Harry Pangman

After acquiring his Bachelor’s of Science from McGill University in 1930, Harry Pangman decided to take up competitive skiing and discovered quick success when he won the Quebec 18km Cross-Country Championships in 1931. A member (and co-founder) of the Red Birds Ski Club of Montreal, he was selected to join the Canadian delegation to the 1932 Winter Olympics and he placed 35th out of 42 competitors in the 18km event, the first Canadian to complete the race. He continued to compete until 1940, when he won the Downhill and Slalom Combined events at that year’s Quebec Championships.

Throughout his entire career, and long after it, Pangman also served as an administrator for his sport. Aside from having co-founded the Red Birds in 1928, he also served for many years as its secretary, treasurer, and president. Four years after his sole Olympic appearance as a participant he was appointed team manager and honorary coach for the ski team the represented Canada at the 1936 Winter Olympics. The following year he received two prestigious appointments: chairmanship of the Laurentian Ski Zone Committee and the eastern vice-presidency of the Canadian Amateur Ski Association, the latter of which lasted until 1939. Beginning in 1947 he chaired Skiing Selection Committee for the 1948 Winter Olympics and, as late as 1975, was helping organize aspects of “Jackrabbit” Smith-Johannsen’s 100th birthday celebrations. He was also an occasional writer who contributed articles to the Canadian Ski Annual. In 1983 he was inducted into the Canadian Ski Hall of Fame.