In announcing its inductees for the Class of 2008 today, the Colorado Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame celebrates the careers and lives of five distinguished individuals whose contributions to the sports of skiing and snowboarding have helped shape the snow sports industry as we know it today.

The five inductees - Paul T. Bailey, Chuck Ferries, Merrill G. Hastings Jr., Bill Jensen and Knox T. Williams– have left a lasting legacy for future generations of snow sports enthusiasts. They will be honored at the 32nd annual Colorado Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame Induction Gala on Oct. 18 in Denver.

“I’m absolutely thrilled to welcome this esteemed class of Hall of Fame inductees,” said Hall of Fame Executive Director Susie Tjossem. "The Colorado Ski & Snowboard Museum and Hall of Fame has grown exponentially over the last year and while I look forward to honoring our newest class, I also look forward to the opportunity to share both recent accomplishments and future endeavors with museum members and attendees of the Induction Gala."

The black-tie induction gala will be held at Denver Marriott City Center and serves as the major fundraiser for the nonprofit. Tickets are $175 (corporate tables are $3,000), and attending the event is a great way to honor the current class and the Hall’s previous 169 members.

In addition to honoring the 2008 class, the Hall of Fame will give two awards-"The Top of the Mountain Award" which  recognizes institutions or entities that have contributed to the development of skiing in Colorado and "Competitor of the Year Award" to recognize an athlete with Colorado ties who has distinguished him or herself in international competitive snow sports. The Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club at Howelsen Hill will be honored with the "The Top of the Mountain Award" for producing more Olympic athletes than any other ski club in the United States. Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club at Howelsen Hill has been in existence for nearly a century and has the oldest ski jump still in use in Colorado. Lindsey Kildow Vonn will be the recipient of the "Competitor of the Year Award."  In 2008 Lindsey Vonn won the overall Alpine Skiing World Cup title to complete the first American sweep of the men's and women's overall titles in 25 years. She also won the US Alpine Championships Combined (downhill and slalom) title, marking her best ski season to date.

To attend the Oct. 18 Colorado Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame Induction Gala or for more information about the Colorado Ski Museum Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame, call (970) 476-1876

The Colorado Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame Class of 2008 includes:

Paul T. Bailey -Paul was a founding member of the Copper Mountain Ski area and Chairman of the Board from Copper Mountain's inception in 1972 through 1978. Paul was president of the Loveland Basin Ski Team and treasurer of the Rocky Mountain Division. He helped bring World Cup skiing to Copper Mountain and continues to be an active supporter of ski-related organizations such as Colorado Ski Country and the U.S. Ski Team. Paul started racing at the age of 58 and has enjoyed much success on the racing circuit. This past season he was the National Nastar Champion in the 85 and over category.

Chuck Ferries – Chuck has had an outstanding career as a U.S. Alpine ski racer and U.S. Ski Team coach. Chuck was a member of the Squaw Valley U.S. Olympic Ski Team, a member of the U.S. World Championship Team, and a member of the Innsbruck U.S. Olympic Ski Team. He contributed his time, skills and financial resources while serving as president of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association from 2002-2006 and brought recognition to Colorado and the ski industry while serving as president of Scott USA. He was inducted into the U.S. Ski Hall of Fame in 1989.

Merrill G. Hastings Jr. - Merrill served in the 10th Mountain Division of the U.S. Army and after returning to the U.S. a decorated hero, joined the construction crew in building Arapahoe Basin. Merrill was a Berthoud Pass ski school director and a national ski patrolman starting the ski association that evolved into the Rocky Mountain Division of PSIA. He started Skiing Magazine in 1948 and successfully ran it for 16 years. In March of 1998 Merrill was named to Ski Industry Hall of Fame by Skiing Magazine.

Bill Jensen – Bill began his career working as a lift operator. He quickly rose up through the ranks landing at the helm of Vail Resorts serving as the President and CEO. He helped to secure and successfully host the Alpine World Championships and annual Birds of Prey World Cup races. Bill's sharp insight, customer service focus and implementation of innovative programming helped him make Vail one of the most popular resorts in the world today.

Knox T. Williams -Knox developed an avalanche safety program recognized throughout the world. He built the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, the oldest avalanche forecast center in the United States, into one of the most respected centers in the world. He developed a methodology for archiving weather and avalanche data which has allowed for more accurate mountain weather and avalanche forecasting in Colorado and managed to preserve the CAIC through 35 years of government cutbacks.

