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Colorado
Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame  Wallace "Buddy" Werner 1936-1964 Inducted into the Colorado Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame 1977 | Home | Back to Alphabetical List | Year of Induction List | Back to Athlete | Back to Ski Sport Builder | Back to Inspirational | |
Buddy, a native of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, began his skiing activities as a ski jumper on famed Howelsen Hill, winning his first Regional Championship in jumping at the age of 10. Somewhere during his formative years, he decided to concentrate on alpine events. As a competitive skier he completed a skiing record which is unequaled by any other American.
Buddy was a three-time member of the United States Olympic Team and twice a member of the United States Federation Internationale De Ski Team. His international competition began in 1954 as a FIS
team member, and in 1956 as an Olympian at the winter games in Cortina D'Ampezzo, Italy. He competed in the FIS games in Bad Gastein, Austria, in 1958. Buddy became the first American male to win a major European downhill, winning at the Hahnenkamm in Kitzbuehl, Austria. Although a team member for the 1960 Olympic winter games at Squaw Valley, California, a broken leg kept him from competing. In 1964, Buddy was again an Olympic competitor for the United States at Innsbruck, Austria. The same year, he was killed in an avalanche in Switzerland.