February 28, 2025 - Legendary Marty Hall, 87, a New Hampshire native and a trailblazer and pioneer in cross-country skiing, passed away on February 25, leaving behind a remarkable legacy that impacted and helped shape the sport around the globe.

It was back in the 1970s under the hard-driving, passionate leadership of Hall, that the U.S. Ski Team made its first foray into the international cross-country spotlight.

Foremost among his accomplishments was leading the US men’s team at the 1976 Innsbruck Olympics where Bill Koch took home a stunning silver medal, marking the historic first Olympic medal won by an American cross-country skier.

Hall also spearheaded the first women’s cross-country ski team back in 1969 with Al Merrill and managed and coached the inaugural US Olympic women’s cross-country team at the 1972 Games in Sapporo, Japan.

That initiative many years later culminated in Jessie Diggins and Kikkan Randall claiming Team Sprint gold at Pyeongchang in 2018, earning the first US women’s cross-country Olympic medal… a medal close to Hall’s heart.

Along the way Hall helped design the first American Birkebeiner course with founder Tony Wise back in 1973 at the Telemark Ski Area. He was instrumental in bringing the first women’s FIS World Cup cross-country ski race to Cable, WI in 1978 where Wenatchee, Washington’s Alison Owen won the 5km event.

In 1981 Hall brought his coaching leadership north of the border when he signed on as the head coach of the Canadian cross-country program. He was very influential in building a strong National Team foundation that led to excellent performances by skiers such as Pierre Harvey with three World Cup victories.

Never to shy away from speaking his mind, Hall sparked a controversy at the 1988 Olympics in Calgary, AB, when he implied that blood doping may be a reason for the Russian’s totally dominant performance and almost lost his job coaching the Canadian team. He was eventually vindicated when the Russians admitted to the doping years later.

Hall retired from the Canadian national program in 1992 and later developed the race trails in Thunder Bay that were used for the 1995 World Championships where he brought forward the short-loop concept that is still being used today at World Championship and Olympic competitions. He continued as a coach in the U.S. for eight more years, helping to build a strong program at Bowdoin College.

In addition to coaching, Hall also introduced innovations and advancements for Nordic ski equipment, training methodologies, trail grooming, and waxing techniques that helped revolutionize the sport around the globe. He initiated a sports medicine program and created a points system for selection criteria with his wife Kathy that is still used to this day.

In 1981 he published One Stride Ahead: An Expert Guide to Cross-country Skiing, and his renowned column, “Hallmarks”, in SkiTrax Magazine was followed by countless readers who loved his direct, and lively, observations of the sport. He also penned a popular online column for SkiTrax.com called “The Way I See It”.

One of his earliest jobs was working on trails in Squaw Valley, site of the 1960 Olympic Winter Games. He came full circle back to Squaw Valley where he was inducted to the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame’s class of 2017. The next year, he was part of the class of 2018 inducted into the Canadian Ski Hall of Fame for his contributions to the sport in Canada.

As a mentor he was always ready to stop and give advice and suggestions to those just starting out in coaching or skiing, constantly sharing his passion for the sport with anybody who was interested.

Marty and his wife, Kathy, have been passionate supporters of the sport for many years contributing to UNH Skiing, NENSA (New England Nordic Ski Association), the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation, Nakkertok Nordic and others.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in memory of Marty to the UNH SKIplex Project either online (click here) or mailed to the UNH Foundation, Elliott Alumni Center, 9 Edgewood Road, Durham, NH 03824. The project is a renovation of the locker rooms and team spaces for the University of New Hampshire’s Nordic and Alphine ski teams. Marty and Kathy were the visionary minds behind the SKIplex and have supported the project through their advocacy and philanthropy.

We join the cross-country ski community around the globe in honouring Hall’s passion, innovations, and tireless contributions to the sport of cross-country skiing along with his remarkable legacy that will be felt and recognized for years to come.