In 1956, he was named acting coach of the school's ski team after coach Bobo Sheehan left to coach the alpine skiers on the 1956 U.S. Olympic Team. In 1957, Beattie became the head skiing coach for the University of Colorado in Boulder, and during his tenure the team won the NCAA national titles in 1959 and 1960. In 1961, the U.S. Ski Association named Beattie the U.S. Ski Team's head alpine coach. He continued to work concurrently for the university until 1965. During his coaching years, he was known as a demanding coach, driving his athletes hard. At the 1964 Winter Olympics in Austria, the Beattie-coached U.S. team won two medals, both in the men's slalom: a silver earned by Billy Kidd and a bronze by Jimmie Heuga. They were the country's first-ever Olympic medals in men's skiing. During the 1968 Winter Olympics in France, the U.S. Ski Team won no medals, and Beattie was criticized for his tough coaching style. He stepped down as the U.S. Ski Team's coach in April 1969.
Promotion and commentating
In 1966, Beattie co-founded the World Cup for alpine skiing. After stepping down as U.S. team coach in 1969, he founded the World Pro Ski Tour in 1970 and worked in promoting it. He became a NASTAR commissioner in 1970. ABC Sports hired him as a ski-racing commentator, where he was frequently paired with Frank Gifford, a former NFL running back. Beattie's television work included alpine commentary during ABC's coverage of four Winter Olympics: the games of 1976, 1980, 1984, and 1988. He also covered Volleyball at the 1984 Summer Olympics. Beattie later worked as ABC's winter sports correspondent, which also involved non-alpine sports, and occasionally worked as an announcer for non-winter sports on ABC's Wide World of Sports program. He continued to manage the World Pro Ski Tour until 1982. He started hosting ESPN skiing programs in 1985. Beattie authored or co-authored three books, including My Ten Secrets of Skiing and Bob Beattie's Learn to Ski.
Beattie had two children, Zeno and Susan, from his first marriage to Ann Dwinnell. His second marriage was to Olympic skier Kiki Cutter and lasted from 1971 to 1973. He married a third time in 1980, to Cheryl Britton, a manager of a local secondhand clothing store, and that marriage lasted until 1987. He was married to Marci Rose Beattie until his death in 2018. Beattie died on April 1, 2018, in Fruita, Colorado, from a long illness at the age of 85.
