Convention at Hyannis well attended
We would like to thank the entire staff of the Sheraton-Hyannis as well as the moderators and panelists of the seminars for helping us to successfully coordinate the many activities involved in the panel presentations. They deserve a great deal of credit for making this meeting such a success. In chronological order, we extend our appreciation to: L. Perry Williams, moderator of the Weather Modification seminar and panelists Helmut Weikmann, Warren Kocmond, Ralph Papania, Jr. and Prof. Joseph Howe; Doug Pfeiffer, moderator of GLM and panelists Jerry Muth, Morten Lund, Gordon Richardson and Ron Krenzel; Mountain Managers, moderated by Richard Garis, panelists John Layman, Cal Coniff, Bruce Belden and Jay Price; Summer Resort and Hotel Operations moderator William Janss and panelists John Lesure, Robert Hicks, Jerome Solomon and John Ferguson; Meeting the Recreational Demand of the 70’s moderator Stephen Bradley and panelists Vaughn Hofeldt, Lynn Thompson and Rolland Handley.
New directors and officers elected
With regard to convention business, the entire slate of directors as proposed by the nominating committee, was installed. Re-elected Hugh Killebrew of Heavenly Valley, Calif.; Bob Loughrey of Bogus Basin, Idaho; Frank Snyder of Stratton, Vt. Newly elected were Cal Coniff of Mt. Tom, Mass. and Roland Palmedo of Mad River Glen, Vt.
The new board elected Frank Snyder as president; Peter Seibert of Vail, Colo. as 1st vice president; Harvey Clifford of Stratton, Vt. as 2nd vice president; and William Norton of Cannon Mt., N.H., as treasurer. The board also determined that the office of secretary be instituted and Jay Price of Boreal Ridge, Calif. was elected as the first to serve in that position.
Ex-president Steve Bradley of Winter Park, Colo., now becomes an ex-officio member of the board, joining ex-presidents Perry Williams and Darcy Brown, of Aspen.
Salute to past president Steve Bradley
Discussing ex-presidents is an appropriate time to suggest that over-tired executive directors who are called on to speak extemporaneously at the end of a convention marathon occasionally neglect to mention matters of top priority. By way of explanation, let me say that after two years of working closely with a man like Steve Bradley it is easy to get stuck searching for a starting point. During these last two years, Steve has devoted one-third of his time to NSAA matters. In addition, he was able to run Winter Park, serve as a member of the Colorado State Tramway Board and virtually single-handedly create last winter’s Slope Maintenance Conference.
A demanding period in Steve’s personal life almost resulted in his resignation as president during the first months of his office. Had he known about the endless meetings, dealings with other ski associations and government agencies, bouts with belligerent executives and elected officials which would follow, he might not have been talked into going through with it. But he persevered, and during his tenure, NSAA more than doubled in size.
By now, all NSAA members have received the minutes of the 1971 NSAA 1st Annual Slope Maintenance Conference. All of you know of its significance as a milestone heralded by the area operators and the manufacturers with equal enthusiasm.
To really appreciate the significance of this conference, we need only look back to the 1968 mid-winter meeting at Taos, N.M. We had Tom LeRoy doing flips for on-snow demonstrations and a handful of ski-bobs. Then, in 1969, at Jackson Hole, we told suppliers that they could come if they wanted to, but they were on their own; it seemed to be more trouble than it was worth. Steve, however, who is one of the world’s foremost authorities on snow grooming, felt differently. At his insistance, we had rudimentary on-snow demonstrations at our 1970 winter meeting at Stowe, Vt.
The program for the NSAA Slope Maintenance Conference at Winter Park was unlike anything the industry had known before. It included competitions, seminars, vehicle test driving and complete summaries which proved invaluable to areas trying to decide which machine to buy. Those who attended the well-publicized European shows said there was “no comparison”; Bradley and Winter Park had staged “the” slope maintenance conference.
In addition to this success, after six or seven years of futile effort, the USSA television agreement was finally negotiated by a strong, albeit soft-spoken, Steve Bradley. Add to this the B.77 code revisions, meetings and new agreements with other ski associations, and we are confronted with an impressive list of accomplishments.
Last summer, Steve married the former Elizabeth Lafin Durrance and became the first disappearing NSAA president. He was finally found honeymooning in the Tetons. It will be an adjustment to consider El Presidente as “Ex-Officio.” But “Steve” will always be “Steve”—a fine, sensitive gentleman, who has and will continue to provide much of the backbone of our association.
