2016 Ski Hall of Fame

Bernard “Dadou” Mayer arrived in New Mexico in 1958 along with his mother and father who all followed Jean Mayer, who arrived in New Mexico a year earlier. Jean put down roots at Taos Ski Valley and Dadou spent time at Red River. In 1961 he hired on at TSV as a ski instructor and patrolman and helped Jean in his Hotel St. Bernard with his chef training. He met his wife Ilse that same year. Dadou and Ilse built the Hotel Edelweiss in 1964 and Dadou, like Jean, would personally serve meals to his and the St. Bernard guests every day. Dadou has left his mark on New Mexico skiing in the area of ski instruction and ski racing. He was a volunteer coach of the Taos Junior racing team for about six years where he taught his skills he acquired as a south French Junior National Champion. Some of his better-known team members are the Cottam brothers, Paco Santistavin, the Shorter brothers, and the Brooks brothers. Dadou also served as a volunteer ski coach for UNM during its developing years 1969-70. Mr. Mayer as a coach affected the lives of many young people and many of his skiers went on to make the New Mexico ski industry bigger and better. Dadou along with Larry and George Brooks, Rik Heid, Drew Judycki, John Cottam, Herbert Kofler and others were founders and the life blood of the South West Pro-Tour, the second oldest pro racing tour at the time in the world. This tour lasted from 1974-1980, when a new tour was born; the “Do-Da” tour named for Dadou. As a ski instructor, Dadou worked with Jean to make the TSV ski school second to none in the world. He, like Jean, believed it was Ernie Blake’s job to get guests to TSV, but it was their job to make them return with “Great Customer Service”. Dadou also served for many years as an examiner for PSIA. Dadou passed away in August, 2022 at age 82.