Kelley Ski Center grand opening

Caleb Nelson | Sports Editor | cnelson3@mail.smcvt.edu

“When I arrived at St. Mike’s in the fall of ’65 there was no place to put my skis or my golf clubs so under my bed up in Lyons they went,” said Tom Kelley ’69.

Kelley skied in every discipline (downhill, slalom, giant slalom, cross country, and ski jumping) and played soccer and golf during his time at St. Michael’s College. 

Kelley grew up in Holyoke, Mass., and said St. Michael’s College had a strong reputation due to the influence of Rev. Francis E. Moriarty, SSE ‘40., also from Holyoke. Father Moriarty served as president of St. Michael’s College between 1952 and 1958 and from 1974 to 1976. 

 After graduating, Kelley took time off skiing to pursue a law degree at Boston College Law School and start a family. 

Edward P. Markey, ’51, the athletic director in the mid-1990s, convinced Kelley to give back to the ski program. 

“He told me the school did not have a lot of money for ski teams so we needed a room in the brand new gym,” said Kelley. “So with some encouragement, they built the ski room and named it after me: Kelley Ski Room. It was a modest size and the teams used that room for 30 years.” 

Markey also persuaded Kelley to act as a mentor to the skiers.

Kelley described his role as a “big mascot” for the ski teams. He attended carnivals, helped kids train, carried jackets, and fed kids. For more than 20 years, Kelley said he stayed in touch with a couple hundred graduates. 

During those years the ski programs changed dramatically, and the Kelley Ski Room was insufficient for the size of Alpine and Nordic programs. 

 “It’s like a dungeon, there are no windows, the lighting is horrible, we have probably 38 lockers which seems like a lot but if you consider how many people we have on both of our teams we need way more than that,” said Declan Hutchinson, ’25, a captain of the Nordic ski team. 

Margrethe Froland, ’25, captain of the Alpine ski team, said skiers had to cram into the Kelley Ski Room before their 6:30 a.m. departure time. 

Early in the morning, the Kelley Ski Room was very hectic. Skiers did not have enough room to eat while waxing their skis, which sometimes resulted in an unusual-tasting bagel. “Every skier knows the taste of a wax bagel,” said Froland.

Senior Hall has now been replaced by the Kelley Ski Center at 19 Lime Kiln Road. 

The new ski center is a result of the generosity of the Kelleys and the relationships they built through their involvement at St. Michael’s College. 

“Everybody has a locker that is twice as big as the ones in the old ski room,” said Molly Peters, head coach of both the Nordic ski program and cross country. 

 “We have eight benches, instead of three, so there are 16 waxing stations. We have a state-of-the-art waxing machine, we have a flex tester, and a lot of storage. There is a kitchen so we can make breakfast in the morning, we hopefully will have nice places to sit down, a laundry room in the basement, bathrooms, showers, and the whole space is just cleaner and well-ventilated.” 

Skiing is much different than the typical team sport like basketball or baseball. “They practice and compete off campus an hour away every day,” said Matt Akins, St. Michael’s director of athletics. 

“They are out grinding, packing their bags in the worst conditions when their sport is being played. And not under the eyes of this campus community so in a lot of ways their success is hidden unless you are paying attention to what they are doing.” 

“The Kelley Ski Center is a very valuable recruitment tool for our ski coaches,” said Chris Kenney, ’86, the former director of athletics at St. Michael’s College and now executive director of stewardship & giving. “Our coaches say they are not aware of any facility like this on any competitor’s campus.”

 The Kelley Ski Center is a place the Nordic and Alpine programs can now call home. “The parents of the skiers are very happy to have the ski center because they know their kid is getting the best there is…they have contributed time, money, and effort in addition to making the ski team run smoothly,” said Kelley.