Kåre Andersen

  • December 30, 2012

Kare Andersen with the 2012 US Telemark Team and coach Ty Upson

The Telemark community lost a great teacher, leader and promoter of telemark skiing when Kåre Andersen passed away on December 20, 2012.

USTSA was blessed to have Kåre attend the 2012 US National Championships at Gunstock, NH in March. Kåre enjoyed watching the races, meeting the athletes, speaking to the members and having his photo taken with the team.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Kåre Fridtjof Andersen

October 1, 1916 – December 20, 2012

Kåre Andersen was born on October 1, 1916 in Kolbotn, Norway and was educated in the Norwegian public education system before apprenticing as a tailor. He worked first in Oslo, Norway as a Master Tailor/Designer with his sister Martha before travelling to India in 1953, where he worked until 1957 personally designing outfits for maharajahs,ambassadors and Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia. In 1957 he travelled to Montreal, Canada before emigrating to the United States in 1958, settling in New Haven, CT.

He continued to work as a Master Tailor/Designer, first with Fenn Feinstein Co. and then A. M. Rosenberg Co. of New Haven, CT, personally designing suits for the late President John F. Kennedy, Sargent Shriver, members of the Mellon and Ford families and many others before retiring in 1981 and moving with special friends to VartLand in Londonderry, VT to dedicate himself full time to Telemark skiing, singing, baking and golf.

As a boy, Kåre learned cross-country skiing in order to travel 20 km to school and was a regionally recognized ski jumper. In the USA, Kåre was an early proponent of Telemark skiing and was a PSIA Telemark instructor at Bromley Mountain until he was in his mid 90’s. In 1985 he started his annual Telemark ski race, which has run continuously for 27 years, currently held at Bromley Mountain in Peru, VT and is one of the oldest Telemark races in the United States. Kåre was famous for his almond cakes which he gave to sponsors of his race. PSIA made Kåre a lifetime member in 2002 and in 2011, the Kåre Andersen Telemark Center at Bromley was named in his honor.

Kåre was known for his strong tenor and was a member of the Swedish singing groups Nordic Harmoni, Apollo Singing and others, His last concert was in early December. During the summer he was a groundskeeper at Tater Hill Golf Club as well as an active golfer well into his nineties.

He died on December 20, 2012 in Brattleboro, VT and is survived by his very close friend and partner in many of his adventures, Valerie Johnson. Carol and late husband, Bill Spinrad, Faith and Bob St.Claire and their large families were very important in his life. Remo Fabri and and his family from New Haven, CT also had a very special relationship with Kåre. He will be missed through out the state of Vermont by his many friends and neighbors, as well as in many more states across the country.

He is also survived by his niece, Elisabeth Jensen of Victoria, Canada, great-niece Tone Dybdahl Thompson, of Pennington, NJ with families. Other nieces; Grethe Lefevre, Jorun Eriksen, Karin Pedersen and Turid Sandberg and nephews; Bjørn Bratlie, Ragnar Bratlie, Kjell Dybdahl, Lars Grønvold, Rune Andersson, Tor Dybdahl and many more great-nieces and great-nephews, all residing in Norway.

A Memorial Service will be held at 1:30 PM on Friday January 4, 2013 at the Second Congregational Church 2051 Main St., Londonderry, Vermont and will be followed by a Reception at 3 PM at Bromley Mountain.

There will be a gathering in Kolbotn, Norway of Kåre’s Norwegian relatives at the same time as the Memorial Service in Norway

  • The Kåre Anderson Telemark Races have been held for over 30 years.

Results of the Kåre Andersen annual telemark races:

Thanks to Mark Haberle, we have more than half of the results from over 30 years of this event!

1992 – 6th Annual

1994 – 9th Annual

1995 – 10th Annual

1996 – 11th Annual

1997 – 12th Annual

1998 – 13th Annual

1999 – 14th Annual

2000 – 15th Annual

2002 – 17th Annual

2006 – 21st Annual

2008 – 23rd Annual

2009 – 24th Annual

2010 – 25th Annual

2011 – 26th Annual

2012 – 27th Annual

2014 – 29th Annual

2015 – 30th Annual

2016 – 31st Annual