Robert (Bob) Richardson

Robert Claude Richardson was born on 31 December 1927 in Magog, Quebec. He lived with his grandmother until her death in 1945 when he moved to Mont Tremblant, Quebec, and joined the Herman Gadner Slalom School at Gray Rocks, St Jovite, Quebec. He came to skiing relatively late at the age of 15 in 1942 after becoming involved in cutting a trail with a group of friends at Mont Orford in the Eastern Townships, Quebec, the initiative of a Dr. Marston Adams, a local dentist, who lent Bob Richardson a pair of skis. A natural athlete, he quickly took to the sport and, in his own words, “…seriously taught myself to ski, practicing right and left turns until they felt right. I absolutely loved the sport”.

Encouraged by Joseph Ryan, owner of Mont Tremblant, and ski school director, the legendary John Fripp, and others, Bob Richardson learned to race. Five years later in 1950 following a number of significant victories on the Canadian skiing circuit, he was selected to join the Federation Internationale de Ski (FIS) team achieving results at the world championship events that remained Canadian records for over 20-years. In 1952 he was named a member of the national ski team to represent Canada at the 1952 VI Olympic Winter Games held at Oslo, Norway. He caused a
stir at the Games by pocketing fruit and other food from the athletes’ dining area. Only later was it discovered that he was generously giving the food to less fortunate Norwegian children hanging around outside the Olympic Village. At that time Norway was not a wealthy nation:

Competitive highlights

1949
3rd place, Combined events, Canadian Championships

1950
2nd place, Combined events, Canadian Championships

1951
2nd place, Combined events, Quebec Kandahar
1st place, Combined events, Canadian Championships
2nd place, Downhill event, Quebec Championships

1952
2nd place, Combined events, Quebec Kandahar

1953
1st place, Combined events, Quebec Kandahar
3rd place, Combined events, Canadian Championships
1st place, Giant Slalom event, Quebec Championship

1954
2nd place, Combined events, Quebec Kandahar
2nd place, Combined events, Canadian Championships

1955
1st place, Combined events, Canadian Championships

1956
2nd place, Combined events, Quebec Championships

Upon his return from Oslo, he was asked to supervise construction activities at the Mont Gabriel, Quebec, club during the summer and assume duties as director of the ski school in the winter. In the summer months, his expertise in planning ski areas, designing ski trails, supervising the building of ski lifts and managing onthe-mountain operations was employed in the development of several ski area in the Eastern Townships of Quebec including Mount Orford, Glen and Owl’s Head.

In the winter months, he pursued his love of teaching and coaching as a ski school director at a number of Quebec ski areas: Mont Gabriel (1956, 1957, 1958), Mont Habitant (1959, 1960), Glen Mountain (1963, 1964, 1965) and Owl’s Head from 1966 until his retirement in 1995.
He was a Level 3 instructor with the Canadian Ski Instructors Alliance (CSIA) and was a director and examiner for the CSIA from 1959 until the 1970s.

The following comments are extracted from an article appearing in the Globe and Mail on Tuesday, June 15, 2004

”Because he was such a talented skier, he was invited to ski resorts around North America by people he had met on the racing circuit, In the 1950s he was skiing at Sun Valley, Idaho, frequented by the likes of Ernest Hemingway and other celebrities. One evening, Mr. Richardson was invited to dinner at Gary Cooper’s house. His striking good looks and rugged outdoor personality impressed the Hollywood types who invited
him back to Los Angeles for a screen test. He turned it down, though he named his first daughter, Rocky, after Gary Cooper’s wife.”

He was also the first man to ski Whistler Mountain the internationally famous resort in British Columbia. In 1960, several years before development on the mountain began, he was invited by Sidney Dawes, then President of the Canadian Olympic Committee, to evaluate Whistler Mountain as a possible Canadian Olympic site. He accompanied Sidney Dawes and the Premier of British Columbia, W. A. C. Bennett, on a one week helicopter survey of the area. On the final day of the survey, he was dropped off on the top of Whistler Mountain and skied its full
vertical from top to bottom.

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.