[6][7] He attended Middlebury College in Vermont, where he participated in several sports, including football, tennis, cross country, and skiing.

[3] 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.

[3][14][5] 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.

Ski Team won no medals, and Beattie was criticized for his tough coaching style.

[14] After stepping down as U.S. team coach in 1969,[19] he founded the World Pro Ski Tour in 1970 and worked in promoting it,[20] and became a NASTAR commissioner in 1970.

[14] ABC Sports hired him as a ski-racing commentator, where he was frequently paired with Frank Gifford, a former NFL running back.

[5] He married a third time in 1980, to Cheryl Britton, a manager of a local secondhand clothing store,[5] and that marriage lasted until 1987.