Bagging a bit of ski history

ChicoBags conserve resources, promote environmental awareness, raise funds for the nonprofit Colorado Ski & Snowboard Museum and Hall of Fame

The Colorado Ski & Snowboard Museum and Hall of Fame is trying to save the sport’s history and future … one bag at a time.

In an innovative fundraiser underwritten by Vail Resorts and Colorado Ski Country USA, the Vail-based ski museum is selling 2,000 environmentally friendly, reusable grocery bags called ChicoBags (www.chicobag.com).

“Curb your consumption,” reads the ChicoBag website. “Stop the waste, save oil, save trees.” All worthy goals for snow sports enthusiasts, particularly ones with a keen sense of the ski industry’s past and a passion for its future.

Tag lines on the special-edition ski museum bags read: “Conserve Resources, Preserve History: Grab a ChicoBag,” and “Colorado Ski Country: A Higher State of Conservation.”

Machine-washable and compact (fitting in an integrated pouch that measures 3 inches by 4 inches), ChicoBags fit in a pocket or a purse, weigh only 1.5 ounces and expand to 18 inches by 18 inches with a carrying capacity of 20 pounds. They’re made of strong and durable woven nylon.

ChicoBags make a practical and utilitarian environmental statement, helping to reduce the 300 to 700 plastic bags used by the average American every year – bags that do not biodegrade in landfills.

And if paper is your choice at the check-out stand, consider this: according to the American Forest and Paper Association, the United States used 10 billion paper grocery bags in 1999, requiring 14 million trees to be cut down.

“Trees, as any skier will tell you, are one of the most prized resources in and around mountain resort communities,” said Susie Tjossem, Executive Director of the Colorado Ski & Snowboard Museum and Hall of Fame, “and ChicoBags also cut oil consumption and therefore reduce the effects of global warming. What skier or snowboarder can’t get behind that?”

The Whole Foods organic grocery chain is selling standard versions of the ChicoBag in a lead-up to Earth Day on April 2, but those bags – and the ones offered for $5 at www.chicobag.com – are not customized with ski museum and ski country tag lines and logos. Nor do they benefit such a worthy cause as the nonprofit ski museum.

The custom ski museum bags are available for $7 (100 percent of the proceeds benefit the facility dedicated to the preservation of the state’s rich ski history) at the ski museum in the main Vail Transportation Center or online.

Colorado Ski Museum Winter 2008 Newsletter download here

Colorado Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame Inducts Class of 2007

Five visionary inductees left lasting snow sports legacies

“I’m absolutely thrilled to welcome such an imminently qualified and illustrious class of Hall of Fame inductees,” said new Hall of Fame Executive Director Susie Tjossem, “and I also look forward to the opportunity to further discuss with our museum membership and other gala attendees our exciting new direction as we take the museum and Hall of Fame into the new millennium.”

The Colorado Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame Class of 2007 includes:

John Atkins - In 1978, Atkins became a Certified Athletic Trainer at the University of Utah, where he was first exposed to the sport of skiing while working with the university’s NCAA national championship ski team. From there, Atkins’ talents were quickly recognized by the U.S. Ski Team, which hired him as head trainer and conditioning coach, primarily for the women’s alpine team. During his tenure with the team through the 1980s, the women’s team posted some of its best results ever, including an overall World Cup title by Tamara McKinney – the only one ever for an American woman. Atkins’ year-round conditioning program and his motivational coaching style, in conjunction with Drs. Richard Steadman and Topper Hagerman, made him an integral part of the first fully integrated sports medicine team that became a model for future Olympic teams. In 1988, Atkins was named Director of Conditioning for the entire U.S. Ski Team. When Steadman was invited to the Vail Valley Medical Center to start the renowned Steadman-Hawkins Clinic, Atkins joined him, helping to rehabilitate thousands of patients. Through his passion for motivation and his skills as an athletic trainer, Atkins has kept thousands of skiers on the slopes.

Renie Gorsuch – One of top racers on the U.S. Women’s Ski Team, Gorsuch made her Winter Olympics debut at Squaw Valley, Calif., in 1960. While racing for the team, she met her future husband, David Gorsuch, and the two formed their own incredible team that forever changed the face and fashion of Colorado skiing. Starting a small ski retail store that would go on to define the industry, Renie Gorsuch worked tirelessly to create a sense of fashion for the sport. Bringing mountain elegance and a refined fashion sense to the slopes was no easy task in the formative days of the sport, but Gorsuch LTD soon became a standard for the ski industry with stores throughout the state of Colorado. Under Renie Gorsuch’s direction and using the grandeur of the Colorado Rockies as a visual backdrop, the store catalogue introduced millions of people around the nation to the beauty of Colorado and mountain living. She embraced both the sport of skiing and the mountain lifestyle and sold countless people on the beauty of Colorado’s ski country.

