Steamboat

The
Werner
Family
E d
“Pop” Werner, the patriarch of the Werners, packed out a ski hill for his kids on
the ranch. His wife, Hazie, was a legendary hostess and the epitome of Steamboat’s “friendly”
persona. Her light is still on, in a manner of speaking, as it shines over the valley from the
restaurant named in her honor atop the gondola. Their three children, Skeeter, Loris and
Buddy, were all Olympians and competitive skiers.
Buddy Werner
By Mike Clark
Buddy Werner was charismatic before the
concept became popular. He had movie-idol looks,
a ready grin, and also happened to be the greatest
American racer of his generation — maybe the best
ever.
In 1959, Werner became the only American to
win the toughest race there is, the Hahnenkamm
downhill at Kitzbuhel, Austria.
As successful as he was, Buddy Werner was
dogged by bad luck. In the 1956 Olympics, he
lost skis in two of the races. He finished the
downhill on one ski, placing 11th. He didn’t
even get to ski in the 1960 Games, breaking
his left leg barely a month before the events
at Squaw Valley, Calif. In the 1964 Games,
his last major outing, Werner’s troubles
continued. His best finish was eighth in
slalom as his teammates, Billy Kidd and
Jimmy Heuga, won silver and bronze medals.
Buddy retired from racing on March 22, 1964. Three weeks
later, while filming a ski commercial in Switzerland, he was killed in an
avalanche. Mount Werner was renamed in his honor in 1965.
Olympic silver medalist Billy Kidd, Steamboat’s director of skiing, vividly recalls Buddy:
“I remember seeing some photos of Buddy in Ski magazine. It was sequence photography,
probably the first I’d ever seen. Here was Buddy coming through, making a left turn, then
a right turn, then a left turn. There was a fence behind him, and by looking at that in each
picture, you could see that he was moving along but the sequence was real quick. As he was
turning, his head, his shoulders, nothing moved, just his knees flicking form one side to the
other. I used those pictures to study how to turn quickly.
“Buddy not only had the credentials as a racer, but he also had the most ideal personality
for getting stuff done. He had an obvious inner strength and fierce competitiveness and an
exterior that was so gregarious. He was just a delight to be around.”
Excerpted from “The Werners to the World Cup,” Steamboat Magazine, Winter/Spring 1990
Buddy Werner
Courtesy Tread of Pioneers Museum
The Werners: Buddy, “Pop,” Hazie, Skeeter
and Vonda (Buddy’s wife)
STEAMBOAT MAGAZINE | SKI SEASON 2012/13 | 71
Courtesy Tread of Pioneers Museum
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