Olympian headlines Flathead ski hall of fame class

A group of influential leaders in the local ski community are poised to enter the Flathead Valley Ski Education Foundation’s hall of fame this month. Three helped shape skiing in Northwest Montana as we know it today, while the fourth left his mark on the Olympic stage and later as a pioneer in ski design.

Honored in this year’s hall of fame class are Olympian Jim Barrier, noted developer Tim Grattan, Blacktail Mountain founder Steve Spencer and former Winter Sports CEO Bill Martin.

A special induction ceremony is planned at Grouse Mountain Lodge on Friday, March 18 at 6 p.m. Olympic gold medal winner and world champion skier Phil Mahre will make the presentations. Tickets for the event are $35, available at Glacier Bank or online at www.fvsef.org.

Jim Barrier

Jim Barrier was born is 1940 in Wallace, Idaho, and his early skiing was done at Lookout Pass while growing up in Mullan.

In 1954 the family moved to Kalispell where Barrier and brother, Bill, became standout junior racers at Big Mountain and competing throughout Montana and the West.

Barrier’s star continued to rise as he advanced through the regional and national ranks and peaked when he finished third at the prestigious Harriman Cup in Sun Valley, Idaho. Subsequently, he became the first Montanan named to a U.S. Olympic ski team, competing at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, Calif., where his best result was 16th in the giant slalom.

Barrier suffered a setback later in 1960 when he broke his leg while competing for the Montana State University Bobcats. After recovering from his injury, he went on to ski for the U.S. Army ski team, becoming their top racer competing throughout Europe. Barrier retired from racing after being named as an alternate to the 1964 Olympic team.

He then signed on with Head skis where he helped develop the Head XR-1, Head’s first all-fiberglass ski. Barrier then joined the newly founded Durafiber Company in Carson City, Nevada where he helped developed the revolutionary hollow-core skis as well as graphite golf clubs and pole vaulting poles. he ultimately took his creativity to the Kaiser company where he held patents for numerous composite materials.

Barrier’s life was cut short at age 60 in 2000 when he lost his battle with cancer, but he will always have his spot in history as one of the top all-time racers from the Northwest and the first Olympic skier from Montana.

Tim Grattan

Brian “Tim” Grattan was born in Kalispell in 1938 and raised in Missoula where he attended Loyola High School. It was then that he first skied at Big Mountain, and continued to enjoy ski trips there throughout high school and college.

Grattan went on to attend the University of Montana on a football scholarship and joined ROTC.

In 1960, his ROTC commission in the Army Infantry took Grattan to Berlin, where he was present when the Berlin Wall was constructed. In 1963, he re-enlisted and was deployed to southeast Asia where he was a strategic advisor to a 500-man unit in South Vietnam. He continued his military career as a ROTC instructor at Eastern Washington University until he resigned his commission in 1969.

Grattan’s real estate career began in Bellevue, Wash., in 1969 where he worked in sales until 1971. Then his fond memories of skiing at Big Mountain drew him back to Whitefish. It was here that Grattan ventured into real estate development when he purchased the Lion Mountain property in 1972. He went on to acquire the Grouse Mountain property in 1975, where he would construct Grouse Mountain Lodge and the South Course addition to the Whitefish Lake Golf Club.

It was also during this time that Grattan helped organize the Flathead Valley Ski Education Foundation in 1973. In the ensuing years, he served on the Glacier Park International Airport Board of Directors, served as president of the Whitefish Rotary Club and helped found the Flathead Valley Convention and Visitor Bureau. He also served on the Big Mountain Board of Directors in the 1980s and 90s, and was instrumental in the expansion of skiing on the mountain during those years.

Today Grattan lives with his wife, Darlene, in the Grouse Mountain community, and looks proudly over the lodge and golf course that he was instrumental in developing.

Steve Spencer

Steve Spencer, or just “Spencer” to those who know him, was born and raised in Columbia Falls. His first ski trips were to mom-and-pop ski tows around the valley that are only a distant memory today, and then to Big Mountain on the ski bus in junior high school.

Spencer started his full-time ski career in 1967 when he signed on as a ski patroller at Big Mountain. The following year he set off to join the ski patrol at Aspen, Colo. Then his ski career was interrupted when he was drafted into the Army where he served as a medic in a septic surgery unit based in Okinawa.

After his discharge in 1971, Spencer returned to work on the Big Mountain ski patrol.

In 1972, he began spending his summers as a commercial fisherman, first in Washington’s Puget Sound and ultimately in Bristol Bay, Alaska. He would spend winters ski patrolling and summers alternating between fishing and building new lifts at Big Mountain, including Chair 3 in 1975, Chair 4 in 1978, Chair 5 in 1982 and Chair 7 in 1985. Spencer’s winter carrier included advancements to Ski Patrol Supervisor in 1974 and Mountain Operations Manager in 1981.

In 1995 he left Big Mountain and started the approval process for the development of the Blacktail Mountain ski area above Lakeside. After three years of hard work bringing the dream to reality, Blacktail opened Dec. 10, 1998. It was the first new ski area in the U.S. to open on public land in more than two decades. Blacktail has operated continuously since opening, providing a popular alternative to skiers from throughout the Flathead Valley and beyond.

Today, Spencer continues to oversee the operation at Blacktail, along with his wife, Peggy, and daughter, Jessi.

Bill Martin

Born in Driggs, Idaho, and raised in Libby, Darrel “Bill” Martin was always an avid outdoorsman. There was not a mountain between Libby and Kalispell he had not climbed nor a stream he had not fished before leaving the area to serve in the Navy during World War II.

After the war, he completed his education at the University of Montana before returning to the Flathead Valley with his wife, Patti, to raise their family.

Martin introduced his young family to the sport of skiing, beginning with after-work lessons at the Silver Buckle Ranch south of Kalispell and ultimately to Big Mountain. He strongly believed that an introduction to skiing offered children a lifetime of enjoyment.

Martin was a founding member and former president of the Kalispell Ski Club, where he helped develop the learn-to-ski program and the annual ski swap, making skiing more affordable and accessible to families. He also served as president of the Northern Division and vice president of the U.S. Ski Association, promoting recreational and competitive skiing in Montana, Wyoming and the U.S.

In 1957, Martin was elected to the Board of Directors of Winter Sports Inc. In 1982, he became the President and Chief Executive Officer of that board. During his tenure, a master plan for the expansion of the ski area was completed and approved by the Forest Service. The first phase was accomplished under his direction with the addition of Chair 7 and the Summit House.

Martin retired from the Board of Directors with service of more than 40 years.

Throughout his life, Martin has maintained the ideal and promoted skiing as a lifetime sport that should be accessible to all. He currently makes his home in Kalispell.