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Legacy[français] The Legacy of Dr. Huntington “Skip” SheldonThe Viking Ski Club is honoured to dedicate the 47th edition of the Loppet to Dr. Huntington “Skip” Sheldon, past president of the Viking Ski Club (1973-1976) who passed away in December 2017. Because of his generosity, foresight and unwavering support of cross-country skiing, skiers have been guaranteed access to the Viking’s historic Racing Trails for decades to come. It took months of effort to arrange, but Skip’s desire to see that the hundreds of acres of land he owned would be preserved for the winter sport he loved was realized. The land he owned, used for years by the Viking Ski Club for its Racing Trails, would be transferred to the SPFSA and the Municipality of Morin-Heights. As part of the arrangement, the rights to use the Racing Trails would be guaranteed in perpetuity. Dr. Huntington “Skip” Sheldon, who made his home in Shelburne, Vermont, died unexpectedly after a brief illness not long after the land transaction was completed. He was born in New York City on Jan. 14, 1930. Skip and his family moved to Amagansett, N.Y. when he was six years old; the property there was a keystone throughout his life and formed the foundation for his lifelong passion for agriculture and conservation, reported Shelburne’s The Citizen newspaper in a heartfelt obituary.
He was educated at Brooks School in Andover, Mass., and completed his undergraduate studies as a Markle Scholar at McGill University. He earned his medical degree at Johns Hopkins University and did his residency there in pathology. He was a pioneer in the study of electron microscopy at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. He returned to McGill in 1959 and remained there as a legendary lecturer, Strathcona Professor, and researcher for the next 25 years. The Sheldon Biotechnology Center at McGill is named in his honour. While living in Montreal, Dr. Sheldon devoted much of his recreational time to cross-country skiing in the Laurentians. In addition to being a past president of the Viking Ski Club, Skip was chairman of the Canadian Ski Association. He was a coach in the winter Olympics at Innsbruck and Lake Placid in 1976 and 1980 respectively. He competed in three iconic cross-country races: the Vasaloppet, the Finlandia and the Birkebeiner. The Citizen’s obituary told the story of a consummate renaissance man who applied his considerable intellect and force of character to achieve success in many fields. Having taken early retirement from McGill in 1985, he moved to Shelburne, VT, where he spent the next 25 years raising purebred Suffolk sheep. He was one of the area’s first certified organic farmers and was key in forming the Charlotte Land Trust in the early 1990s, said the newspaper. Another of Dr. Sheldon’s lifelong passions, the newspaper added, was sailing. It is believed that this is where is earned the moniker “Skip.” He first learned to sail at the Devon Yacht Club on Gardiner’s Bay on Long Island as a young boy and continued to sail while he lived in Montreal. After his move to Vermont, he was able to focus more of his energies on sailing and competed in many of the world’s classic ocean races: Transatlantic, Fastnet, Newport-Bermuda, Middle Sea and the Sydney-Hobart. He also spent several summers cruising in the high latitudes of Scandinavia with his family, including a sail above the Arctic Circle to Spitsbergen in ’96. He was a member of the New York Yacht Club, the Royal Ocean Racing Club, and was an honorary Commodore of the Royal Swedish Yacht Club. Skip was a valued member and supporter of the Viking Ski Club. He will be missed but his legacy will echo forever in the hills of the Laurentians. |
