[1][2][3][4] His father Paul (1910–92) was a college ski team coach in the 1930s[5] and an officer in the famed 10th Mountain Division of the U.S. Army in World War II.
[7] Following graduation from South Eugene High School in 1966, he followed his brother Peter to the University of Colorado in Boulder, as a member of Beta Theta Pi.
[10][11][12] Lafferty's first top ten result in a World Cup race was in December 1969, with a fifth place in a downhill at Val-d'Isère, France.
[15] Lafferty's best World Cup result was his first podium, a runner-up finish at Crystal Mountain, Washington, in February 1972, the first event after the Olympics.
Following his final season in 1974,[21][22][23] Lafferty returned to Oregon to help manage the family's successful cold storage business in Eugene and Albany.