skier tommy

Nine ski notables have been elected to the Class of 2007, 5th Annual Maine Ski Hall of Fame. Founded in 2003, the MSHF seeks to honor instructors, competitors and other skiing visionaries - men and women who have elevated the sport of skiing in Maine.

Sugarloaf/USA is well represented with three inductees. They include Winston "Win" Robbins, Tom Upham, and Richard "Dick" Bell.

Winston "Win" Robbins

While earning his engineering degrees, Winston "Win" Robbins skied for the University of Maine and captained the team his final year. After serving with the Army Corps of Engineers he turned his skills to ski lifts building T-bars at Black Mt., N.H. and Sugarloaf/USA. In 1952 he designed, built and erected a double chair at Cranmore. His company designed and built lifts as well as erecting them for other companies until 1964 and he served on the original task force that developed the American National Standard Safety Code for Aerial Passenger Tramways.

Tom Upham

A four event skier on four state championship ski teams in high school, Tom Upham switched to straight Nordic skiing at the University of Colorado. His success led to the U.S. Nordic Combined Team and the 1968 Olympics. Following his competitive career Upham coached at high school, college and U.S. Team levels.

Richard "Dick" Bell

The name Dick Bell can be easily found at Sugarloaf. The ski patrol operates out of the basement of the Dick Bell Chapel and the Dick Bell Cup is one of the Loaf's biggest races. Bell was among the founders of the Sugarloaf Ski Club that built the ski area in the beginning and served on the board of directors. He also contributed greatly to Titcomb Mountain in Farmington and was a director for the Maine Ski Council and the Eastern Amateur Ski Association. Other Class of 2007 inductees include, Jim Miller, Galen Sayward, Murray "Mike" Thurston, Charles Broomhall, Bob Flynn and David Irons.

Past Sugarloaf notables and members of MSHF include Robert "Bunny" Bass, Amos Winter, Wes Marco, Tom Reynolds, Jean Luce, Robert "Stub" Taylor, Roger Page, Richard "Pat" Murphy, Franklin "FC" Emery, Jack Lufkin, Irving Kagan, Peter Webber, Fletcher Brown and John Christie. The banquet will be held at Lost Valley Ski Resort in Auburn, on Friday, Oct. 26. Social hour with a cash bar is from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Dinner and awards ceremony begins at 6:30.

Tickets for the dinner are $32.50 each. The menu includes a choice of prime rib or chicken and haddock. Vegetarian menu is also available upon request. Make check payable to the Maine Ski Maine Association, c/o Ski Hall of Fame Dinner P.O. Box 7566, Portland, ME 04112.

For additional information or to reserve your ticket(s), call the Ski Maine Association at: 761-3774, or reserve your ticket(s) online at www.skimaine.com. Click on the Ski Hall of Fame icon and go to Individual Reservations Form. RSVP by Friday, Oct. 19.

Dan Cassidy is a member of Eastern Ski Writers Association and North American Ski Journalists Association. He is also a member of the Ski Museum of Maine, The Maine Ski Hall of Fame and the Sugarloaf Ski Club.
One of the most popular trails in the Incline Village area is the Tahoe Rim Trail. For many, this is the ultimate experience because the trail covers the entire rim of the Lake Tahoe Basin in 165 miles.

It is not unusual to find a resident who has hiked this trail or even completed the entire 165 miles, but it is unusual to find one that has hiked the entire trail twice. This is the accomplishment of 69-year-old Allegra Willison.

Willison said with a smile, "I learned that the hardest part of the hike is from (Highways) 267 to 431!"

Willison grew up in a rural area in Washington known as Bellevue. Today this area is anything but rural.

"My parents moved there in the 1940s when the first bridge was built across Lake Washington and people thought they were crazy," she said.

But she recalls her childhood in this extremely rural community with fondness for the lake and the mountains. She said that is the reason she loves this area because it is so similar.

"I was a competitive downhill skier in high school and college," Willison said about her childhood.

She has done a lot of skiing since leaving the Cascades in Washington, including the White Mountains of New England. However, she admits she does not like coming downhill fast.

She grew up with three brothers and always seemed to be trying to keep up with them, but it was this childhood experience that actually helped her on the through hike of the Tahoe Rim Trail in 2006.

"The long-legged 50-year-old men hiking on the through hike set a pace that was familiar for me," Willison laughed recalling the hike. Willison was one of the six women that made the Tahoe Rim Trail Association 25th Anniversary through hike in 2006.

"My father was a superb athlete," she said explaining how she became interested in athletics. Her brothers are all extremely competent athletes in running, biking and one is even the captain of the U.S. Croquet team.

Willison has a long list of athletic accomplishments of her own. But her life is not all centered around athletics. She is an avid reader and graduated with a bachelor's degree in English from Tufts University in Boston. She received her law degree at Suffolk University.

As a runner, Willison competed in the Boston Marathon, New York Marathon and even the marathon in Anchorage, Alaska.

