Bobby Cochran is the third member of Vermont’s famous Cochran skiing family to be inducted into the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame following his sisters Barbara Ann (Class of 1976) and Marilyn (Class of 1978).

All four Cochran children competed on the U.S. Ski Team and were Olympians, and the Cochran family continues to make its mark on the ski world. Bobby’s son Jimmy competed in the Vancouver Olympic Games and five of the family’s grandchildren competed at the U.S. National Alpine Skiing Championships in 2010, including two who are currently members of the U.S. Ski Team.

Bobby won respect for his athleticism, dedication and achievements at all levels of competition, from regional to the Olympic Games. He excelled in all of the alpine disciplines and over a four-year period, from 1969 to 1973, won seven national titles. In 1973, he was the first American to win a World Cup GS event and was also the first American to win the combined title at the famous Hahnenkamm in Kitzbuhel, Austria.

Encouraged by his parents, his father would serve as the U.S. Ski Team coach in 1974, while his mother ran the famous Cochran family ski hill in Richmond, Vermont, Bobby showed promise from a very early age. He won the National Junior Championship in 1967, and a year later, at 16, was invited to join the U.S. Ski Team – the youngest person on the team at that time. He was a member of the Olympic Team in 1972, finishing a mere second out of first place. In 1971, besides winning three out of five CanAm races, he won the prestigious Roch Cup in the downhill.

Bobby’s best year was 1973, with a World Cup Giant Slalom win in Heavenly Valley, California,m winning the NCAA downhill championship and his aforementioned success at Kitzbuhel. He was presented with the Buddy Werner Award in recognition of his sportsmanship and leadership on the U.S. Ski Team. As a ski team member, he finished in the top 10 an impressive 22 times, achieving four podiums. After leaving the U.S. Ski Team, he raced professionally for three years, finishing third overall on the World Professional Tour in 1976. He then returned to school to pursue a career in medicine.

Hall of Fame skiers, Steve and Phil Mahre, Cary Adgate and Greg Jones, joined the U.S. Ski Team as he neared the end of his career. They held him in the highest regard looking to him as the man to beat and from whom to take inspiration and advice.