Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 10/1/2015
HOLYOKE – Former longtime Longmeadow resident Cal Conniff will be honored by the New England Ski Museum (NESM) on Nov. 7, at the Log Cabin Restaurant. The event is open to the public.
NESM’s “Spirit of Skiing Award” is given to honor a skiing notable who manifests the motto, “Skiing is not just a sport, it is a way of life,” attributed to ski pioneer Otto Schniebs. Previous winners include Olympic medalists Stein Eriksen and Penny Pitou, U.S. Olympians Tom Corcoran and Tyler Palmer, ski resort founder Preston Smith (Killington), renowned ski instructor Herbert Schneider and ski show impresario Bernie Weichsel.
Conniff spent his professional life working for the betterment of the ski area industry. The Log Cabin Restaurant sits in the shadow of the former Mt. Tom Ski Area, which Conniff managed from 1968 to 1973. He put the small ski facility on the national map by developing extensive night skiing and one of the earliest snowmaking systems in the country in the 1960s, two innovations that were soon emulated throughout the resort industry.
Conniff secured a loyal customer base in southern New England because of Mt. Tom’s extended ski season that incorporated a snow guarantee with night operating hours. During his tenure at Mt. Tom, Conniff targeted the youth market, introducing thousands to the thrill of downhill skiing through numerous school programs.
Conniff took over leadership of the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) in 1973, moving its offices from New York City to West Hartford and ultimately downtown Springfield in 1978, where it remained until his retirement in 1990. He now lives in Wells, ME.
He began skiing in Vermont at age 5, self-taught like most skiers in the 1930s. In 1944, at the age of 14, he operated the town’s rope tow at night so weary war plant workers could go out after work and have fun.
Conniff was an accomplished racer in college and won the four-way combined championships for the American Armed Forces in Europe when he was stationed in Germany in the 1950s.
A graduate of American International College, he hosted a TV show on the local WWLP station called “Skiers’ Corner,” possibly the first such show on television in the 1960s. He was inducted into AIC’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2011.
Conniff was elected to the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame in 1990. He is the former president of the New England Ski Museum where an annual grants program was established in his name.
The “Spirit of Skiing Award” awards dinner at the Log Cabin honoring Cal Conniff is the 10th annual event. Tickets to the dinner are $65 prior to Oct. 1, $75 thereafter and available by calling the NESM at 603-823-7177 or online at www.skimuseum.com/events/.
Proceeds support the museum’s mission to preserve the history of skiing.