Nic Fiore is said to have taught more than 100,000 people to ski at Badger Pass over a 50-year period.

Nic Fiore, one of America's most influential ski instructors and a legendary figure at Yosemite's Badger Pass ski area, where he taught skiing for more than 50 years, has died. He was 88.

The Canadian-born Fiore is said to have taught more than 100,000 people to ski at Badger Pass, one of California's top ski and snowboard resorts for families. Dubbed "the maitre d' of ski at Badger Pass" by one reporter, Fiore was known as much for his heavy French Canadian accent and friendly grin as for his passion for skiing and knowledge of the Sierra. He directed Yosemite's Ski & Snowboard School at the Badger Pass ski area for 45 years before assuming the role of "ski ambassador" in 2001. The ebullient octogenarian continued to hit the slopes nearly every day and teach an occasional ski lesson into the 2003-04 season. Marek Warszawski, a Fresno Bee reporter who skied with Fiore, told The Times in 2004 that Fiore "was the smoothest skier on the hill, well into his 80s."