Elli Iselin - A true pioneer in Colorado’s rich skiing tradition, Iselin helped put Aspen on the map as a skiing Mecca. Iselin, who grew up in Austria, became an accomplished mountaineer and skier at an early age, eventually competing on the Austrian Ski Team. Iselin immigrated to the United States in 1939 and met her husband, Fred, in Sun Valley, Idaho. The two soon found their way to Aspen, where they became a vital part of the local ski community. Elli Iselin was one of the first women to teach skiing for the Aspen Ski School, and then in 1954 she opened Elli’s of Aspen, a store that introduced Colorado to the ski fashions of Europe. Iselin had a great eye for fashion, importing Bogner and Lanz and designing her own ski clothing. Aspen soon became the epicenter of ski fashion in North America, with Elli’s of Aspen leading the way. Iselin’s sense of style and Bavarian influence inspired generations of skiers. Iselin passed away in 1991, but through the Fred and Elli Iselin Foundation, her love of the sport and her desire to share it with others lives on.

Pat O’Donnell – A visionary within the ski community, when O’Donnell first came to the Aspen Skiing Company he brought an appreciation and understanding for the fact that the future of skiing depends on the industry’s relationship with the natural environment. Responsible stewardship of the mountain environment was O’Donnell’s mission as he moved the Aspen Skiing Company to the forefront of the green movement. At a time when environmental concerns and ski area operations were at opposite ends of the spectrum, O’Donnell blazed a trail to cross that divide, realizing that any ski area’s long-term success depends on its ability to protect the natural environment. Under O’Donnell’s leadership, Aspen introduced one of the first environmental foundations started by a ski area, the first sustainability report in the ski industry, the first use of biodiesel fuel in snowcats and the largest solar array in the ski industry, to name just a few of his innovations. Many of these programs challenged the rest of the ski industry to follow suit and set a new standard of accountability. Through his continued push for sustainability, conservation and environmental protection, O’Donnell forever changed the face of Colorado’s snow sports industry and helped ensure the beauty of Colorado’s ski country will endure for future generations to enjoy.

Loris Werner - Born and raised in Steamboat Springs, Werner learned to walk and ski at the same time. The youngest member of the famed Werner family, Loris was only six when he entered the downhill race at the Steamboat Winter Carnival. While attending Western State College in Gunnison, Werner competed in all four disciplines - ski jumping, cross country, downhill and slalom - and twice won the NCAA Skimeister Championship. Werner went on to represent the United States at two different Winter Olympics, first at Innsbruck, Austria, in 1964 as a ski-jumping alternate, and then at Grenoble, France, in 1968 in alpine skiing. Not only was he an accomplished competitor, but Werner played a vital role in the development of the Steamboat ski area. For more than four decades, Werner has served the ski area, first as the ski school director, then mountain manager, and finally vice president of operations. Owners have come and gone, but Werner has remained a constant throughout it all. And through his dedication to the community and his love of the sport of skiing, Werner has truly helped turn Steamboat Springs into Ski Town, U.S.A.

The Ski Museum Theater Renovation Project

The awesome views from the top of distant mountain peaks... the sound of the wind whistling in your ears... the roar of an avalanche... the crisp swoosh as you glide down a mountain of snow... These are all unmistakable delights of the senses that make up the snow sports we love, and all have been captured on film! You’ll be able to view the films that inspired you to first slap on a pair of skis or try your first (and last?) back flip! All will come to life with new state-of-the art theater equipment planned for both Museum theater areas.

The Colorado Ski Museum is excited to announce the launching of a fundraising campaign to renovate both our museum theaters. Money raised for this project will be put aside for the exclusive use of bringing these ski films back to life and upgrading both Museum theater areas. One of our theaters is devoted to the 10th Mountain Division and shows the awarding film, Fire on the Mountain. Our other theater shows various ski films though the decades, capturing the spirit and energy of skiing like no exhibit can. With your help we hope to raise $ 10,000 to complete this project.

Remember those classic ski films of John Jay, and Warren Miller? Remember how they would get your blood pumping for the ski season? What better way to share those memories and excitement than with a gift to the museum theater renovation project? With your donation we will be able to share these special memories and classic films with our guests old and new.

If you are interested in donating to the Theater Project, you can send checks payable to: Colorado Ski Museum, Att: Theater Project, PO Box 1976, Vail, CO 81657. or call (970) 476-1876 for more information. Thank you for your help in bringing our snow sports heritage to life, and sharing this history with others.