May 26, 2004

Colorado Ski Hall of Fame honors Carmichael,
Eriksen, Pedersen, Stevens and Will

Vail - The Colorado Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame is pleased to announce its class of 2004.

This October will mark our 28th Hall of Fame Induction Gala, as these five inductees will take their place in Colorado skiing history by joining the 149 members of the Colorado Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame. The diverse and unique history of snow sports in Colorado is well represented by these individuals.

This year's inductees include:

Nelson Carmichael: After moving to Steamboat Springs at age 12, Nelson embarked on a career that makes him arguably the most decorated skier in this state's storied history. In nine years on the World Cup mogul circuit, Nelson won the overall title twice and collected a dozen victories. He is a two0time Olympian and Colorado's first Olympic medalist, and he also won six national titles. In 20 years of competing, he never missed a start due to injury or illness. In 1999, Nelson founded 1080 Degrees, Inc., a ski and snowboard soft goods company. Rising above his considerable athletic and business achievements are Nelson's character and passion for skiing and Colorado.

Stein Eriksen: The legendary skier came to Colorado to run the ski school in Aspen Highlands in the autumn of 1958. While there he opened Stein Eriksen Sports, and has maintained that shop and also a residence in Aspen ever since. Stein ran the Ski School at the Highlands for several years. When Snowmass opened Stein was hired to run the Ski School there, and did so for four years. Through the years Stein Eriksen has been bringing many people from Norway to teach in the Ski Schools. Stein Eriksen's aerial forward summersault on skis, or Moby Flip, marked the beginning of freestyle skiing. Stein encourages people, young and old to ski. He helped to bring up ski racers as well as the general skiing public with incredible grace and enthusiasm. Stein Eriksen is still today the most known ski name in the world.

Tage Pedersen: Tage immigrated to the United States from Denmark in 1956 and settled in Aspen where he was drawn to the mountains and skiing. Tage became Assistant Director and later Director of the Aspen Institute Health and Fitness Center, a position he held from 1956-1983. While he was with the Aspen Institute, he began working with skiers on fitness issues specifically related to ski performance. In 1967 he began formal training of the U.S. Ski team and was named trainer of the 1968 U.S. Olympic Ski team. He continued as trainer of the alpine ski teams until 1980 and then started work as the trainer for the U.S. Nordic team until 1985. Tage has written 30 some articles on physical fitness, ski conditioning and rehabilitation, published in Skiing Magazine and the Physician and Sports Medicine. He is author of the book, Getting in Shape to Ski and Physical Conditioning a handbook for the U.S. Ski team. The number of skiers in Colorado that are back on the slopes from his rehabilitation techniques or healed by his hands is countless.

John Stevens: Johnnie Stevens is a native of Colorado who has spent most of his life in the majestic San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado. As you might imagine, skiing became a large part of Johnnie's life at an early age. Johnnies literally worked his way up from the bottom at Telluride. He started working construction on the mountain, cutting trails, ran the snow cat tours, moved on to the ski patrol and quickly became the Ski Patrol Director. He proved his worth by rapidly working up the ladder of company management as Assistant Mountain Manager, Mountain Manager, VP positions in Mountain Operations, Skier Services and Ski Operations, and then Senior VP of Mountain Operations and Environmental Affairs for Telluride. Most recently he was named Chief Operating Officer where he oversses this major ski and golf resort operation. Telluride has blossomed into a resort of magnificent proportion. To say that skiing and Telluride have been a big part of Johnnie's life is an understatement-they have been his life.

Sara Will: Sara moved to Aspen in 1987, but after only three months suffered a tragic skiing accident that rendered her paralyzed from the waist down. A highly motivated young woman Sara took on the challenge of rehabilitation. She read a book Bold Tracks by Hal O'Leary, head of the National Sports Center for the Disabled in Winter Park which encouraged her to get back into the sport she loved. One year later she was making her first turns in a monoski. She moved back to Colorado in 1992 to train at Winter Park, started competing and later that year was named to the U.S. Disabled Ski team. She later moved to Vail where with fellow team mate Chris Waddell, founded the Vail Monoski Camp. During her competitive career she represented the United States at the Paralympics in 1992, 94, 98, 2002-winning 13 Paralympic medals of which 12 were Gold, making her one of the most decorated athletes in US ski team history. Sara now works as an instructor for the Vail adaptive ski program and is proud to give back to the sport that has given her so much.

The Colorado Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame Gala will be held on Saturday, October 23rd at the Westen Taber Center in Downtown Denver. The annual gala is one of several major fundraisers for the non-profit Colorado Ski Museum, Colorado Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame. The Museum is located in Vail and maintains a Resource Center in Golden, Colorado. The museum is free of charge.

Tickets to the Gala are $100 for museum members and $120 for non-members, and the interested public is invited. Please join us and all our Hall of Fame family as we honor these unique individuals that have played a vital role in Colorado's rich skiing history.

For more information please contact the Ski Museum at (970) 476-1876 or E-mail: info@skimuseum.net or FAX (970) 476-1879.