One of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association's (USSA) most recognized volunteers, Dr. J. Leland “Sos” Sosman, passed away April 3 at the age of 87 at his Concord, MA home.
“Sos was the consummate volunteer with a passion for detail who provided great service to ski and snowboarding athletes for over four decades,” said USSA President and CEO Bill Marolt. “The events he officiated were always perfectly run, and his counsel to both the USSA and the FIS was immeasurable.”
Sosman served for over 30 years on USSA and FIS committees and was an official at six Olympic Winter Games and many World Championships. He was recognized with many honors in the sport, receiving the USSA's highest volunteer honor, the Julius Blegen Award, in 1976 and was inducted into the U.S. National Ski Hall of Fame in 1999.
“While we saw him as a national and international leader of ski officials and technical delegates, what really motivated Sos was his passion for the athletes and fellow volunteers of his Waterville Valley Black and Blue Trail Smashers,” added Marolt. “His donations of time, money and land played a key role in the growth of that very important USSA club program. He took great pride in his role at the local, national and international level.”
Sosman first came to New Hampshire's Waterville Valley area in the late 1930s as an avid hiker and both alpine and cross country skier. He pioneered many hiking trails, including his namesake “Sosman Trail” on Mt. Tecumseh.
He served on many alpine sport committees over the years for both the FIS and the USSA, as well as a board member for the USSA and its foundation. He was the parliamentarian for the FIS Congress for many years. Sosman was a longtime WVBBTS board member, two-term president and served over 20 years as its race chairman. He worked as an official at the 1964, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988 and 2002 Olympic Winter Games, plus countless World Championships.
Sosman was a graduate of Philips Andover Academy, receiving his undergraduate degree in 1943 from Harvard and a medical degree from John Hopkins in 1946. He then served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps in post-war Germany. He became chief of radiology at the Robert Breck Brigham Hospital, a Harvard teaching hospital, which later became the Brigham and Women's Hospital. He continued to teach in the Harvard University system until he was 81, retiring in 2002.
He and his late wife of 50 years Mary Jo (Kibler) Sosman had five children, including Eric Sosman (Newton, MA), Nancy Sosman (Sabego, ME), Carol Sosman (Mansfield, MA), Amy Sosman (Portsmouth, NH) and the late Honorable Martha Browning Sosman. He had two grandchildren and has a sister, Barbara Munson (Hanover, NH).
A memorial service will be held Sunday, April 20 at 1:00 p.m. in Waterville Valley. Donations may also be made in his name to the Waterville Valley BBTS Educational Fund, Box 442, Waterville Valley, NH 03215.
A year ago the USSA started an award in his name, the Dr. J. Leland Sosman Award. The award is presented annually to a member of the USSA's physician's pool. While Sosman did not provide medical service to the USSA himself, his spirit of volunteerism on behalf of athletes typifies the service of doctors in that program. The first award in his name will be made in May at USSA Congress 2008.
