Services will be held Saturday for Craig Gorder, a U.S. Ski Team racer in the early 1970s and a backcountry skiing pioneer. He died June 23 in Salt Lake County at age 60.

Gorder made the Ski Team in 1973, when he was the country's top slalom racer. He recorded two top-10 finishes on the World Cup circuit before turning professional, where he competed on a team with French Olympic legend Jean-Claude Killy.

Earlier, he won the Lowell Thomas Classic in Park City as a 15-year-old, two Alta Snow Cups, two European Cup slaloms and races in Aspen and Washington state.

"Craig was noted for his Bode Miller, go-all-out, one-speed style," said Jim Gaddis, who coached Gorder in his junior years. "He was one of the best skiers ever to come out of this area. Had it not been for untimely accidents, he would have won World Cups."

Added former Salt Lake City Mayor Ted Wilson: "He was the best athlete I ever knew."

Gorder later became known as a leader in the development of Alpine touring skiing, mountaineering, hiking and mountain biking in the Wasatch Mountains.

He is survived by his wife, Sheila Draper-Gorder, two daughters, one grandson and a brother, Brett. The 3 p.m. services will take place at his home in Emigration Canyon. —

Craig Gorder, 1952­-2012