Tomm Murstad (2 July 1915 – 19 January 2001) was a Norwegian skier, coach and business man. He was born in

Fredrikstad Fredrikstad (; previously ''Frederiksstad''; literally "Fredrik's Town") is a city and municipality in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Fredrikstad. The city of Fredrikstad was founded in 1 ...

as a son of physician Hjalmar Murstad (1883–1940) and Elisabeth Korneliussen (1887–1968). He grew up at

Vinderen Vinderen is a neighbourhood in the Vestre Aker borough of Oslo, Norway. It was a separate borough until 1 January 2004, when it was incorporated into the newly established borough of Vestre Aker. Its amenities include Vinderen station. The prosp ...

. He was married to Nathalia "Oja" Mustad, daughter of Hans Clarin Hovind Mustad and granddaughter of Hans Mustad, from 1941 to 1969, and then to Nena Gretta Godfrey from 1970. Murstad began skiing as a youngster, with emphasis on

alpine skiing 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 ...

and

ski jumping Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the fin ...

. He eventually became an alpine skiing instructor in France, and spent summers at the

Riviera ''Riviera'' () is an Italian word which means "coastline", ultimately derived from Latin , through Ligurian . It came to be applied as a proper name to the coast of Liguria, in the form ''Riviera ligure'', then shortened in English. The two areas ...

where he held

water skiing Water skiing (also waterskiing or water-skiing) is a surface water sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation over a body of water, skimming the surface on two skis or one ski. The sport requires suffici ...

shows. In late 1934 he opened a skiing school in

Marka, Oslo Marka is the name of the forested and hilly areas surrounding Oslo, Norway. It includes areas within the municipality of Oslo, but also large areas in Hole, Ringerike, Jevnaker, Lunner, Nittedal, Bærum, Asker, and other municipalities in Viken c ...

. During the following years he traveled between Norway, France and United States to stage shows, go on public relation tours and run the skiing school. In the United States he visited

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

and

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, where 100,000 people attended his indoor

ski jumping hill A ski jumping hill is a sports venue used for ski jumping. They vary in size from temporary handmade snow structures to permanent competition venues. At the top is an in-run where the jumper runs down to generate sufficient speed, before reaching ...

shows. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

his skiing school was closed. After the war he opened ski schools for children near

Tryvann Tryvann is a small lake in Nordmarka, the forest area just north of Oslo city, near the Holmenkollen ski jump. By the water lies a cabin called Tryvannstua, in which there is a café open regularly during both summer and winter. On a hill above t ...

in Norway. The children were brought there from downtown

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

in a separate tram car, embarking from Majorstua station. Ahead of the

1952 Winter Olympics The 1952 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VI Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 6. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 6. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Oslo 1952, was a winter multi-sport event held from 14 to 25 February 195 ...

he was the coach of Norway's alpine skiing team. The team included Stein Eriksen, who later joined Murstad in summertime water skiing shows. Murstad also ran a

sports clothing Sportswear or activewear is clothing, including footwear, worn for sport or physical exercise. Sport-specific clothing is worn for most sports and physical exercise, for practical, comfort or safety reasons. Typical sport-specific garments ...

store. In 1960 he started an eponymous

summer camp A summer camp or sleepaway camp is a supervised program for children conducted during the summer summer vacation, months in some countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer camp are known as ''campers''. Summer school is usually a part ...

for youths, with emphasis on

water sports Water (chemical formula ) is an Inorganic compound, inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living ...

and maritime safety. He used the moniker "Onkel Tomm", a direct translation of

Uncle Tom Uncle Tom is the title character of Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 novel, ''Uncle Tom's Cabin''. The character was seen by many readers as a ground-breaking humanistic portrayal of a slave, one who uses nonresistance and gives his life to protec ...

. In 1980 he was decorated with the HM The King's Medal of Merit in gold. He died in January 2001 in Oslo. His ventures are now run by Tomm Murstad, Jr.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murstad, Tomm 1915 births 2001 deaths Businesspeople from Oslo Sportspeople from Fredrikstad Norwegian expatriates in France Norwegian male alpine skiers Norwegian male ski jumpers Norwegian sports coaches Alpine skiing coaches Olympic coaches for Norway 20th-century Norwegian businesspeople Recipients of the King's Medal of Merit in gold