Wilbur "Bill" Irwin is a former Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 competitive skier

Skiing

Skiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....

 who competed in six events across four disciplines at the 1948 Winter Olympics

1948 Winter Olympics

The 1948 Winter Olympics, officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event celebrated in 1948 in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The Games were the first to be celebrated after World War II; it had been twelve years since the last Winter Games in 1936...

. In St. Moritz

St. Moritz

St. Moritz is a resort town in the Engadine valley in Switzerland. It is a municipality in the district of Maloja in the Swiss canton of Graubünden...

 he competed in the downhill, slalom, combined, 18 km, Nordic combined

Nordic combined at the 1948 Winter Olympics

At the 1948 Winter Olympics, the Individual Nordic combined event was contested.-Individual:February 1, 1948-References:*...

, and ski jumping

Ski jumping at the 1948 Winter Olympics

-K90 individual ski jumping :February 7, 1948The competition took place at "Olympiaschanze" with a K-Point of 68m .-External references:*...

 events, placing 60th (tied with Donald Garrow of Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

), 50th, 36th, 81st, 37th, and 39th respectively. Born in Winnipeg

Winnipeg

Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...

, Manitoba

Manitoba

Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...

, he won his first race at the age of nine in 1930 and his last in 1983. He served with the Canadian Army

First Canadian Army

The First Canadian Army was the senior Canadian operational formation in Europe during the Second World War.The Army was formed in early 1942, replacing the existing unnumbered Canadian Corps, as the growing number of Canadian forces in the United Kingdom necessitated an expansion to two corps...

 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 from 1943 through 1945 and taught Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 Commandos

British Commandos

The British Commandos were formed during the Second World War in June 1940, following a request from the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, for a force that could carry out raids against German-occupied Europe...

 how to ski after the conflict. In 1956 he founded a ski area and club at Loch Lomond

Loch Lomond (Ontario)

Loch Lomond is a large spring-fed lake located above Lake Superior, south of the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario. It is located in behind Mount McKay, in the Fort William First Nation and Neebing Municipality. Loch Lomond is considered to be a deep oligotrophic lake...

 near Thunder Bay

Thunder Bay

-In Canada:Thunder Bay is the name of three places in the province of Ontario, Canada along Lake Superior:*Thunder Bay District, Ontario, a district in Northwestern Ontario*Thunder Bay, a city in Thunder Bay District*Thunder Bay, Unorganized, Ontario...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, owning and operating it for 23 years. In 1975 he was awarded the Ontario Tourism Award for "...dedication to the tourist industry of Ontario through the development and promotion of skiing" and in 2000 he was inducted into the Canadian Ski Hall of Fame

Canadian Ski Hall of Fame

The Canadian Ski Hall of Fame was created by the Canadian Ski Museum in 1982 to honour skiing pioneers, competitors, coaches, officials, and builders.-A:*Dennis Adkin, 1983**Pierre Alain, 1984*Verne Anderson, 1990**Peter Andrews, 1994...

 in the jumping, Nordic, and builder categories. Over the course of his career as a competitor he acquired more than 200 trophies, at the national and international levels, and won numerous Central Canadian championships. His brother Bert also competed at the 1948 Games and his son Dave

Dave Irwin

Dave Irwin is a former alpine ski racer who represented Canada at two Winter Olympic Games and won a World Cup. He was one of the "Crazy Canucks", a group of Canadian downhill racers who rose to prominence on the World Cup circuit in the late 1970s...

 attended the 1976

1976 Winter Olympics

The 1976 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XII Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated February 4–15, 1976 in Innsbruck, Austria...

 and 1980 Winter Olympics

1980 Winter Olympics

The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIII Olympic Winter Games, was a multi-sport event which was celebrated from 13 February through 24 February 1980 in Lake Placid, New York, United States of America. This was the second time the Upstate New York village hosted the Games, after 1932...

and became known nationally as one of the "Crazy Canucks".