Tom Gross - Athlete, Media Star and Waterville Valley's Informal Historian

Listen to the Podcast here: https://podcasts.apple.com/.../tom-gross.../id1448601053...

Watch on YouTube :

What began as a project to tell the story of Waterville Valley as the birthplace of Freestyle skiing quickly morphed into Waterville Valley as a crucible of cultural vision and change. In the coming weeks we'll take you into the lives of JD Nelson and his friend Jack Sanders who took a young Wayne Wong, Floyd Wilkie and George Askevold under their wings to make sure that they were not taken advantage of as they began their journey to superstardom in the brand new world of Hotdog Skiing - soon to be called "Freestyle".

You'll meet Frank Dubois, the first certified African American ski instructor in America, Jerry Dunfey who intersected with their lives from his perch at the Parker House Hotel in Boston and the slopes of Waterville. as well as John and Donni Hughes, Bernie Weichsel, Executive Director of the first professional Freestyle association The International Freestyle Skiers Association, and others.

Through it all, Tom Gross, trusted friend to Olympic superstar and Waterville Valley Resort founder Tom Cochran, was often at the center of the media storm. He was there at the beginning, announced races and competitions all over the country, and hobnobbed with celebrities (He's the only person I know who actually got Bill Russell to autograph something for him.)

Whenever I would engage someone from Waterville Valley the conversation would invariably lead to Tom Gross who has forgotten more about Waterville Valley than the rest of us know.

He's a great storyteller on top of it all.

Tom Gross

http://www.tommygross.com/

President

Legends Productions

Waterville Valley Resort Association

Graduate of New England College: Tom was inducted into the New England College Athletic Hall Of Fame in 1996 for tennis with a combined four year record of 77-2 in singles and doubles, a member of three undefeated seasons, and a three year recipient of the Coach's Award.

Tom Gross Jr. - one of the well-deserved inductees WValley Hall of Fame in 2019.

Tom was hired by the great Rod Laver in 1975

His own 77-2 record as a tennis star for New England College earned him a place in the athletics Hall of Fame.