2005 Ski Hall of Fame

George Brooks was in his 35th year at the helm of the University of New Mexico Ski Team—a team that Coach Brooks almost single-handedly created in 1970 and guided to the ultimate success: the UNM Ski Team Lobos were the NCAA National Champions in 2004. It was the first NCAA championship in UNM history. Initially a club sport, the UNM Ski Team has been molded into a consistently competitive and nationally ranked program. In the 35 years that Brooks coached at New Mexico, his teams placed in the top ten at the NCAA championships over 20 times.

A 55-year-old native of Taos, Brooks’ enthusiasm for the sport of skiing dates back to the early days of Taos Ski Valley, where he raced on a Taos team coached by Mickey Blake. George went on to race at UNM as a varsity athlete.

Over the past 35 years, Brooks coached more than 65 athletes to All-American status on over 100 different occasions. He also coached over 100 skiers to Academic All-American honors and All-Conference awards. New Mexico has eight Alpine team championships, five Nordic team championships, and many individual champions in both the Alpine and Nordic disciplines.

Coach Brooks served on many national ski committees and was chosen as the coach for the United States Ski Team at the World University Games in 1983, 1987–1991, 1993, 1995, and again in 1997. Brooks also served as chair of the United Ski Association Collegiate Ski Committee from 1988–1997. He also served as the delegate from the United States to the Federation of International Skiing from 1986–1998. Brooks has served on the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Rules Committee as both member and chairman.

George earned his bachelor’s degree from UNM in Political Science/History in 1970 and went on to earn his master’s in Sports Physiology. George is married to the former Debbie Dixon of Albuquerque and has three grown children. He retired from UNM in 2007 and served as Executive Director of Ski New Mexico for 17 years, retiring in 2023.