Ken Read

Kenneth John Read (born November 6, 1955) was a Canadian alpine skier Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Read was raised in Vancouver, Kingston and Calgary and began skiing at age 3 and competing at age 8. He is an alumnus of the Ottawa Ski Club and Lake Louise Ski Club.Ken Read was a member of the Canadian Ski Team, the Crazy Canucks from 1974 to 1983 and competed in two Olympic Winter Games . He was victorious in the Canadian Championships five times. He won gold at Val d'Isere, France in December 1975 becoming the first Canadian and North American male to win an Alpine skiing World Cup Downhill skiing event. He won two World Cup downhill races in both 1978 and 1980. His 1980 point total placed him second in downhill in the World Cup competition. Read was the first non-European to win both the famed Austrian downhill, the Hahnenkamm, [cite web|title=honor roll - the champions, men, downhill|publisher=Kitzbüheler Ski Club|url=http://www.hahnenkamm.com/cms/en/winners_courses/honor_roll_the_champions/men/downhill/index.html|accessdate=2008-08-27] and the equally storied Swiss race, the Lauberhorn. Ken Read was named Canada's Athlete of the Year in 1978 (Lou Marsh Award) and Canadian Male Amateur Athlete of the Year in 1980.

Following his retirement from the Canadian Alpine Ski Team in 1983, Read became a broadcaster with CBC TV Sports, an occasional columnist with Ski Canada Magazine and started the "Breath of Life" Ski Challenge which over the next 23 years raised over $3.8 million for Cystic Fibrosis research.

He also was active with athlete advocacy, as a member of the IOC Athletes Commission (1985 to 1998), member of the FIS Alpine Committee Executive Board (1988 to present), Chef de Mission for the 1992 Olympic Team to Barcelona and Chair of the Canadian Olympic Committee Athletes Commission.

Two movies have been produced covering the careers of the Crazy Canucks - "The Dream Never Dies" (1980) [imdb title|id=0132100|title=The Dream Never Dies] and a TV movie called "Crazy Canucks" (2004) [imdb title|id=0391890|title=Crazy Canucks] , which is based on a novel he and Matthew Fisher wrote called "White Circus" (1987) .

In June 2002, he was named President of Alpine Canada Alpin, the National Sport Organization for alpine skiing in Canada.

In 1991 he was made a Member of the Order of Canada .

As of 2006, Read is an owner of the Mount Norquay ski hill in Banff National Park. Read currently resides in Calgary, Alberta with his wife (also a former racer) and three sons.

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