Page 54 - WCM 2021 Winter

Peter Hale
Peter Hale, Rumford native, still at it on Colorado’s Palmyra Peak at 13,000 feet.
races on Sunday. In high school, we traveled to New Hampshire and Vermont for the United States East- ern Amateur Ski Association (USEASA) races. My dad started a program for the girls.
“Skiing has been my life, because of Black Mountain. In 1978, I left college for the big mountains out West, and landed in Telluride. I raised my family there. But Black Mountain made me love the sport. In 1980, I worked for Chummy Broomhall at Lake Placid as the cross-country course steward, but it’s jumping I love. In 2002, Dan Warner, “Mouse,” asked for help in Salt Lake City on the jumps. It’s the village culture of Black Mountain - Herbie Adams, Chummy Broomhall, Mickey Arsenault, Chendy Chenard - their presence for all the kids in the hood made it our playground.”
The next call I made was to Dan “Mouse” Warner, who remembered, “The mountain was all about fun and friends. My earliest memories are of Mt. Abram, Sunday River and Sugarloaf. But I also spent time at Scotty’s. Long after the transition to Black Moun- tain, we all kept hanging out there. A bunch of us re- built the original jump. We weren’t supposed to, but Scotty never said anything about us cutting his cow fences down, and even some of his trees. He wanted us there. You don’t know what you’re learning as a kid - things that carry you in life. We raked, shoveled, and packed - all of us.
“In fourth grade, things really got started. I joined the junior ski team, and we trained every day. Chendy Chenard, Tom Grace and Mickey Arsenault all left an impression. At this point the families have changed, but it’s still a village. The locals support their little mom-and-pop ski areas. We’ve figured out how to make it work with public monies, racing, liquor and food. But the mountain was built on shares from families in the early days.
“Chummy Broomhall had always been the engine, but he went to Lake Placid for three years. There was a void till about 1985. I ran into Eric Roderick at The Hotel. We got in touch with Aurele Leger, and we decided to get some old guys to hold a jumping meet on the 30 meter. Aurele was tickled. It breathed life into jumping again, and it started a program that lasted for fifteen years. Gould and Hebron academies were still jumping, so coaches brought their kids over. I coached them. We did prep school meets, ran cross-country races. In the late 80s we built a new cross-country stadium, bid on events, and created the Bill Koch Festival - he won a medal in the ‘76 Olympics in cross-country.
“From there I coached kids in northern New England, organized, marketed and fundraised. Then I became the manager of the Olympic Jumping Complex for Placid in 1988. I worked for the State of New York’s Olympic Regional Development Authority to bring
Pat Hale
Above: Bud Hale and the boys on a road trip to a Junior Ski Team meet in Brattlleboro,Vermont.
Below: Dan Warner of Rumford at his induction into the Maine Ski Hall of Fame.
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Dan Warner
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