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News Release
| 7/26/07 - Colorado Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame unveils Class of 2007 |
• Steamboat’s Loris Werner tops list of five visionary inductees
who helped shape state’s ski industry
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. (July 26, 2007) – The youngest member of Steamboat’s famous Werner family, Loris Werner, heads up a distinguished list of five inductees into the Colorado Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame Class of 2007.
The younger brother of fellow Olympians Skeeter and Buddy Werner and a Steamboat pioneer who helped shape the mountain over the past four decades, Loris Werner joins 2007 inductees Pat O’Donnell, Elli Iselin, John Atkins and Renie Gorsuch as part of group whose contributions have dramatically improved the industry for future generations of snow sports enthusiasts.
The Class of 2007 will be honored both by “Hometown Heroes” receptions later this summer (dates TBA) in their respective hometowns of Steamboat, Aspen and Vail and at the annual Colorado Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame Induction Gala Oct. 27 in Denver.
The black-tie induction gala, to be held at the Denver Marriott City Center, serves as the major fundraiser for the nonprofit Hall of Fame. Tickets to the induction gala are $150, and attending the event is a great way to honor the current class and the Hall’s previous 164 members, all of whom helped make Colorado’s snow sports industry a dominant tourism force in the state, nation and around the world.
“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.”
Those future opportunities for the Hall are also a likely topic on the links at the annual Museum Hall of Fame Golf Tournament at the Snowmass Club Sept. 17. Sponsored by the Aspen Skiing Company, the tournament’s entry fee is $250. Some tee box sponsorships are still available, and again, all proceeds help fund the display and preservation of the museum’s enormous collection of ski history artifacts.
Many of those artifacts will be on display as part of a “THEN & NOW” exhibit running October through March at Denver International Airport, where an estimated 40,000 travelers a day will pass by and be encouraged to visit the state’s 26 ski resorts as well as the Vail-based museum, which is soon receiving a much-needed facelift.
“We have so many irons in the fire, all made possible by the generous contributions of our membership and the dedication of board members and staff who have a deep passion for the state’s ski industry,” added Tjossem. “That spirit is as alive today as it was with the early pioneers of the sport and our five new inductees into the Hall of Fame. We very much look forward to honoring that spirit in Aspen Sept. 17 and Denver Oct. 27.”
To attend either event 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 2007 includes:
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 S teamboat 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.
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, m ade 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 us ing 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 o f 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.
To attend the Sept. 17 golf tournament at Snowmass or the Oct. 27 induction gala in Denver, or for more information about the Colorado Ski Museum Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame, call (970) 476-1876.
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