John Gow was a Canadian para-alpine skier. He represented Canada at the 1976 Winter Paralympics in alpine skiing. He won the gold medal at the first Paralympic Skiing event; Men's Slalom IV A event, the only event he competed in.[1]

John Gow
Sport
CountryCanada
SportPara-alpine skiing
Medal record
Paralympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1976 Örnsköldsvik Slalom IV A

https://time.com/5912476/heliski-survival-1969/

https://www.whyte.org/post/fireside-chat-john-gow

John Gow passed away October 8th , 2024 in the Canmore General Hospital.

He was a double leg amputee who survived a Cessna crash in the spring of 1969 (April 15th) it is the area where Kicking Horse Mountain Resort currently is. He was in his early twenties when Gow was in a deadly place crash that killed the pilot. He crawled for 5 days through the British Colombian wilderness to a nearby settlement and saved his own life. John went on to continue his skiing career despite the tragic accident by teaching himself how to ski again and becoming the CEO of Sunshine Mountain Village at age 29. He also ran Silver Star Mountain Resort for close to two decades. John Gow lived to be 78 after an extremely accomplished life, he spent his last years in Canmore with his dog.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ {{cite web|url=https://www.paralympic.org/sdms4/hira/web/results/ornskoldsvik-1976/alpine-skiing/mens-slalom-iv-a%7Ctitle=Alpine Skiing at the Ornskoldsvik 1976 Paralympic Winter Games - Men's Slalom IV A|publisher=paralympic.org|accessdate=20 July 2019|archive-date=20 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190720150633/https://www.paralympic.org/sdms4/hira/web/results/ornskoldsvik-1976/alpine-skiing/mens-slalom-iv-a}}