André BERTRAND

André Bertrand took up alpine skiing after World War II and won his first junior Canadian title in 1948 in the combined. Two years later, he took both the junior and senior national titles in the downhill, and in 1952 he was selected to represent Canada at that year’s Oslo Olympics. There, he was 25th, 36th, and 41st in the slalom, giant slalom, and downhill respectively. He captured two more national titles, in the downhill and combined, in 1954, and again represented Canada abroad at the Cortina d’Ampezzo Games in 1956. There, he was 25th, 39th, and 50th in the downhill, giant slalom, and slalom respectively. He was also Canada’s flagbearer in the closing ceremony at those Olympics.

Bertrand had a lengthier career as a coach, and spent twenty years, from 1950 through 1970, as head coach for the Laval University alpine ski team. During that time, Laval was national intercollegiate champion in 1967. He also served as the organizer of several international events in the Mont Sainte Anne ski area. He was inducted into the Canadian Ski Museum and Hall of Fame in 1989. By career, he was a civil engineer.