USSA

Ted Sutton Honored With Blegen Award

by
USSA
2017-05-09 09:43
 

PARK CITY, UT (May 9, 2017) – New Hampshire ski racing official Ted Sutton (Lincoln, NH) has been named as the recipient of the 2017 Julius Blegen Award recognizing lifetime service to ski and snowboard competition. The Blegen Award, the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association's highest service honor, will be presented Thursday, May 14 in Park City during the annual USSA Congress.

The award is presented in memory of Julius Blegen, an outstanding contributor to the snow sport. Blegen was U.S. cross country champion in 1911-12, the founding president of Central Division in 1927 and coach of the 1932 Olympic ski team.

For more than five decades, Sutton has been one of America’s most valuable ‘go to’ leaders in alpine ski racing.

"Ted Sutton is the quintessential volunteer," said U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association Chairman Dexter Paine. "He has taken his passion for skiing and decades of experience in the ski industry to provide a lifetime of support for ski racing programs – most notably in providing his expertise in the design and safety of race courses."

Growing up in Vermont and New Hampshire, he got his start on a pair of 10th Mountain Division skis given to him by his uncle. He parlayed that into a racing career as a youth in the former Eastern Ski Association (ESA). He began his career as an instructor in Aspen under the legendary Friedl Pfeifer in the early ‘60s, bringing his skills back to New England, working as an instructor and snowmaker at Boston Hill.

Working together with ESA President Bob Thompson in the mid-60s, they partnered with the Boston Globe to form the Eastern Mass Buddy Werner League, with over a thousand kids participating. A talented promoter of ski racing, Sutton soon became a certified official and coach. By the mid ‘70s, Sutton became vice chair of the Eastern Alpine Competition Committee. His career expanded in the late ‘70s when he was named program director and head coach at Crotched Mountain, NH, creating the first U.S. Ski Association (USSA) High School Championships in 1981.

His career working on race courses took a big jump around the 1980 Olympics when he was recruited by Chief of Race Willy Schaeffler to be his assistant for the Games. That set him on a pathway to work more with courses around North America. He became a USSA technical delegate and later named as an International Ski Federation (FIS) course inspector and technical delegate.

Sutton moved on to Loon Mountain as program director and head coach in 1986, dramatically ramping up his engagement with USSA racing, as well as redesigning and engineering new race courses and safety systems at resorts around New England. His work at Loon later expanded to director of environmental liaisons and planning of development.

By 1996 he had taken over leadership positions with both USSA and the FIS. He continued in those roles recruiting course inspectors and developing instrumental training programs. In 2008 he turned the reins over to Bruce Crane, but has remained active as a FIS and USSA course inspector and technical delegate, as well as a board member of New Hampshire Alpine Racing Association (NHARA) for more than 30 years.

“I’m extremely honored to be receiving the Julius Belgen award,” said Sutton. “I have the deepest respect for USSA and all that it stands for. Winning this award would not have been possible without the inspiration I’ve received from all of the athletes, coaches and my fellow volunteers.”

The Julius Blegen Award will be the final award presented by Paine at the USSA's awards dinner on Thursday, May 14. Sutton will become the 74th recipient of the organization's highest honor, which has been presented since 1946.
 

Julius Blegen Recipients
1946 Roger Langley
1947 Arthur J. Barth
1948 Fred McNeil
1949 John Hostvedt
1950 Fred C. Bellmar
1951 Douglas M. Burckett
1952 F.C. Koziol
1953 Albert E. Sigal
1954 Harold A. Grinden
1955 Burton H. Boyum
1956 John B. Carson
1957 Olav Ulland
1958 T. Lee McCracken
1959 Robert C. Johnstone
1960 Dr. Amos R. 'Bud' Little and Malcolm McLane
1961 Sepp Ruschp
1962 J. Stanley Mullin
1963 Ralph A. 'Doc' DesRoches
1964 Robert Beattie
1965 Merritt H. Stiles
1966 Evelyn Masbruch
1967 C. Allison Merrill
1968 Willy J. Schaeffler
1969 William Berry
1970 Earl D. Walters
1971 Gustav Raaum
1972 James Balfanz
1973 Charles T. Gibson
1974 Sven Wiik
1975 Byron Nishkian
1976 Dr. J. Leland Sosman
1977 Gloria Chadwick
1978 Richard Goetzman
1979 Graham Anderson
1980 Bill Beck
1981 Not awarded
1982 Hank Tauber
1983 Robert Thomson
1984 Ed Hammerle
1985 Robert Oden
1986 Bill Slattery
1987 Jim Page
1988 Whiting Willauer
1989 James H. “Red” Carruthers
1990 Nelson Bennett
1991 Tom Corcoran
1992 Nick Badami
1993 Serge Lussi
1994 Fraser West
1995 Gerald F. Groswold
1996 Anna McIntyre
1997 Faris Taylor
1998 Irv Kagan
1999 Thom Weisel
2000 Dr. Richard Steadman
2001 Warren Lowry (posthumously)
2002 Not Awarded
2003 Jim McCarthy
2004 Howard Peterson
2005 Michael Berry
2006 Peter Kellogg
2007 Charles Ferries
2008 Gary Black, Jr.
2009 Lee Todd
2010 Tom Winters
2011 Joe Lamb
2012 John Garnsey
2013 Barry 'Bear' Bryant
2014 Bill Marolt
2015 Allen Church
2016 Bob Dart
2017 Ted Sutton

 


 


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