Ted Ligety and George Gillett Photo: U.S. Ski & Snowboard
George N. Gillett Jr., whose ownership of Vail and Beaver Creek helped establish the Vail Valley as one of North America’s most important homes for international alpine ski racing, died Sept. 22 in Denver. He was 87.
Gillett’s business career reached well beyond skiing, but his influence on alpine racing remains an important part of his legacy. After acquiring Vail Associates in 1985, he supported an ambitious push to bring the world’s best racers to Colorado and helped create an environment where international ski racing became part of the valley’s identity.
For Ski Racing Media’s audience, his most lasting contribution may be simple: Gillett believed elite ski racing was worth investing in.
That commitment helped bring the 1989 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships to Vail and Beaver Creek and contributed to a ski racing tradition that continues nearly four decades later.
A commitment to world-class ski racing
When Gillett acquired Vail Associates, the company operated both Vail and Beaver Creek. He invested heavily in the resorts, expanding terrain and snowmaking and accelerating the installation of high-speed detachable chairlifts that were transforming the skiing experience.
But Gillett also saw international ski racing as an opportunity.
The Vail Valley Foundation led the effort to secure the 1989 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships. Gillett, as owner of Vail and Beaver Creek and a prominent Foundation supporter, became an important part of the effort to bring the championships to Colorado.
It was an ambitious undertaking.
At the time, major international alpine championships remained closely associated with Europe’s great racing venues. Hosting the world’s best racers required significant investment, organization and community support.
The 1989 championships changed the trajectory of ski racing in the Vail Valley.
They marked the first FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in Colorado since Aspen hosted in 1950. The event also expanded Vail and Beaver Creek’s international visibility. The Vail Valley Foundation reports that international skier visits rose from 2% to 13% following the championships.
More importantly for the sport, 1989 proved the valley could successfully host ski racing on the world’s biggest stage.
The beginning of a lasting racing legacy
The Vail Valley’s connection to international racing did not begin with Gillett. World Cup racing had visited Vail during the circuit’s inaugural season in 1967.
But the 1989 World Championships helped transform that relationship.
The success of those championships provided momentum for the valley to host the World Championships again in 1999 and 2015. Beaver Creek later became home to the Birds of Prey racecourse and one of the most established men’s World Cup stops in North America.
Gillett was no longer the resort owner by the time many of those later chapters unfolded. Still, the commitment to major international competition strengthened significantly during his years at Vail and Beaver Creek.
He remained connected to that legacy as a lifetime trustee of the Vail Valley Foundation, which continues to organize the Birds of Prey World Cup races.
An advocate for the U.S. Ski Team
Gillett’s contribution to ski racing extended beyond hosting competitions.
He had a long relationship with what is now U.S. Ski & Snowboard and served as a trustee of the organization. The Vail Valley Foundation’s biography of Gillett says he served as a director of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association for 17 years.
Former U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association President and CEO Bill Marolt emphasized that contribution following Gillett’s death.
“George Gillett was an innovative ski industry leader who saw the value in ski racing and was a strong advocate of the U.S. Ski Team,” Marolt said. “He had great influence on our sport through World Cups and World Championships at Vail and Beaver Creek, and helped the team usher in a period of great success.”
The relationship between the U.S. Ski Team and the Vail Valley became one of American alpine racing’s most enduring connections.
Gillett helped strengthen it.
His influence extended across the ski industry
Gillett’s involvement in skiing continued after his ownership of Vail Associates.
He later founded Booth Creek Ski Holdings, building a resort portfolio that stretched from New England to the West. Its properties included Grand Targhee in Wyoming and Sierra-at-Tahoe in California, further extending Gillett’s influence across the American ski industry.
The Colorado Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame inducted Gillett in 2005, recognizing a career that helped shape both the resort industry and competitive skiing in Colorado.
His interests outside skiing were extensive, particularly in professional sports. He owned the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens from 2001 to 2009, later became a 50% co-owner of Liverpool FC in the English Premier League and held a controlling interest in a NASCAR operation that became Gillett Evernham Motorsports. Earlier in his career, he also owned the Harlem Globetrotters.
Few American businessmen of his generation moved across so many corners of professional sports, yet skiing remained a recurring part of Gillett’s life and business career.
A legacy that remains visible
Today, the relationship between Vail, Beaver Creek and international alpine racing can feel almost inevitable.
It was not.
Hosting World Cups and World Championships requires money, infrastructure, volunteers, community support and, especially, people willing to believe the investment matters.
George Gillett was one of those people.
He understood that world-class racing could do more than produce winners and medals. It could bring the international ski community to Colorado, give American racers the opportunity to compete before a home crowd and connect a resort community to the highest level of the sport.
The 1989 World Championships demonstrated what that commitment could accomplish.
The championships returned in 1999 and 2015. Birds of Prey became one of the sport’s signature World Cup venues. Generations of the world’s best alpine racers have since competed in the Vail Valley.
Gillett did not create that legacy alone. Many people, organizations and volunteers built it over decades.
But he was one of the significant figures who helped make it possible.
George Gillett helped bring the world of ski racing to Vail and Beaver Creek.
The world kept coming back.
About the Author: SR Staff Report
