Verne R. Anderson (19 July 1937–October 1984) was a Canadian

alpine ski ''Alpine Ski'' (アルパイン・スキ一) is an Alpine skiing arcade game, released by Taito in 1981. The player controls a skier, who can move left, right, or increase forward speed. The aim is to maneuver a skier through a downhill ski course ...

competitor and coach. He was a member of Canada's first national ski team competing in one

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

, and was head coach of the Canadian team at a subsequent Winter Olympics. Anderson was born in

Nelson, British Columbia Nelson is a city located in the Selkirk Mountains on the West Arm of Kootenay Lake in the British Columbia Interior, Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. Known as "The Queen City", and acknowledged for its impressive collection of resto ...

, and was a member of Canada's first national ski team formed in 1959. He was a member of the Canadian team at the

1960 Winter Olympics The 1960 Winter Olympics (officially the VIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Squaw Valley 1960) were a winter multi-sport event held from February 18 to 28, 1960, at the Squaw Valley Resort (now known as Palisades Tahoe) in Squaw Vall ...

held at Squaw Valley, California competing in all three alpine skiing disciplines for men. He placed 19th in

slalom To slalom is to zigzag between obstacles. It may refer to: Sports ;Alpine skiing and/or snowboarding * Slalom skiing, an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding discipline * Giant slalom, an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding discipline * Super-G ...

with a time of 2:29.3, 24th in

giant slalom Giant slalom (GS) is an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding discipline. It involves skiing between sets of poles ("gates") spaced at a greater distance from each other than in slalom but less than in Super-G. Giant slalom and slalom make up t ...

with a time of 1:56.1, and 22nd in

downhill Downhill may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Downhill'' (1927 film), a British film by Alfred Hitchcock * ''Downhill'' (2014 film), a British comedy directed by James Rouse * ''Downhill'' (2016 film), a Chilean thriller directed by Patrici ...

with a time of 2:15.9. During that era, the results from Olympics were used to determine the World Championship for

alpine combined Combined is an event in Alpine skiing, alpine ski racing. A traditional combined competition consists of one run of Downhill (ski competition), downhill and two runs of Slalom skiing, slalom, each discipline runs on separate days. The winner is the ...

. Anderson's results gave him eighth place in the alpine combined. Anderson again represented Canada at the 1962 World Championships where he earned the best results amongst Canadian competitors in all the alpine events and placing seventh in the alpine combined. He then retired from competition and became a coach for the Canadian Alpine ski team; the first Canadian to hold that role. He subsequently took on the role of head coach for the team. Anderson's coaching career included coaching Olympic gold medallist

Nancy Greene Nancy Catherine Greene Raine (born May 11, 1943) is a former Canadian Senator for British Columbia and an Olympian alpine skier voted as Canada's Female Athlete of the 20th Century. She was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Greene Raine won t ...

. At the time, funding for Canadian skiers were very limited. In order for Greene and Anderson to go to Europe for training and competitions, local community fund raising provided the support. Anderson coached until 1968 when he resigned to focus on his job as vice president at a ski boot manufacturing company. Anderson was inducted into the

Canadian Ski Hall of Fame The Canadian Ski Hall of Fame (french: Le Temple de la renommée du ski canadien) was created by the Canadian Ski Museum in 1982 to honour skiing pioneers, competitors, coach (sports), coaches, officials, and builders. List of inductees Denotes d ...

in 1990.

References

External links

Canadian Ski Hall of Fame biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Verne 1937 births 1984 deaths Canadian male alpine skiers Olympic alpine skiers for Canada Alpine skiers at the 1960 Winter Olympics People from Nelson, British Columbia