Ogden ski legend Dick Webber still has it
Dick Webber, 75, of Ogden, recently skied 74 mph during a Super-G race in Big Sky, Mont. He won a silver medal. (Courtesy photo)
A news clipping features skier Dick Webber, 75, when he was younger.(JEFF DEMOSS/Standard-Examiner)
At his Ogden home, Dick Webber, 75, displays his silver medal for skiiing 74 mph in a recent Super-G in Big Sky, Mont. (JEFF DEMOSS/Standard-Examiner)
Skier Dick Webber, 75, of Ogden. (Courtesy photo)
OGDEN — Skiing as fast as your age isn’t necessarily an impressive feat — unless you’re 75 years old.
That’s what Dick Webber, a living legend in the Ogden ski community, did recently at a competition in Big Sky, Mont.
The longtime Ogden resident was clocked at 74 mph during a Super-G race at the USSA Masters National Championships last month, earning him a silver medal in the speed category for his age division.
“Skiing fast is something that gets in your blood,” said Webber, who hadn’t skied competitively for more than five decades until last year. “Speed is part of my life.”
He also placed fifth in both the giant slalom and super combined races at the Big Sky event, which drew some of the top skiers from all over the world.
A pillar of the local skiing community, Webber has been into the sport his whole life. He first starred for the Ogden High School ski team in the mid-1950s before moving on to Weber State (then known as Weber College) for two years.
He then received a scholarship to join the prestigious ski team at the University of Denver, where he helped the Pioneers win national championships in 1958 and 1959.
Webber has rubbed elbows with virtually all of the best and most famous skiers over the years, and continues to do so. He is friends with current big names such as Ted Ligety, Bode Miller and Mikaela Shiffrin, and is even related to one — his son married the mother of Julia Mancuso, making Mancuso his stepgranddaughter.
He said Mancuso furnished him with custom-made skis for last month’s competition and texted him before the race, telling him to “go fast!”
He credits much of his success to Earl Miller, longtime director of the ski school at Snowbasin.
“He was my mentor,” Webber said. “He’s the one who got me my scholarship to Denver.”
After college, Webber started a family with his wife, Judy. He kept skiing recreationally through the years, helping his children and grandchildren become excellent skiers in their own right, but he didn’t compete at a professional level for many years.
Instead, he focused on family and a highly successful career in real estate development until 2005, when he developed a condition that makes it difficult to speak, and he decided to retire.
So what made him decide to get back into competitive skiing after more than 50 years away from it? The answer is simple.
“I was bored with retirement,” he said.
Webber has put a big stamp on the local ski scene. He helped design the downhill course at Snowbasin for the 2002 Winter Olympics, and in 2010 was inducted into the Ogden High athletic hall of fame.
One of his proudest skiing accomplishments came in 1956, when he helped Weber College beat the mighty University of Utah program, a Utes squad that included Webber’s friend and fellow Ogden High graduate Spencer Eccles.
“He’s still mad at me about that,” Webber joked.
In the off-season, he keeps busy by spending time with family and his wife, who said it has been fun seeing him get back into the competitive circuit.
“Our kids are all avid skiers, and it’s because of him,” Judy said.
He also remains active in the community. He serves on the board of directors at McKay-Dee Hospital in Ogden, and gives annual awards in the form of gold watches to top male and female high school athletes, who are recognized in a display case at Ogden High.
Webber said his fastest recorded time on the slopes was 87 mph during his college days, but 74 mph is still quite a rush. He plans to compete at the Masters Championships again next year, and for the foreseeable future.
“My body got a little beat up this year, but I’m still feeling pretty good,” he said. “We’ll see how things go.”