From the Ski for Light Bulletin - Summer 2004
Ski for Light honors the life and legacy of its founding father, Olav Pedersen. We begin our tribute with a reprinting of his obituary, published shortly after his death. This will be followed by some personal reflections from members of Ski for Light.
by Jane Stebbins
Breckenridge, Colorado - Breckenridge lost a ski pioneer this week with the passing of Olav Pedersen, who died Wednesday morning at 87. Private family services will be held for Pedersen this weekend. A public memorial will be held at 11 a.m. on August 14 at Lord of the Mountains Lutheran Church in Dillon.
Born in Voss, Norway, on February 17, 1917, Pedersen first strapped on skis when he was 3, and began a life of competition in downhill racing and jumping. He won his first trophy ski jumping when he was 12. Nordic skiing was also a method of transportation in the snowy Norwegian mountains. He later used those skills to retrieve supplies dropped by parachutes from British planes during a stint in the Norwegian Resistance in the German occupation in World War II.
In 1955, Pedersen chaired the organizing committee for the Norwegian Nordic Ski Championships. Pedersen, who retired from the railways in Norway and worked as a freelance journalist, wrote a story about Erling Stordahl, a blind Norwegian musician in 1952. A few years later, Stordahl told Pedersen he thought it would be intriguing to teach cross country skiing to blind people. His vision took shape in 1963 as the Ridderrenn - the Knight's Race - which now annually hosts more than 1,000 disabled skiers and guides from more than a dozen nations.
In 1964, Trygve Berge and Sigurd Rockne invited Pedersen to join them in Breckenridge, where he taught alpine skiing at the Breckenridge Ski Area. He worked at the Rockne's The Mine restaurant and in construction for Sigurd in the summer months. Like others, he fell in love with the mountains and made the town his home. He met his wife, Suzanne, an art, speech and drama teacher, at a Christmas party. "What didn't catch my eye?" she said, remembering the night they met. "Every single woman in Summit County was after him. He had quite a following. He was a sweet man. Our friendship grew into a lasting love." The two were married on June 7, 1969, in the Father Dyer United Methodist Church, then located behind the Summit County Courthouse.
Yet, Pedersen is arguably best known for bringing to the United States Stordahl's idea of getting blind skiers out on the trails. In 1973, he returned to Norway to seek Stordahl's advice, garnered support for the idea from the Summit County Lions Club and the Sons of Norway Foundation and founded Race For Light. King Olav V of Norway awarded Pedersen the Order of St. Olav in 1976.
On Pedersen's 58th birthday, 60 visually impaired skiers and their guides attended the first Race for Light in Summit County. That race received national publicity after Charles Kuralt featured it on his "On the Road" television series. To shift the focus from racing to recreation and instruction, the name was changed to Ski for Light in 1976. Ski For Light promotes the physical fitness of visually and mobility impaired adults.
Pedersen wasn't one to slow down. He coached the blind U.S. Ski Team, created the Frisco Gold Rush Citizen's Race, was a founding member of the Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center and participated in the Rocky Mountain Senior Winter Games and the Jimmie Huega Express benefit races. At 70, he won the national NASTAR alpine ski championship in his age group. He also coached elementary and middle school soccer and gardened well into his 80s.
After a fall from a roof that crushed his leg in 1980, Pedersen retired from downhill ski instruction and took up Nordic teaching at the Breckenridge Nordic Center.
He was inducted into the Colorado Ski Hall of Fame in 1997 and the National Ski Hall of Fame in 2000. Last June, the Summit Foundation awarded him the Soul of the Summit Lifetime Achievement Award. The Frisco Arts Council dedicated a Ski for Light, Art for Sight sculpture at Main Street and Summit Boulevard in 1997 to honor Pedersen's contribution to the sport. The sculpture, created by William Barth Osmundsen, features a sighted cross-country skier with a visually impaired skier.
He is survived by his wife, sons Terje and Arve Rauk of Norway, brother Bjarne, seven grandchildren and son Haakon of Breckenridge. He is preceded in death by two brothers. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be sent to Ski For Light, Inc., 1455 West Lake St. Minneapolis, Minn., 55408.
Courtesy of the Summit Daily News Frisco, Colo. June 17, 2004
by Deborah Kendrick
It was my first time in Granby -- one of our favorite spots for our International Ski for Light week -- and I'd heard from everyone who had been here before how much fun the outdoor hot tub could be. And so, with some real trepidation, I slipped out into that cold air with just my bathing suit and found my way to the edge. Jolly shouts of "Here!" "There you go!" came from the participants around the circumference of the tub. All voices were male and all with Norwegian accents, and their shouts of directional encouragement were the only English words heard amid jovial animated conversations.
