Jim Gaddis didn't start out as a skier, although it's the sport he's most recognizedfor. Golf was his game. He played and caddied at the Salt Lake Country Club. It was, however, seasonal, and in the winter the course, and Gaddis, sat idle.
So Gaddis and friends started skiing - on the golf course. They'd hike the hill and ski down, and wait for the snow to melt and the greens to open. The result is that the native Utahns went on to become recognized as one of the best four skiers in this country. His peers were the legendary Buddy Werner, Jimmy Heuga and Billy Kidd.For his skiing achievements, Gaddis, along with four other Utahns, will be inducted into the Utah Sports Hall of Fame on Nov. 15.
Gaddis started skiing on the Country Club slopes at age 9. A year later he was entering local races. Admittedly, though, not much came of it, but then Gaddis wasn't exactly ready for the tough turns in ski racing.
"I remember the first race I was in, I had to used straps to tie my boots to my skis. I didn't have bindings," he remembered.
By age 14 things had changed. Gaddis was winning races, more than his share. One new story said of him: "Young and likable Jim, a tremendous skier with a natural agility and thrust somewhat comparable to that of Olympic gold winner Toni Sailer . . ."
Over the course of his junior racing career, Gaddis won, at least once, every Intermountain and local ski race.
In his racing career he: won the prestigious Snow Cup three consecutive times (1962-63-64); was the national giant slalom champion in 1962; finished in the top five in national events six times; won the NCAA combined (downhill and slalom); was on the All-America (now U.S. Ski Team) in 1963-63; and was NCAA slalom champion in 1962.
There were some rough spots in Gaddis' skiing career. Just before the Olympic trials in 1960, he fell while freeskiing at Alta and broke his leg. A year later, before the FIS (similar to World Cup) trials, he suffered another break. Then, caught up in political haggling involving then U.S. coach Bob Beattie, Gaddis was held off the U.S. team for the 1964 Olympics. Heuga and Kidd went on to win medals.
In 1964 he quit competitive skiing, but he has apparently lost little. Four years ago he stepped back into the racing bindings and goggles and began banging gates in the Masters race series. He has not, to date, lost a race he has finished.
After retiring from competitive racing, Gaddis started Utah's first junior racing program - GTO, or Gaddis Training Organization. He ran the GTO teams for 11 years. The group later went on to become the Park City ski team. He also started the Utah Ski Racing Foundation, which is still in operation and is a funding base to help struggling young ski racer and Utah ski racing programs.
Today, Gaddis is a real estate broker/developer and president of Gaddis Investment.
What remains covered up with all his skiing plaudits is golf, the very thing that got him started on the downhill course. While skiing for the University of Utah (1960-63), he spent his summers playing golf for the Utes. Turnabout, after all, is fair play.