'64 Olympian Billy Kidd hitting slopes
Lynn DeBruinBilly Kidd won a silver medal in 1964 and still loves getting on the slopes.STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. -- Woolen hats, leather boots and wood skis were the latest technology when Billy Kidd won silver at the 1964 Olympic Winter Games, giving the U.S. men their first-ever alpine medal.
Though the equipment has changed dramatically since that heroic effort, the Kidd who made history by proving an American could triumph over his seemingly invincible European counterparts remains a fixture on the slopes more than 45 years later.
Now 66, the man who dreamt of being a cowboy as a boy, and displayed a go-for-broke style on the slopes, continues to fit right in at this authentic, historic cowboy town, even if he's swapped a helmet for his trademark Stetson on the slopes.
About 100 days a year, the longtime director of skiing at Steamboat Ski Resort steps off the gondola and leads a free, hour-long clinic for anybody and everybody who shows up.
It's readily apparent he still has the form and personality that made him a racing icon, and one of his sport's greatest ambassadors.
One recent, sun-splashed Friday, he led an eclectic group down the blue groomer Heavenly Daze, his students ranging from a 5-year-old Lindsey Vonn wannabe to a 66-year-old Jacksonville, Fla., ski club member.
"It's like riding a bicycle," said Hal Curette of Jacksonville. "You never lose the ability to ski; it just comes slower as you get older."
Even though he's the same age as Kidd, Curette wasn't interested in racing the former Olympian down the mountain.
"I don't think so, unless I want to come in second," he said.
Sure enough, Kidd, who lost out on gold by 14 one-hundredths of a second to Austria's Pepi Stiegler at the Innsbruck Games, still makes skiing look effortless.
"It's really fun," Kidd said of the free clinic that might cost hundreds elsewhere. "I can improve people's skiing dramatically in 45 minutes, so it's really satisfying. And to be out on a day like this in sunny weather, people are always in a good mood. Even in a blizzard, skiers are happy."
Kidd, who has skied with everyone from racer Jean-Claude Killy, actor Clint Eastwood and astronaut Buzz Aldrin to the late Bobby Kennedy, John Denver and President Gerald Ford, seamlessly weaved in lessons on the basics -- feet spread, knees bent, arms forward even in the lift line and starting gate -- while talking about today's stars and regaling his audience with tales about the past.
"I'll even tell you what to say in the finish line interview because that's going to come in handy when you win that gold and want to make the big bucks," quipped Kidd, who readily encourages people to go after their dreams.
The Steamboat transplant (he moved from Vermont in 1970) drove home his point about how iced-down championship courses are by describing how he once, while serving as an Olympic commentator, donned a pair of hockey skates minutes before a slalom race. He eventually pushed off and skated down the run.
"If I had told the audience that it was icy, they'd say, 'C'mon, who are you trying to kid? Lindsey Vonn and the racers make it look like powder snow,'" he said.
At Steamboat, it's more likely skiers will find champagne powder than ice.
But chances are equally great of running into a Winter Olympian -- especially considering Steamboat Springs has produced more than 80.
Earlier that Friday, Kidd set off down Buddy's Run with Jim "Moose" Barrows, a 1968 Olympian whose bid for gold in Grenoble, France, ended abruptly in a spectacular fall well documented by ABC's Wide World of Sports.
Also in their group were 1972 Olympian Mike Lafferty and Norway's Otto Tschudi, who competed in two Winter Games in addition to winning four NCAA titles with the University of Denver.
"One of the nice things about skiing is skiing with friends. It was just so much fun. We were in no hurry," Kidd said of skiing with that group in a foot of fresh powder.
The same might be said of his plans to keep up the clinics and skiing in general.
He notes that 82-year-old Stein Eriksen, who won gold and silver at the 1952 Olympics, is still director of skiing at Utah's Deer Valley. And Herman "Jackrabbit" Smith-Johannsen, a skiing pioneer who popularized the sport across Canada and the U.S., skied until he was 102 (he died in 1987 at age 111).
"That's the nice thing about skiing. You can do it at your own speed. You just don't get tired of it," Kidd said.
Lynn DeBruin, formerly of The Rocky Mountain News, is a freelance writer for Sports Media Exchange, a national freelance writing network.
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