Nothing to do but slide down into the warmth -- yikes! -- and marvel at my dumb luck to arrive just when there were all males and all speaking another language. Then a voice to my right spoke to me in English. Whenever I think of Olav Pedersen, one of the images in my personal repertoire is the kind man who wanted to chat about journalism that sunny afternoon and who so generously replaced my anxiety with delight. He told me about working for the Associated Press, war stories covered, about the railway in Norway, and his friendship with Erling Stordahl. I don't think that the conversation remained with me because Olav has long been dubbed "the father of Ski for Light"; rather, its staying power has to do with the man himself -- intelligent, intuitive, interesting and, yes, inspirational.
"It's not so much what he did," Bud Keith put it recently, "but what he dreamed that is his greatest contribution to Ski for Light." And what he dreamed, as most of us already know, is that blind people in the United States could learn to ski, just as they were doing in his native Norway.
Since that first U.S. Ski for Light event in 1975, Olav Pedersen would actually only be responsible for organizing one other SFL event: 1985. But his deep love of cross-country skiing, of nature, of all of us, and of Norway have infused every event SFL has done. And he has touched each one of us, whether we knew him or not.
Scott Bertrand, SFL veteran guide, was one of Olav's many close friends. "I could write a book of all the wonderful things we did as friends over the past twenty plus years. Some of the things outside of Ski for Light that I will always remember include when Olav showed me where to find the most beautiful field of columbine flowers that covered an entire side of the mountain and some of his favorite hiking areas. When Brenda and I decided to get married in 1995 we asked Olav to be one of the best men. He accepted but then asked if he had to wear a tux! You see Olav was used to wearing his Norwegian dress attire to weddings. He did end up wearing a tux and looked nice in it.
I met Olav in 1978 at my first Ski for Light. I could continue to write but so many memories keep going through my mind right now. Olav is with us in spirit now and I can feel that the rings in the snow that he always talked about will be with us for a long time to come. Brenda, and I will hold those memories in our hearts for a long time to come. We miss you Olav."
Mary Hiland, like so many others, says she will always be grateful to Olav for his presence, even though she barely knew him. "I met Olav only once and was thrilled to have my picture taken with him.
Yet, when I got the news of his passing, I wept. Because of his dedication, his love of skiing and his caring for us, he made something happen in the U.S. that changed our lives. Everyone wants to make a difference in this world. Here is one man who certainly did."
A memorial service was held for Olav Pedersen on August 14, 2004. SFL guide, Art Bunn, sent the following description to the Ski for Light listserv:
A beautiful sparkling Colorado summer day was the setting for Olav's memorial service on Saturday, August 14. Eighty-seven and a half years of a remarkable life span were celebrated by a couple of hundred of Olav's family, friends and admirers, beginning with an appropriate celebration of life ceremony at the Lord of the Mountains Lutheran Church in Dillon, Colo. Pastor Rich Mayfield, a close friend of Olav's for many decades officiated with warmth, charm, admiration and laughter while another close friend, Douglas Webster contributed a number of beautiful vocal musical gifts.
The reminiscence eulogy was skillfully delivered by Bud Keith. Olav's son Haakon was resplendent in his father's formal Norwegian attire.
The celebration was continued at the Vista Haus on Peak 8 in Breckenridge where the local community hosted a bounteous smorgasbord. During eating and mingling Suzanne invited all to gather on the outdoor patio where Scott Bertrand shared (briefly!!) his memories of Olav and his forever lasting impact on so many lives through Ski For Light. After a few brief remarks by Suzanne she spread some of Olav's ashes on the ski run while another long time friend offered a moving oboe solo rendering of Amazing Grace.
Attending from the Ski For Light community of friends were Bud Keith, Marion Elmquist, Scott and Brenda Bertrand, Dick Ashley, Dean and Becky Meyers, Nancy Stevens, Bill Funk and myself.
Every organization has its heroes and Olav is certainly one of ours. But for all of us in Ski for Light, Olav is something far more than that: He was and is a beloved family member, patriarch if you will, the dreamer who believed we, blind people and later, mobility impaired people, really could do anything.
Thank you, Olav. When we hear that magical shush of skis on snow, we will hear you and know we can do this thing. We will carry you in our hearts again in Granby, at Ski for Light 2005 -- and for many years to come. And some of us will even hear your stories amid the laughter in the hot tub.
Olav, Ski for Light bids you a very fond farewell.