WINTER2017
MLBLUE
39
CHAINSAWART
Local chainsaw artist Jim Leitheadworked at BMR as a
snowmaker andgroomer for 15 years.He knows snow.And
when there’s a lot of it, he forgoes his usual mediumof
woodormetal.He carved this Speedskier at Blue in2007
and thoughhe left the resort a few years ago to sculpt full
time, Leithead iswilling tobring a colossal snow structure
toBlue slopes. "I coulddigout an acre of snowwith amini
excavator, he says.“Andbuildbig cliffs and canyons like the
Niagara Escarpment.”Give Leithead an electric chainsaw,
a fewhelpinghands, and a lot of snow, and something
spectacularwill happen.
JIM LEITHEAD
25
ERNIEMCCULLOCH
Oneof the topNorthAmerican skiers of the1950s, a youngMcCulloch
took the1949QuebecKandahar Cup from the French team, then
consideredunbeatable.AnOlympic coachof bothUSandCanadian
teams in the1960s, he founded theSki School at Blue in1970andwrote
2books anddozens of articles on instruction.Amonghis pupils in the
early1970swas a teenagedToddBrooker.
COURTESYTORONTOSKI CLUB
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WILLIWINKELS
Skier, skateboarder and inventorWinkels began to experimentwith"skiing"on a
single plank in1978.At the time, this new sport didn't have a name: skiboarding
was a popular term, but a company in Europe had trademarked the name, soWilli
decided to call it snowboarding.That same year,Winkels took his customized
snowboardonBlue'sAppleBowl, probablywithout the knowledge of ski
patrollers.Willi's friendTom Sims later took the idea tomarket.
TOMSIMS
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