Willy Schaeffler

Wilhelm Josef "Willy" Schaeffler (13 December 1915 – 9 April 1989) was a German-American skiing champion, winning coach, and ski resort developer. In skiing, he is best known to the public for his intensive training programs that led the U.S. Ski Team to gold and bronze medals at the 1972 Olympics and his success at the University of Denver.

In development circles, Schaeffler is known for his role as a founder of the Professional Skiers Association (PSA), as an early developer of the Colorado ski area, Arapahoe- or A-Basin, as well as for the development of Vail, Whistler Blackcomb, Mineral King and Independence Lake. He is also renowned as the director of Skiing Events for the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley—now known as Palisades—California. It was during those Winter Games that he met and befriended a future president of the United States, John F. Kennedy, which later lead to significant friendships with the families of Robert and Ethel, Teddy, Jackie, and others of the Kennedy legacy.