness under four administrations. Most recently she founded the Native Voices Foundation with the mission "to create joyful unity through sports and education to heal mother earth for all our children."

 Click here to hear Suzy Chaffee discuss her career talk about Bobo Sheehan.

Robert "Bobo" Sheehan

Robert "Bobo" Sheehan was a legendary coach from 1945-1968. He skied on the Newport Vermont High School team in 1939, 1940 before joining the Middlebury class of’44. Sheehan coached the Middlebury women’s team in 1946 and led the Middlebury men in 1948 to their first of two consecutive national championship titles. In the same year Becky Fraser ’46, captain of the 1944 and 1945 women’s teams, became the first Middlebury skier to compete for the U.S. Olympic Team. He coached the 1956 US Olympic Team. He was president of the Eastern Collegiate Ski Association and member of the Olympic Ski Games Committee. In 1984, Middlebury College dedicates the Robert "Bobo" Sheehan chairlift in celebration of 50 years of skiing at the College. Sheehan died in 1999.

 Click here to hear Jack Sheehan and Howard Kelton.

Paul Robbins Ski Journalism Award

The award recognizes ski journalists who, with the same commitment as Paul Robbins, perform his/her skill in written, broadcast, or photo journalism with ethics, humor, good taste and always with the promotion of Vermont skiing and the larger skiing community in mind. The recipient shall not be awarded solely on the basis of one story, but rather a lifetime of service to the ski community.

2009 Recipient: Hubert Schriebl