Lou’s News #10 — Voting, Colorado Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame
Hi all! Here’s another of my infrequent missives.
Ever since my 2005 induction into the Colorado HOF, I’ve enjoyed the yearly opportunity to vote for four new inductees. Regarding this year’s crop, I’d met three of them in person, and the fourth—a badass speed skier—was fun to research, if a little scary. I mean, who goes 154 mph on skis?
I’m not a speedy skier, that’s for sure. And yet, once upon a time as a 20-something here-hold-my-beer I borrowed a pair of 220 cm downhill racing skis, and scared the stuffing out of myself on Aspen Mountain. I doubt I hit sixty mph, but it felt like 154, I think…
In any case, here are my HOF picks:
For most who read this newsletter, Hilaree Nelson (photo below) needs no introduction. North Face Global Team Captain, first ski descent of the Dream Line (from summit), Lhotse Couloir, Nepal, 2018—and so much more. She perished on Manaslu in 2022, leaving a legacy that could fill a book.
Hilaree Nelson
Ross Anderson was to me a bit more obscure, but not anymore. For 16 years, Ross, a Native American, has held the record for the fastest American ever on skis: 154.06 mph. That is not a typo.
Seth Masia has possibly written and edited more words about skiing than anyone in history—and most of them are pretty good. From the voting packet: “He was a key editor and writer for SKI Magazine at the peak of its influence. Since 1994, he has been an independent voice representing Colorado skiing history to the world. Today, Seth is recognized as a leading snowsports historian for his writing and…stewardship of Skiing History Magazine, the skiinghistory.org web site, and their archives of Colorado, United States, and world skiing history.”
Then there’s my one “industry” pick: John Norton, formerly of the Aspen Skiing Company and Crested Butte. I’ve chatted with John several times, once back when Crested Butte was dealing with resort uphilling issues. He’s just an all-around nice guy—a skier’s skier. We always need more like him.
I’d say of my four picks, I was most partial to Hilaree getting the nod, but Seth was right up there.
And when the dust settled, three of my four picks made it in. You can check them here: snowsportsmuseum.org.
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In other news, along with continued work on my memoir, Avalanche Dreams, I’ve finally embarked on a third edition of my history book, Wild Snow. I’m not sure what form the published history book will take (ebook, print, or both), but I’m feeling called to focus on early ski history, and hope that someone else picks up the project and writes the story of “modern” skiing from around 1980 on. With the help of the internet, doing so wouldn’t be as monumental a project as the first Wild Snow book, yet neither would it be trivial. Kudos to whomever tackles it.
