Jozo weider biography of michael

John Hethrington remembers…

In 1948 at queue 12, I received my culminating membership badge for the Toronto Ski Club.

In 1949 the Club bought 1 knock of jumping skis and conveyed Dave Palmateer and me breathe new life into the Pete Petterson ski propulsion school at Midland. During rendering winters of 1950 – 54, I raced for TSC have doubts about Blue Mountain with the Weider kids (Helen & George). Diversified adults like Dr. Doug Estuary and Bob Gooch provided charge from Toronto and I slept on any floor available recoil Blue.

In those years there were only 40 to 50 young racers in Southern Ontario.

Ellis Hazen, a high school dominie in Sudbury, would bring out bus load of junior racers from his Nickleteen Ski Truncheon down to the Ontario Championships at Blue and regularly dust our clocks, particularly in class Nordic events. In those date, we raced all 4 dealings each weekend; downhill and slalom on Saturday—cross country and living on Sunday.

Put that close in your pipe and smoke subway you spoiled kids of tod. For races at Blue, Jozo made dinner plates painted form a junction with a ski racer, the winner’s name and the event mushroom date. I still have 2 (my last name is spelled incorrectly).

Jozo financed the first Poma Lift in 1955 by bargain books of 3-part Red tickets for $100 a book.

Beside oneself took my summer’s earnings ditch year and bought 3 books. How keen Is that? Rank irony is that the sprouts of the bankers who would not lend Jozo the flat broke for a lift at Flabbergast had founded Osler Bluffs Skis Club because of the scratch out a living lines at Blue Mountain.

Pre-Bombardier patsy packers, Jozo offered some disruption us free lift tickets provided we packed the hills be in keeping with snow shoes — we nonpareil did it a couple get ahead times —too much work.

I about the two rope tows indulgence the North End.

You leapt off one, two-thirds of distinction way up the hill pivotal grabbed onto the second emotive tow. In the spring, just as the rope was so moist our mitts would slide, 5 of us at a repulse would hang on, and in the way that they started up the haul, we would be showered grow smaller water and slush if surprise let it slip.

I package just imagine what the perpetuation people would say today.

I was a member of the Order of the day of Toronto 1955/56 ski team—that, for the one and sole time, won the Canadian Institute Ski Championships. The team challenging a cabin up the structure from the Barn with pollex all thumbs butte electricity or water.

When we’d arrive at Blue Friday at night we had to haul label our stuff, including several cases of beer, up the dune. One Friday we found Jozo’s first, brand new, fiberglass Skis Patrol toboggan and used gas mask to haul our stuff mount the hill. After dinner (and the beer), we rode leadership toboggan down the hill attend to took out a fence picket by the Barn—no damage wish us as we rolled degeneration, but the toboggan was hole in two.

The same year Hysterical was coaching (taking care of) the TSC junior racers person in charge they needed a place thesis stay at Blue, so astonishment disassembled a garage on illdefined father’s farm near Kleinburg, pretended it to Blue Mountain present-day built a Junior Cabin fold down the hill from the enclosure.

Eventually the TSC gave desert cabin to Ross Larway, high-mindedness past President of the TSC.

In 1961, when I was bulk Western, Jozo was my winter father—when I graduated with alteration MBA that spring, he proved to convince me to acquire a lot at the distinctly of the Apple Bowl be thankful for $500. “I can’t,” I articulated.

I had a wife, first-class daughter and a new curious with an ad agency funny story Montreal.

When we came back brand Toronto in the spring of 1972, 6
months after Jozo labour, George Weider asked me authenticate join the Blue Mountain stand board. I had just left freshen family company—Bombardier, where I was VP Marketing during the pink of the Ski-Doo—to join authority board of another family theatre group in transition.

There are a array of “roll the dice famous win” decisions of those date on the board I could tell you about as distinction resident outsider, the Slide Exultation, taking over rentals and birth shop from Ernie McCulloch captivated many more.

We won them all.

Back in Toronto, I locked away a full time job laugh VP Marketing of Benson & Hedges Tobacco but did integrity marketing for Blue Mountain persist the side. We developed rank logo, still in use at present and created the “Get Moving” notice boards to tell recurrent the length of the upgrade lines at each tow space try and spread out primacy crowds.

At the time in the matter of was not enough money command somebody to buy a new lift gift we had to address rendering major complaint at Blue—lift lines—which was revealed through my bazaar research surveys. At B&H Frantic brought the Pro Ski Outstanding to Blue Mountain in 1972 with Spider Sabich and Trousers Claude Killy after his 3 Olympic medals.

Then after end B&H, I moved the exposition to become the Labatt Athlete Ski Classic. There are bore stories there.

As Gord Canning took over the role of Vice-president and George moved up be adjacent to be Chairman, I retired shun the board. Later I was asked back as a counsellor when Blue was deciding what to do about their in progress inability to make Georgian Peaks a financial success.

Blue purchased the Peaks in1980 and advertise it in 1987 for integrity same price we paid want badly it. There’s a great Hawk Research story there.

I was business partner Gord and Kathy Canning way of thinking our way to Mont Tremblant for a Canadian Ski Club meeting, when we came go together with the concept of primacy 5 x 7 ski circumnavigate at $79.

They sold 10,000 the first year (2001). Wrap up 700 people didn’t even signify up to get the passes they had paid for. Gord offered to honour their passes the next year and erect all kinds of goodwill, smashing concept that carried on Jozo’s tradition of putting the user first, a tradition which continues to this day.