Rod 'Super' Taylor

Roderick G. Taylor, 70, who raced for the U.S. Ski Team from 1967 to 1971, died unexpectedly in his home on July 5, 2014. Within the racing community, he’s best remembered as U.S. national downhill champion (and Roch Cup winner) in 1970, but generations of Connecticut skiers knew him as the genial owner of Woodbury Ski Area, where, beginning in the mid- 1970s, he was among the first ski areas operators to welcome snowboarders and build terrain features for them. Rod was born in Hartford, Conn., on July 7, 1943, son of the late Leslie and Elinor (Chichester Gaines) Taylor, and grew up in West Hartford. He earned a B.S. degree in economics at Western State College, which he attended from 1968 to 1972, and where he earned the nickname “Super.” He joined the U.S. Ski Team. When he wasn’t named to the 1972 Olympic squad, he quit the team and competed in World Pro Skiing. In 1972 he bought the Woodbury Ski Area in central Connecticut, where he functioned as a hands-on manager, making snow, driving the grooming equipment, maintaining lifts and lodge, and most of all interacting with guests. He built a summer skateboard park, and that led to opening the ski hill to snowboarding. Taylor made enough snow to be the first New England ski area to open, year after year. He continued racing, with much success on the Master’s Circuit. Rod is survived by his wife, Carolyn Hall Taylor.