"I am not currently training for a marathon," she said when asked about her current running plans.

But in the 2006 Boston Marathon, Willison said that only 11 women out of the 7,500 women who actually finished the race were over the age of 69. The established age categories now in most marathons for women are 65 - 69, 70-74, 75-80 and then it just goes 80 and above.

"I think I will get back into training since I'll be 70 next June," Willison said. "I won't have as much competition now."

After meeting in the Bay Area, she married her husband, Tom, in 1996.

"Tom and I moved to the lake in 1998 because it was a chance to have our first home together," she said.

She is not the only one who loves the outdoor and recreational activities of the area. "My husband is a fly fisherman," she said.

Willison has three grown sons and, although she never had a sister or a daughter, she now celebrates that she has seven granddaughters!

One of the first things that Willison did after arriving in Incline was join the Tahoe Rim Trail Association and become a member of the board. Willison really enjoys being involved with the TRT and she felt as a board member it was important for her to know the trail. This was why she felt it was necessary to hike the 165 miles for the first time.

"I worked it in segments," she said.

Hiking the trail in segments was different from the through hike Willison completed in 11 days in 2006. Willison said the entire through hike group had to deal with blisters, looking for temporary relief at the end of each hiking day.

For Willison the second to last day of the through hike was the worst. By that time she had developed a terrible pain in her knee.

"I thought I would not be able to finish," Willison said.

Thanks to the cell phone of one of the others on the hike, Willison was able to make a call to her doctor and was able to continue. So on Sept. 4, 2006, all 14 hikers who had started the hike finished the 165-mile journey.

This year, Willison has just returned from England where she completed another incredible walking/hiking adventure. This adventure found her doing England's Coast-to-Coast Path that is known as Wainwright's Masterpiece Walk. This trail in northern England is 190 miles long and was conceived in 1973 by Alfred Wainwright.

"The path is most often walked from west to east," said Willison. "But we did it from the east coast of the North Sea to the west coast of the Irish Sea. This way we saved the best for last!"

She explained how incredible it was the last day to reach St. Bee's and walk along the cliff, a most charming area. She completed the hike in 14 days of walking and was extremely pleased as well as pleasantly surprised that they were able to do the entire hike with only a "few sprinkles."

She described the walk itself as, "a bucolic walk through tall grasses." Because of the many twists and turns along the path Willison said she definitely felt a guide was helpful in order to stay on course. Her group consisted of three walkers and a guide.

Willison said the hike is actually called a walk but is listed as a strenuous walk. However, it is a very different kind of strenuous compared to what you would experience when hiking on the Tahoe Rim Trail. The highest elevation is 3,000 feet, Willison said, but still the elevation gains were difficult because of the rugged terrain.

Another difference in this experience compared to the Tahoe Rim Trail hike was that no one had to carry a heavy backpack as they spent each night in an inn rather than under the stars.

They did not have to worry about bears on the walk either, although she was quick to add that they did not see any on the Tahoe Rim Trail through hike either. The most interesting thing to see were the sheep and sheepherders along the path.

"Everyday we would see lots of sheep," said Willison, adding that she was fascinated by the sheep and the business of sheepherding.

No longer does one find a lone sheepherder living in the hills because most travel on all terrain vehicles. Willison said she enjoyed watching how the sheepherders and their dogs not only traveled on the ATV's together but they would always stop and work in unison.

On the Coast-to-Coast hike Willison said the last mile was the hardest for her but the reward of reaching St. Bees was worth the trip.

Still it is the Incline area which is etched in Willison's heart and soul. She loves all of the physical beauty and all that this area offers to stay active. Living in the mountains affects a person with the peace and harmony they provide. Willison has also found that people remain active here no matter what age they are.

This is a great area for young people growing up as well as for seniors.

Willison describes herself as an undisciplined athlete but understands that she still has a need to remain flexible and wants to enjoy the outdoors.

Incline Village provides both of those opportunities to Willison. She said she sees possibilities in a senior running club once the new track at Incline High School is completed and knows what a wonderful addition to the community the track will be for runners of all ages.

"Everyone is able to remain active here and enjoy incredible activities because of groups that offer so much such as the Tahoe Trampers, the Big Wheels Bicycle Club, the Tahoe Trekkers or the AAUW and even the Incliners have a hiking group," Willison said. But she said it doesn't even end with that, you can join one of the many groups at the Recreation Center, from yoga to tennis and you just can go outdoors and enjoy the clean air.

"I even love shoveling snow," Willison said.

She explained that it is important to be diverse in sports and she likes to do different sports even though she feels that today's sports are becoming more and more extreme.

So what is next on Willison's agenda for adventure?

There is a winter hike that goes from hut to hut in Colorado called the Tenth Mountain Division Hut Association. And in the Walla Walla Mountains in Oregon there is a winter ski adventure that goes from hut to hut. But she said added that the Tahoe Trampers also do a backcountry ski trip too.

So we will just have to wait and see where the next adventure takes her.