August 08, 2010 (Pitsfield, VT) – Many young people engaged in our sport today, perhaps don’t even recall the name of Mike Gallagher. Yet, in the era when guys like Gallagher, [Mike ] Elliott and [Bob] Gray were leading the charge he was one of the very best. Born in Yonkers, NY, his father was a veteran of the 10th Mountain Division, and as a young man Gallagher developed a taste for running and alpine skiing. Back in 1947, he was living in Rutland, VT and skiing at Pico.
His Irish background help provide him with a dogged work ethic and an unquenchable drive to work hard – and then still harder. He was a real athlete in the classical sense of the word, and also blessed with an incredible curiosity to go faster. This “son of a gun” always called ’em like he saw them, and had the rare quality of wanting the USA at large to know more about what made the sport so wonderful and captivating. He advised a host of ski companies on building fiberglass skis in the early days.
Gallagher has spent most of his life in Vermont and his core values have been shaped by the state’s Green Mountains. His memories are honest, tender and often funny. As a coach he was a task master, but it was tempered by his love of the athletes. I first came to know Mike about 1968, and we have been lifelong friends – please enjoy.
Mike, cross-country skiing really helped shape your life, how did you get into in the first place?
Mike Gallagher: I had some old 10th Mountain skis, put them on with walking cable hitches and went rabbit hunting with my Beagle rabbit dog and a 410 shotgun with a rope sling! (Was this cross country or biathlon?!)
Was it love at first sight?
MG: Yes it was! After that first hunt I had a carpenter cut the 7-foot 6-inch 10th Mountain skis to plus/minus cross-country width. We screwed a pair of work shoes to the skis under the inner soles, under the ball of the foot and they worked! I won my first high school race in Woodstock 1957. The boots hurt and the skis had to be transported upside down on top of our car so snow and other debris would not end up in my boots.
When did you begin to feel you could make it big in the sport, and maybe go to the Olympics?
MG: In December 1958 I was invited to a training camp in Putney based on my alpine racing skills and winning the Vermont State cross-country running meet and the Vermont State mile run meet. There was no snow in Putney, so it ended up being a running and hiking camp. No one at the camp could keep up with me on the runs. There were seniors who were trying out for the 1960 Olympics and I thought “Wow, this sport is wide open.”
You made a number of Olympic teams, share some of your recollections with us?
MG: 1964 – My first Olympics . . . I call them my Christmas tree Olympics! 1968 – A great Olympics for me. Top U.S. finisher in four events, including a 5th place finish on the first leg of the relay. 1972 – Mike Elliott and I were in great shape and ready for some great results. But we both got sick and skied poorly. Then Mike and I were selected to go to Scandinavia to race at Lahti, Falun and Oslo. The trip was cancelled five minutes before we left the airport. Mike flew home and retired… and I should have done the same.
MG: The first year was great. Bob Gray and Mike Elliott were also at CU. Bob graduated and Mike transferred to Fort Lewis. The next three years at CU was a hard time for me. I had no teammates to push me in training or races, and no coaching at the level I needed. I had to leave CU to move ahead. I’ll speak more of that later.
What do you think of collegiate skiing currently at the D-1 level?
MG: Same opinion that I have had for many years – too many scholarships and slots for foreign students on our college teams. I think most of the racing format is great, except for sprinting. I don’t like ‘roller derby’ in cross-country skiing. I think the best coaching in the U.S. is at the D1 or college level and at ski academies.
Do you think today’s athletes are different from athletes of the past ?
MG: Really there’s no comparison, we still put our racing uniforms on ‘one leg at a time’ but that’s where the comparison ends. Yes, they still use two skis and that’s what we had. One pair of training skis, and one pair of racing skis, and one pair of boots, and a set of poles, and ten kick waxes to choose from. We always waxed our own race skis, always cleaned our skis, and bought all of own skis, boots and poles.
I worked eight hours a day, everyday, unless we were at a camp or on a trip. Up at 5 a.m., train for 1 hour, breakfast, off to work for eight hours, train another 1.5 to 2.5 hours after work, dinner and then bed – five days a week. Weekends were for the longer 3-6 hour workouts, about 650 to 800 hours a year for me and no support from anyone.
