Butch Reilly aerial flip

Coaches, ski area operators, race managers, trainers, a Biathlon director, an apparel ski rep. The Maine Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame recently inducted ten people into its ranks atPineland Farms in New Gloucester.  Most are 70+.

One inductee is lifelong skier and visionary Butch Reilly, 83, who has contributed to the growth of skiing and riding in Maine for the past 55 years. He started in 1968 as a New England sales rep for Rosemount Boots and Hexcel skis and in 1974 joined CB Sports, started by former downhill record holder CB Vaughan, and adding on Rossignol.

As a founding member of New England Sports Representatives, Inc., he helped establish one of the most important regional trade shows in the ski industry, the New England Winter Ski Reps Show that took place in Providence, R.I., and Worcester, Mass. It was a big step up from when regional brand reps would get together and set up equipment and apparel in hotel rooms.

Relly’s career was marked by his success in business and by his generosity, including donating hundreds of jackets and ski pants to Maine children, ensuring that financial barriers would not keep them from the slopes.

“That’s something honestly I have kept going my entire life,” he says. He also helped start the precursor to the Carrabassett Valley Academy at Sugarloaf, where he and several other parents started a tutorial program in a room above The Bag where the kids got home schooled, then went out to run gates.

Reilly is still on the road as an advisor and special projects manager for GUSTi  international brands in Canada and Europe. In the past five years, skiing with his five-year-old grandson has renewed his enthusiasm for the sport.

What advice does he have for other senior skiers?

“It doesn’t matter how fast or how high you go, what matters is to just keep going.” He says, “It’s a lifestyle that gets embedded in you and is part of your soul, there’s nothing like putting your feet on the snow and the freedom you feel.  Also, you don’t realize how much you have in common with other people who ski until you start talking about different places, people, adventures.”

The biggest change he has seen in the ski world over the past 55 years is snowmaking and the internet retail market that he laments is helping to put ski shops out of business.

Reilly probably speaks for all the recipients when he says, “It was a real surprise and honor to be inducted. I feel fortunate that for me going to work every day was a lifestyle not a job.”

Other honorees include –

• Ski coach Peter Gately of North Bridgton;
• Ski area manager Jeff Knight of Dixfield;
• Ski coach Rick Hardy of Farmington;
• Race administrator Laurel Lashar of Carrabassett Valley;
• Nordic and Biathlon director Matt Sabasteanski of Raymond;
• Coach and Biathlon center developer Carl Theriault of Fort Kent;
• Ski industry personnel trainer Cathy Witherspoon of Kingfield;
• The late Byron and Susan Delano of Lee, developers and operators of Mt. Jefferson.

Biographies of the Hall of Fame 2025 Inductees and nomination forms for the Class of 2026Maine Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame are available on-line at https://www.maineskiandsnowboardmuseum.org.

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Tamsin Venn

Tamsin Venn is a freelance ski writer based in Ipswich, Mass.In the off-season, she trades in slopes for waves and publishes Atlantic Coastal Kayaker Magazine.

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