BANGOR -- Paul Schipper, an avid skier who obsessively hit the slopes every day of the season for 24 years, died Monday in Bangor. He was 85.

Schipper died of complications from pneumonia at the Maine Veterans' Home, according to his wife, Chris Schipper. He had been hospitalized since breaking his hip in December.

Schipper was a legendary figure at Sugarloaf Ski Resort in Carrabassett Valley, where he and his wife owned a ski lodge. Between 1980 and January 2005, he skied 3,903 consecutive days at the mountain.

Schipper once put off removing a cancerous kidney to keep his streak alive.

A trail at Sugarloaf - Schipper's Streak - is named in his honor.