What do you think was your greatest achievement in the sport?
MG: In 1968 I was the top U.S. skier in each of four events and 5th in the first leg of the relay. During my career I had top 20 finishes at Holmenkollen, the Lahti Ski Games and the Swedish Ski Games. I am proud of my 19th place in the 50km classic at Holmenkollen in 1968.
What was the lowest moment in the sport?
MG: When I was sent home in 1974 from the Nordic World Championships, dubbed the “Falun Massacre”, with Bob Gray, Joe McNulty, Mike Deveka, one other Nordic combined skier, and Trina Hosmer, one of the best U.S. cross-country skiers ever! All we wanted to do was to finish out our careers. I know the direction Jim (Balfanz, the USST Nordic Director) and Marty (Hall, XC Head Coach) wanted to go was the youth movement. I never would have done that to an athlete, I would always have allowed them to finish the year. It’s something I have never recovered from.
Doping is such a huge problem in our sport now – did you see it much earlier during your career?
MG: Yes, doping has been around since the 1950s and 60s, more evolved in the 70s, 80s and on. Doping really “de”-motivated us in the 60s and 70s. Even if you trained your butt off they had the advantage.
In 1962 I didn’t make the FIS team, the trials were in Lake Placid and I tied for 14th in the downhill and finished 2nd in the xc. Jim Page beat me in the xc, incidentally. That year when Gray and Elliott were over in Europe the Finn’s were feeding [their skiers] a drink and a pill and the guys thought that was very suspect.
In 1964 after Holmenkollen, the US Team left and I stayed for the springs series, ending up in Kiruna in a 30km event. I took off and was having a pretty good race. I tried to get a drink from someone and was looking everywhere. One country had dropped a bottle in the snow, and I was right behind and I needed it. I took down 6-8 oz of liquid – and all of a sudden I got this huge, huge lift. I was hyperventilating. I took that drink at 18km and ended up 14th which was my best finish up to that point. There sure as hell was something in that drink but nothing ever came of it. Knowing this information was depressing and I knew then that the juice was helpful.
MG: Training in Norway made all the difference. I gained confidence, knowledge and knew what to do and how much to do. Plus my training in Durango, CO in the summer and fall of 1963 with Dolph Kuss and Mike Elliott helped to jump start my career. Norway was a big learning curve for me. Technique training, dryland training I could stay with there was so many great skiers – [Odd] Martinsen, [Gjermund] Eggen, and Ole Ellefsater, who was great. He had a late kick and skied like a moose, but a fast moose. I was 24 then and skied for the BUL Club out of Oslo. This was a great club. Martinsen also skied with BUL and we became friends.
I graduated from Rutland, VT high school and did a PG year at VA for a year and then decided that where I wanted to go was Colorado. I made the Deans List at CU. My freshman year at CU, Gray and Elliott were there, but once they left I had to move on. I needed more coaching at a higher level. That’s when I went to Norway. It made all the difference
Do you have a feeling that the current national program is headed in the right direction – and if not, what advice would you give them?
MG: Because I’m a former Olympic athlete and coach I have remained silent, but I really think they’re doing some things too structured. It is my read that unless you join the U.S. ski team training group you are not supported. Can you imagine if I had required Bill Koch, Tim Caldwell, Dan Simoneau and Jim Galanes to train at one site and live at that site in order to be 100% supported?
Who are the people that motivated you and were among your closest buddies in the sport?
MG: There are two, Mike Elliott and Bob Gray. These two men were my toughest competitors and my best friends. Mike Brady was a big help to me in Norway and John Caldwell was also a big help. Training with Peter Davis for a couple of years helped all of us.
You were always known as a fiery, driven competitor, who worked so hard to be the best and I ask this with a smile, have you mellowed with time?
MG: Of course I have. I don’t wear a number anymore – yes I have mellowed.
What are you up to these days?
MG: I was laid off from work, not much construction jobs at this time. I just had a hip replacement; I’m married to Tyna and cut wood, tend the garden, keep bees, hunt, fish and take care of our property. It’s a good life.
Thank you so much Mike.
MG: Thank you as well.