PARK CITY, Utah — John Bower, a state champion skier for Edward Little High School who went on to success at the national and international levels, died Tuesday at age 76.

Bower grew up in Auburn and claimed four state titles at Edward Little in 1959. He later became the first American to win the prestigious Nordic combined King’s Cup, and then a leader of the U.S. Nordic Ski Team before playing an important role in the development of the Utah Olympic Park and the state’s Olympic facilities.

After graduating from Edward Little, Bower attended Middlebury College, where in 1961 he earned the school’s first NCAA Nordic combined championship.

He also won four U.S. titles in his career and was a two-time Olympian, placing 15th in 1964 at Innsbruck and 13th in 1968 at Grenoble. At the time, those were the highest finishes by an American skier.

His greatest accomplishment came the same year as his 13th-place Olympic finish, 1968, when he won the King’s Cup at Norway’s Holmenkollen Ski Festival. That win set the standard for other Americans who followed him, including Kerry Lynch (1983), Todd Lodwick (1998), Bill Demong (2009) and Bryan Fletcher (2012).

The King’s Cup victory earned him an audience with the king of Norway in Oslo and an invitation to a White House dinner in the king’s honor later that year.

After retiring from competition, Bower coached at Middlebury from 1968 to 1975. He then served as the Nordic director for the U.S. Ski Team from 1975 to 1980, overseeing a highly successful period for the American team.

He then served as the athletic director at Principia College in Illinois before returning to the U.S. Nordic director post from 1988 to 1990.

“John Bower is a great example of a highly accomplished skier who dedicated his entire life to helping other athletes,” U.S. Ski & Snowboard President and CEO Tiger Shaw said in a news release. “In particular, his work in developing the Utah Olympic Park leading up to the 2002 Olympics was a key part of the legacy that is still positively impacting athletes today.”

Bower’s role in that lead-up to the 2002 Olympics included serving as the first director for the Utah Winter Sports Park (now the Utah Olympic Park) and overseeing development of venues and implementation of programs from 1990 to 1999.

“John was uniquely qualified and extremely effective in being the first to lead the team running the Utah Winter Sports Park,” Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation President and CEO Colin Hilton said. “He had a passion to see that athletes could train and develop at the newly created Sports Park. That passion and committed effort planted the seeds that helped shape the successful Olympic legacy we enjoy today.”

Following his retirement in 1999, Bower and his wife Bonnie stayed in Utah and lived an active lifestyle in Moab and Park City.

Bonnie played a leadership role in the start of the Park City Winter School. Bower’s son, Rick, was the 1999 halfpipe snowboarding world champion and is a halfpipe coach for the U.S. Snowboard Team.

Bower is one of Maine’s most accomplished and recognized sports figures. He was ranked 19th on Sports Illustrated list of Maine’s 50 greatest athletes of the 20th century in 1999.

Bower was named to the U.S. Ski Hall of Fame in 1969. He is a member of the Maine Ski Hall of Fame and Auburn-Lewiston Sports Hall of Fame. He joined the Middlebury College Hall of Fame in 2014. Bower is also an honorary member of the Alf Engen Ski Museum Foundation board.

He received a BA degree in economics from Middlebury in 1963, earning a Masters Education specializing in recreation and resort management from Springfield College in 1967.

John was the son of Robert and Elizabeth Bower of Auburn. He is survived by a sister, Sandra Colvard; his wife Bonnie; daughter Abbi and husband Shane Combs; as well as his son Rick and wife Gillian, and two grandchildren.