Vladimir Sabich - Early Life

Early Life

The grandson of Croatian immigrants, Sabich was the second child of Vladimir and Frances Sabich. He was given his lifelong nickname "Spider" by his father, as a result of his thin arms and legs at a pre-mature birth. Spider's father was an officer of the California Highway Patrol and had volunteered in World War II as a B-25 pilot in the Air Force; he was held as a POW in Siberia by the Soviets for a year after his plane was shot-up over northern Japan and forced down near Vladivostok. After the war, Vlad was a test pilot and then returned to his job with the CHP in Sacramento, and in 1950 he was transferred to Kyburz on Highway 50, southwest of Lake Tahoe.

The three Sabich children (Mary, Spider, and Steve) learned to ski at Edelweiss ski area, about a dozen miles (20 km) up the highway, a mile past Twin Bridges. They attended a one-room school in Kyburz, Silver Fork Elementary, and went to class in the summer and skied during the winter, frequently arriving in their father's patrol car.

Spider and Steve were altar boys at the Catholic church across the highway from the ski area (Chapel of Our Lady of the Sierras), and would often strap on their skis immediately following Mass. Their ski coach was Lutz Aynedter, a downhill champion from the 1940s who emigrated from Germany to California after the war. He taught the Sabich boys European-style ski racing, and Spider and Steve became junior stars among the fearless young racers of Edelweiss, who became known as the "Highway 50 Boys." The Edelweiss ski area closed in the early 1960s after a poor snow year; the location is now called Camp Sacramento.

Despite their outdated equipment, Spider and Steve established themselves as top junior ski racers in northern California in the early 1960s. Both were offered skiing scholarships to the University of Colorado, the dominant collegiate program of the era. Head coach Bob Beattie was also the coach of the U.S. Ski Team, and the national team was heavy with CU skiers. While at Colorado, Spider majored in aeronautical engineering and was selected to the national team. Steve's career was ended by a knee injury while at CU.