HOMER, Alaska - Growing up in Homer in the 1950-60s, young skier Larry Martin helped maintain his own cross-country trails. He was often in the dark, in a broad swath of wide open emptiness, trailing behind his coach's snowmachine.

When other duties called coach Dave Schroer away, Martin would take off on his own, skiing for miles on treks that many today would consider a good day's ride on a snowmachine.

Thanks to all that backcountry training, Martin was pegged to participate on two U.S. Winter Olympic teams, in 1972 in Saporo, Japan and 1976 in Innsbruck, Austria.

Fast forward to the 1990s, and Martin shows up on a different ski hill in Homer - but this time as a supportive parent.

"When I had Larry's daughter, Ida, on my ski team, I didn't know anything about his being in the Olympics," Homer Ski Coach Dave Brann recalled. "It was just his way. He never said a word about it."

Brann's was one of several stories resulting in Larry Martin's induction into the Alaska School Activities Association Hall of Fame. Martin will be one of five inducted statewide this year. He was nominated locally by the Homer Booster Club and will be honored in Anchorage on April 11.

After his 1976 Olympic run, and four more years of either coaching or working at a ski resort, life didn't give Martin a lot of opportunities to ski. In 1982, he returned to Homer with his wife Linda, where he worked construction, started the business Lakeshore Glass, and set to raising a family.

Larry and Linda Martin's daughter, Ida, also excelled at skiing and is pictured here when she returned to Homer to help coach at the high school. During her years as a Lady Mariner skier, Ida was voted Skimeister for her efforts within the Borough competition. And much to Martin's delight, a young Ida told him she wanted to ski.

"My daughter asked me if I would be the coach and I am really glad she did," Martin explained. "It got me back out there, and the commitment turned into 4-7 days per week during the winter time."

For the next six years, until she graduated from Homer High in 2003, he helped her team with techniques, traveling to meets while he hauled all their equipment in his pick-up. Martin continued to be passionate about skiing. He thought the 13-year-olds he was coaching might be as well.

"When I started coaching junior and high school skiing, Ida sat me down and said, 'Dad. They aren't all dedicated like you and I,'" Martin recalled. "It took me several years to get that ingrained in mind, but Ida continued to work on me."

Martin had been driven to excel at skiing in his young years. The Martin family moved to Homer in 1955 when parents Nadine and Ed Martin transferred here from Glennallen where Ed was a Territorial Police. Older brothers Ray and Lee skied in school. Even then, the Kachemak Ski Club was well organized, with ski practice taking place during school lunch.

Martin said Schroer joined them, contending he preferred the lunchtime outings, because "teacher's lounges were real smoky places in those days."

"I had an early start, tagging along with them," Martin recalled, adding that Schroer was a remarkable coach who "trained and inspired his young skiers."

From first grade to high school, Schroer was his coach. Homer's ski team stood out not only in the young state, but also nationally. In 1968, four of the eight skiers selected for a national competition came from Homer: Martin, Lynn Cason, Robbie Hoedel and Drew Nixon. Schroer was also picked to coach the national team.

"We only had 10 people on our whole ski team," Martin said.

Coach Schroer continues to call Homer home, though he winters a few months in Green Valley, Ariz. He retired in 1982 after 30 years as a Homer teacher/coach, and stays in touch with former students such as Martin.

"He was one in a million. You don't often come across a young athlete like him, so it was never a surprise to me that he went on to achieve so much," Schroer said from Arizona this week. "Not only as an athlete, but as a human being."

Though Ida and her generation's Homer was quite a bit bigger than the town he grew up in, Martin said they still shared a few things in common.

"I saw sports as a way to travel out of here, and travel opened up a whole wide world," he said. Martin wasn't the only one who may have felt that way. Fellow students Atz Kilcher, Bob Moss and Bert McLay - also coached by Schroer -qualified to race in the 1968 USSA Ski Cups.

The competition was a precursor to the U.S. Junior Nationals. Martin placed in the top 20, gaining the attention of Fort Lewis College and earning a scholarship there. A successful college career led to Martin's qualification on the U.S. Ski Team in 1971. After graduating with his degree in physical education from Fort Lewis in 1973, Martin trained every winter until the 1976 Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria.

After skiing against the best skiers in the world, Martin went on to coach at the University of Colorado and worked at the Red Feather Ski Resort. He said helping coach his daughter's teams gave him new reasons to get back to the slopes.

Ida went on to earn an athletic scholarship to Western State Colorado, and became a teacher - as well as coach - for a time in Homer. The youngest Martin, Tad, came behind Ida by six years. He played football in high school.

In recommending Martin for the ASAA Hall of Fame, Brann describes a humble parent who showed up on the slopes to help.

"Larry has been and continues to be a contributor to the ski programs in Homer. As a coach, a friend, and athlete, he provides a role model for our young skiers and the rest to look up to," Brann wrote.

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