Tag Archive for: Suzy “Chapstick” Chaffee

mikemaginn

Mystery Glimpse: Water Color With Snow

/6 Comments/in /by

[Editor Note: SeniorsSkiing.com is asking our readers to contribute to support our online magazine. Yes, we have grown in the number of subscribers and advertisers. But our expenses have also grown. You can help us defray some of these expenses by helping us out with a donation.]

Support SeniorsSkiing.com by clicking here.

______________________________________________________

You Can Probably Guess Where, But Who’s The Artist?

Many thanks to the New England Ski Museum, North Conway Branch, and Executive Director Jeff Leich for letting SeniorsSkiing.com use this beautiful water color.

Last Week

Credit: Thad Quimby, Peak Resorts

Yes, Suzy “Chapstick” Chaffee.  And the location is Fountain Mountain, Mt. Snow, VT., probably during a photo shoot.

A major skiing celebrity,  Suzy is a former Olympic alpine ski racer and actress. Following her racing career, she modeled in New York with Ford Models and then became the pre-eminent freestyle ballet skier of the early 1970s. She is perhaps best known by the nickname, Suzy Chapstick, from the 1970s, when she was a spokesperson for ChapStick lip balm.

She was inducted into the National Ski Hall of Fame in 1988.

As a social activist, Chaffee championed Title IX legislation (equal opportunity for women in school sports). She was the first woman to serve on the board of the U.S. Olympic Committee, and has been a member of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness under four U.S. presidents. She was a co-founder in 1996 of the Native Voices Foundation, an organization that seeks to develop Olympians from among Native American tribe.

Suzy combined two great skills: Ballet and Skiing,  becoming a key player in the free-style movement back in the 1970s. She also was a pioneer in the fitness craze, writing a book about fitness, and remaining committed to athletics and exercise long into her career.

Suzy embraced skiing and ballet to provide a foundation for freestyle.

 

 

Suzy Chaffee and Mark Steigemier
Jon Weisberg

Dancing With Skis

/11 Comments/in /by

Many Readers May Remember Ski Ballet, The Graceful, Sometimes Amusing, Phenomenon From The 1980s.

Costumed performers on skis took skiing to new levels as they executed freestyle moves to a variety of musical themes.

It was the snow equivalent of free style figure skating with individual and pair performances.

Ski Ballet with Suzy Chaffee and Mark Steigemier

Some observers saw ski ballet as liberation from the restricted forms imposed by European techniques, a natural outgrowth of the freewheeling youth movement of the 60s and 70s.

Shorter skis and smooth slopes were used. Occasionally, moguls played a role. When participants took air, it generally was close to the snow. In 1988, it was exhibited at the Canadian Winter Olympics in Calgary. It appeared again in ’92 in Albertville, France. But it never made it to a full Olympic event. FIS ended formal Ski Ballet competition after 2000.

Every now and then you may spot a rare bird linking ballet moves together on the hill. When I’ve encountered this endangered species, it’s been on gentle terrain. Terrain park acrobatics — another form of pushing limits on skis — are far more aggressive.

To me ski ballet represents a different, youthful and more innocent time. It is a historical curiosity that, like other things, from our past, may one day be rediscovered.

Are there any SeniorsSkiing readers who performed back in the day? If so, let us know. Better yet, send stills or video.

Many of you will remember Suzy “Chapstick” Chaffee. She performed ski ballet with grace and beauty. In this vintage video from Bogner she performs with John Eaves.