Tuesday, January 23, 2018, NewEnglandSkiIndustry.com
Wildcat co-founder Joseph Brooks Dodge Jr., 88, passed away on January 17.
The son of legendary Appalachian Mountain Club Huts Manager Joe Dodge, Brooks was born in Conway on December 30, 1929. As a teenager, Brooks worked for the AMC and became an accomplished alpine skier, establishing multiple routes in Tuckerman Ravine. Dodge won the 1947 Eastern Downhill Championship, held on the Wildcat ski trail.
A member of the United States ski team, Dodge placed 6th in Giant Slalom and 9th in Slalom at the 1952 Oslo Olympics. After serving in the Army, Dodge placed 4th in Slalom at the 1956 Cortina Olympics. Following the Olympics, Dodge married Ann Schafer.
Dodge attended Dartmouth College and Harvard Business School, earning an MBA from the latter. Around this time, Dodge joined Mack Beal, George Macomber, and Malcolm McLane in obtaining a United States Forest Service permit to develop a ski area on Wildcat Mountain in his native Pinkham Notch. After personally handling much of the initial construction, the ski area opened in January of 1958.
Dodge later embarked on a commercial real estate development career, while also becoming a pioneer in heli-skiing.
Dodge is survived by his two children, Joseph Brooks Dodge III and Christl Dodge. He was predeceased by his wife of 61 years in March 2017.
