Dick buek biography
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team was picked. Pins in his left shoulder hampered his stance. He was dubbed “The Madman of Donner Summit” because of his “go for broke” attitude in nearly everything he did – from skiing to motorcycling or flying.
Dick Buek, whose spectacular ski career gained him the title of “The Madman of Donner Summit”, was rated among the world’s most daring downhill competitors.
It was at Soda Springs that his dad, the late Carl Buek, operated a ski shop and along with mother, Gladys “Pick” and sister, Jeannie, the family group combined into a fearsome ski racing team. For him life always was a risky adventure. He climaxed the winter by winning the Silver Dollar Derby and Far West Ski Association Downhill Championship at Reno’s Slide Mountain and Mt.
Rose Bowl. He suffered two broken backs, one from a motorcycle accident.
Dick Buek competed in the 1952 Winter Olympics Downhill in Helsinki, Finland. From beginning to end the Buek ski, motorcycle and airplane career was an epic of all-out speed action. According to close friend Mary Ann Haswell, who survived an earlier crash into Donner lake with Buek, "Dick used to say he'd never make it to 28 years old." Reportedly, Buek and Haswell were towing water skiers at the time of the first crash.
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Information submitted in a nomination letter to the U.S. National Ski Hall of Fame by Bill Berry.
Richard Buek was counted among the world’s most daring Downhillers. Rushed to a hospital, Buek soon was planning a comeback. At the time of the second crash, Haswell remembered, "Dick died a few days short of his birthday."
Ironically, Buek wasn't at the stick of the airplane in which he was killed.
Wired and pinned together, right knee and left shoulder, the “Donner Summit Madman” went on to win the 1954 National Downhill at Aspen, Colorado but was by-passed when the 1954 F.I.S. Buek was the first person to schuss the main Soda Springs ski hill at night with only a flashlight to see his way down the slope. Officials did not wish to “take the responsibility”.
Buek was also known as the fiancé of Jill Kinmont, the great American skier who was paralyzed in a ski accident, and whose story was told in the movie, “The Other Side of the Mountain.”
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Dick Buek
Dick Buek was born in Soda Springs, Tahoe, California. It was a friend's plane and Buek was giving the friend a piloting lesson.
The Honored Members of the U.S. National Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame represent the highest level of national achievement in America, featuring prominent athletes and snow sport builders whose accomplishments showcase American skiing and snowboarding.[1]
Dick died at the age of 27 while flying over Donner Lake. Despite falling twice on the course and careening off course (into the trees and back out), he managed a 12th-place finish.
He became a top downhill contender in 1951, going on to win the 1952 National Championship at Stowe, Vermont – this soon following his return from the Olympic Winter Games in Norway where he placed twelfth in downhill despite a fall on the way down.
A motorcycle accident almost ended Buek’s ski career in May of 1953.