Longtime ski official "Doc" Sosman dies at 87

Longtime Waterville Valley community member and BBTS member, officer and director, Dr. Leland Sosman, passed away on April 3 at his residence in Concord, Mass. at the age of 87.
    Sosman, affectionately known as “Doc Sosman” or “Sos”, first came to the Valley in the late 1930‘s as an avid hiker and alpine and Nordic skier. Sosman blazed many a hiking and ski trail in the Valley in the early to mid-1900’s. Anyone who has hiked Mt. Tecumseh is familiar with the Sosman Trail as you near the summit but may or may not know the namesake behind it: Leland.
Sosman was a graduate of Philips Andover Academy, received his undergraduate degree from Harvard College, and received his medical degree from Johns Hopkins Medical School. He went on to become a radiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital/Brigham and Women’s Hospital until his retirement in 2002.

LONGTIME WATERVILLE VALLEY COMMUNITY member and BBTS member, officer and director, Dr. Leland Sosman, passed away on April 3 at his residence in Concord, Mass., at the age of 87.
    Sosman, affectionately known as “Doc Sosman” or “Sos”, first came to the Valley in the late 1930‘s as an avid hiker and alpine and Nordic skier. Sosman blazed many a hiking and ski trail in the Valley in the early to mid-1900’s. Anyone who has hiked Mt. Tecumseh is familiar with the Sosman Trail as you near the summit but may or may not know the namesake behind it-Leland.
Sosman was a graduate of Philips Andover Academy, received his undergraduate degree from Harvard College, and received his medical degree from Johns Hopkins Medical School. He went on to become a radiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital/Brigham and Women’s Hospital until his retirement in 2002.
    In addition to his busy medical career, Sosman has been involved with American ski sports for more than 70 years. Among his contributions, Sosman served as a competition official and organizer, a member of various eastern and national alpine committees and boards and a representative of the United States of America to the International Ski Federation.
    Among the organizations that Sosman has served on over the years, he was WVBBTS board member, two-term president and 20-plus years race chairman at BBTS, USSA alpine officials chairman, USSA director and alpine vice president (multi-term), USSA Honorary Director, FIS Alpine Rules Committee and Technical Delegate Committee member (and now Honorary Member), multi-term At-Large Member of the NHARA Board and US Ski Education Foundation Trustee and executive committee member.         Sosman was inducted into the U.S. National Ski Hall of Fame in 1999. He worked the 1964 and 1976 Olympics (Innsbruck), the 1980 Olympics (Lake Placid),  the 1984 Olympics (Sarajevo) (Jury), the 1988 Olympics (Calgary) and the 2002 Olympics (Salt Lake ). Sosman also worked a comparable batch of World Championships (Jury in Crans-Montana).
    Sosman maintained a passion for WVBBTS and its vision throughout his life, most recently serving as WVBBTS Emeritus Trustee as well as donating a parcel of land to WVBBTS  to jumpstart the WVBBTS Campus Capital Campaign effort.   
    Leland Sosman is the husband of the late Mary Jo (Kibler) Sosman. Father of  Eric A. Sosman and his wife Sully Bonn of Newton, Nancy Clark Sosman of Sabego, Maine, Carol Clary Sosman and her husband Peter Ham of Mansfield, Amy Kibler Sosman of Portsmouth, N.H., and the late Honorable Martha Browning Sosman. Leland is grandfather of Jeremy and Ethan Ham. WWII U.S. Army Veteran.
    No information is available at this time regarding services.