Sarge’s standards helped Vail skiing soar

VAIL, Colorado — Vail had seemingly perfect ski terrain. Bill “Sarge” Brown was tasked with making it the perfect ski mountain.

There were trails to cut, lifts to build and employees to train.

And, as mountain manager from the late 1960s to the early ’90s, Brown expected perfection in everything that happened on the mountain.

A veteran of two wars who left the Army as a senior sergeant major — the highest rank for a noncommissioned soldier — Brown wasn’t going to accept anything less than perfection.

“I’ll never forget the first time he asked me to come to one of his morning meetings, which started at six o’clock,” said George Gillett, who owned Vail Associates from 1985 to 1992. “I arrived at the meeting at 10 minutes to six, and he looked at me and said, ‘Gillett, you’re late!’ So he was one tough cookie.”

Brown’s high standards helped Vail develop into one of the best ski resorts in the world. He was honored this month by Colorado Ski Country USA with a lifetime achievement award for his contributions to the state’s ski industry.

The organization cited his advancements in grooming, mountain communications, summer trail maintenance and staging ski races.

Still tough

And do you think Brown, at age 85, is no longer that tough cookie? Think again. He got out of the hospital this week after having surgery on his back Tuesday. The procedure treated five fractured vertebrae that he’d sustained jumping out of airplane during training before World War II.

A nurse tried use a wheelchair to help him leave the hospital.

“I said, ‘What’s that here for?’” he said. “She said, ‘To take you out to your car.’ I said, ‘You must be smoking something.’”

He walked to his car.

Harry Frampton, president of Vail Associates in the 1980s, said Brown helped establish a culture of excellence at Vail Mountain.

“He cared about the mountain, and he treated it as if it was special and unique,” Frampton said. “He was the most anal guy in the world. He just made sure everything on that mountain was polished, neat and organized.”

True soldier

Brown grew up in McCall, Idaho, where he went to and from school each day on skis. He was a star guard on the football team at the University of Idaho. He later fought in World War II and the Korean War, earning five Purple Hearts, two Silver Stars and three Bronze Stars. He also trained soldiers at Camp Hale.

Brown installed the first snowmaking equipment on Vail Mountain — on Golden Peak — and he favored cutting wide trails that could accommodate lots of skiers and a luxurious skiing surface.

He started overnight grooming, making sure slopes were smooth first thing in the morning.

And he helped secure the 1989 World Alpine Championships at Vail and Beaver Creek, and then ensured the mountains were ready to host the landmark races.

A soft side, too

He demanded that workers be on time, cut their beards and dress neatly.

“I’m not running a popularity contest,” he remembered telling employees. “You are going to follow my example, and do what I do, and we’re going to have the best ski area in the world. If you can’t do that, there’s the door.”

But Gillett recalled Brown for more than his exacting standards.

“He had the most wonderfully beautiful soft side to him,” Gillett said. “He was a real man, and, to me, a real man isn’t just a tough guy, but it’s also the person who is warm and sensitive and loving and giving, and it’s a side of Sarge that a lot of people didn’t see. ... He taught us a lot about people and a lot about life.”

Brown said he was honored to receive the award.

“It was a surprise, and it great,” he said. “It was terrific.”



Staff Writer Edward Stoner can be reached at 748-2929 or estoner@vaildaily.com.