WAECHTER o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2008-02-07 published
Heinz NIEDERHAUSER, 72: Baker And Athlete
Chocolatier became leading cross-country ski coach
By Carol COOPER,
Special to The Globe and Mail, Page S8
Heinz NIEDERHAUSER never seriously strapped on cross-country
skis until he was in his 30s. Once started in the sport though,
he never stopped - all the way to the Olympics. Over a span of
35 years, he tested instructors, started ski clubs, co-founded
the Canadian Association of Nordic Ski Instructors and served
as head coach of the national cross-country team.
His rigorous training programs took a no-nonsense approach. Athletes
could expect three-hour runs, their coach in the lead, and to
be left in the parking lot if ever they were late. "He was very
dedicated, and we worked extremely hard under him," said Margaret
Holden WAECHTER, who was a member of the Ontario Junior Team
in the early 1980s. "He had this love of racing and training
and health and fitness and he inspired people to be the best
they possibly could be."
Raised in Zurich, Switzerland, he grew up as one of three children
to parents who ran a chocolate factory. Young Heinz enjoyed sports
and persuaded his Friends to stay play soccer by sometimes bribing
them with bits of chocolate.
Never the keenest student, he finished secondary school and worked
for a while in the factory. In 1952, he began an apprenticeship
as a confectioner and pastry chef in Basel. Despite his father's
skepticism, Mr.
NIEDERHAUSER excelled, placing first in his year.
Between compulsory stints of military training, where he trained
as an army cook, he worked in a confectionery shop in Lausanne
until being persuaded by his father to return to the family factory
as a salesman. A year later, he left after a row with his father
and immigrated to Finland in 1957.
He found a job with a candy manufacturer where he fell in love
with Ann SARKKI, a co-worker. They married in December, 1958,
and immigrated to Canada three years later. The family (including
new son Lars) settled in Toronto, where Mr.
NIEDERHAUSER worked
first at a bakery, then at the Westbury Hotel. Two more sons,
Tom and Glen, quickly followed.
For seven years, the family owned a bakery in Scarborough before
moving east to what is now Pickering, Ontario There, Mr.
NIEDERHAUSER
coached soccer and became involved in fitness programs at public
schools. In the late 1960s, the family took up downhill skiing
near Barrie, Ontario, and, after meeting some Finns and Estonians
there, switched to cross-country. Before long, Mr.
NIEDERHAUSER
was racing (and losing miserably) against the experienced Scandinavians.
He began training year-round and was soon beating them soundly.
In the 1970s, the sport took off, and so did Mr.
NIEDERHAUSER's
involvement. By 1975, he was the paid coach of the South Ontario
Division ski team, and moved the family to the Muskoka region,
where they lived on 32 hectares of land that soon became the
Raymond Ski School.
Mr. NIEDERHAUSER used it as a training facility for the team
and supplemented activities with year-round, week-long training
camps in provincial parks.
In 1976, he co-founded the Canadian Association of Nordic Ski
Instructors and, a year later, moved to Ottawa as technical director
and head coach of the national team. However, not everyone appreciated
his style. Grumbling followed his introduction of mandatory,
European-style, early-morning runs, and discontent ran so high
that he believed it would be better if he did not accompany the
team to the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid.
To his disappointment, only the women's team competed. The Canadian
Olympic Committee had deemed members of the men's team unlikely
to place in the top 16 and told them to stay home.
Mr. NIEDERHAUSER was fired along with Jack
SASSEVILLE, another
coach. While the dismissal angered Mr.
SASSEVILLE,
Mr.
NIEDERHAUSER
chose to focus on ensuring a smooth transition. "That was his
way," Mr. SASSEVILLE said. "He constantly was working towards
trying to make skiing better."
That year, too, Mr.
NIEDERHAUSER's marriage ended.
In 1981, he met Blanche
DRAPEAU.
During the next decade, the
couple moved to White Lake outside Ottawa, purchased Lowney Lake
Campground and started a family. From the campground, Mr.
NIEDERHAUSER
ran a bake shop and a landscaping business, while remaining involved
in skiing.
During the 1980s, he also founded and coached the Ottawa Racers
Ski Club and helped develop the city-owned Mooney's Bay facility
into one for cross-country training and racing. He coached the
Ontario Junior Team and served on the national ski team committee.
When the 1988 Calgary Olympics came around, Mr.
NIEDERHAUSER
was there as chief of manual grooming of the cross-country course.
With his usual dedication, he supervised a large crew charged
with touching up the trail with rakes and shovels.
Later, Mr.
NIEDERHAUSER started the ski club that came to be
known as Lowney Lake Nordic and was eventually based out of the
campground. He also became involved with the national capital
district ski program and the Ontario Junior Team. Among his protégés
was Kate Brennan, who made her World Cup debut in last month's
races in Canmore, Alberta.
Although Mr.
NIEDERHAUSER officially retired last fall, he continued
to coach. At the beginning of January, some of his athletes were
competing near Collingwood, Ontario, and he took to the trails
between events to prepare for an upcoming World Masters Race
in Idaho in March. "It's a beautiful day for a ski," he said
as they parted. He collapsed soon afterward.
Heinz Walter
NIEDERHAUSER was born August 27, 1935, in Zurich,
Switzerland. He died January 5, 2008, in Duntroon, Ontario He
was 72. He is survived by his wife, Blanche Drapeau. He also
leaves his children, Sven, Jana, Lars, Tom and Glen.
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