Tribute to the late Elaine Iceton

Tribute to Elaine Iceton, nee Chillman, 2023-01-17

Written by Dave Brekke, ElderActive member.

Good afternoon. I am Dave Brekke and as you will hear, I have known Elaine for many years.

As you may know, Elaine was an avid cross-country skier. Last year when I was cross-country skiing, I ran into Elaine and Mark. At that time, Elaine was not finding skiing easy, but still seemed to be enjoying it. Mark, being Mark, said that Elaine was determined to go, so he took her, even though he knew it was not easy for her.

My story on Elaine, that I believe you do not know, goes back to the late 1960s/70s when XC skiing was just getting going here.

About a half dozen interested people met, long before the meeting that established the Whitehorse Cross Country Ski Club. The ski club now has over 2,000 members and world class trails.

This long-ago meeting was called by late Fritz Langbaak at his Riverdale basement suite. Fritz was a bus driver who formerly was a ski- jumper in Norway. Fritz saw the need for a XC ski club and acted on the need he saw.

A couple other people who were there whom I remember and you may know were Gordie Ryder and Haakon Arntson. It was not a formal meeting.

Elaine, a young enthusiastic nurse, was the only woman there and she volunteered to be the recording secretary. I am confident that Elaine would have had the names of the few others whom I am sorry to have forgotten.

Several concerns were raised, and there was unanimous agreement on the need for a cross country ski club as well as a willingness to encourage interested people to become involved in its establishment.

I am confident that Elaine did more than her share in raising her friends’ and associates’ interest in the establishment of the Whitehorse Cross Country Ski Club.

Thank you for listening to Elaine’s story.

Looking forward,

Dave Brekke