Robin Samuel Anderson (Sam or Rob) Chaffey (22 July 1934 – 6 April 1998) was an

alpine skier Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether ...

from

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. He competed for New Zealand at the

1960 Winter Olympics The 1960 Winter Olympics (officially the VIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Squaw Valley 1960) were a winter multi-sport event held from February 18 to 28, 1960, at the Squaw Valley Resort (now known as Palisades Tahoe) in Squaw Valley ...

. He came 48th in the Downhill and 58th in the Giant Slalom, but was disqualified in the Slalom. Sam was a downhill ski-racer, national ski champion in 1958, and was involved in setting up and managing Porter Heights, the first commercial ski-field in Canterbury. He was a high-country farmer and a businessman whose activities included setting up a reindeer farm in Alaska and a cattle breeding programme in Brazil. He was called Sam at school and in the ski industry, but changed to Rob for everything else by family agreement because of all the Sams in the family (including his father and one of his sons). He married Jan Prain (a sister of skier Trish Prain) in 1958; they had two daughters and two sons. He was born in Timaru, brought up on a farm at the back of Mount Somers, and died at home in Tai Tapu.

References

* ''Ski-racer loved life's adventure'': Obituary by Tim Dunbar in ''The Press'' (Christchurch) of 30 April 1998, p. 5

External links

* 1934 births 1998 deaths New Zealand male alpine skiers Olympic alpine skiers for New Zealand Alpine skiers at the 1960 Winter Olympics 20th-century New Zealand farmers Sportspeople from Timaru 20th-century New Zealand sportsmen {{NewZealand-alpine-skiing-bio-stub