Bill Keenan

Bill Keenan came by his freestyle skiing skills naturally as an extension of his background in a number of competitive sports in high school including, among others, gymnastics, and ski racing. Her was selected to represent Canada on the National Freestyle team in 1980 and remained on the team for seven years until his retirement in 1986.

His talent was confirmed in his first season, 1980, when he was named Freestyle World Cup Moguls “rookie of the Year” with a second place overall. Two years later in 1982, he was Canada’s Freestyle Moguls Champion and a year after that, he became the best in the world in his discipline when he was named the 1983 World Cup Moguls Champion. In the same year he also received a National Sports Award of Excellence, and event repeated again in the following year, 1984.

He won 9-World Cup Moguls events:

1981
Livigno, Italy

1982
Livigno, Italy
Sugarbush, USA

1983
Angel Fire, USA
Ravascletto, Italy
Livigno, Italy

1984
Salen, Sweden
Gostling, Austria

1985
Breckenridge, USA

His rankings in World Cup Moguls competition were consistently high:

1980     2^nd
1981      5^th
1982      3^rd
1983      1^st
1984      4^th
1985      7^th

He was a member of the University of Calgary Gymnastics team when it won the Western Canadian Championships in 1978, and his freestyle skiing skills were further recognized when he became a stunt skier in the highly successful James Bond film “A View to Kill”.

Bill Keenan’s photo was used on the $20 coin minted specially for Calgary’s 1988 Winter Olympic Games. He was also the color commentator for freestyle during those Olympics.

Please Note: The ski information gathered here is compiled from a number of sources; it may not be inclusive of all accomplishments.
Copyright © 2021, Canadian Ski Museum. For Personal/Educational use only. All Rights Reserved.