The Colorado Snowsports Hall of Fame is pleased to announce the Class of 2025, an inspiring group representing a wide range of people across the snow sports industry. From alpine skiing, Nordic, adaptive, and big mountain-extreme skiing to the snow sports devotees building the sport behind the scenes, this year’s inductees have dedicated their lives to snow sports, making a lasting impact in Colorado.
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Author: Dana Zapfel
Did you know that there were 200 women stationed at Camp Hale? The Women's Army Corps (WAC) was the women's branch of the United States Army that stationed women at Camp Hale along with the many men that trained there. It was created as an auxiliary unit on May 15, 1942, by Public Law 554 and converted to an active-duty status in the Army on July 1, 1943.
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Snowboarding exists because of the unmatched experience of riding untracked powder with the minimal equipment needed to allow riders to really find a state of flow. That is the life-changing experience that drove early innovators like Dimitrije Milovich, Toms Sims, Jake Burton, and Regis Rolland to create their snowboard brands that were the roots of a global movement. Before the splitboard, snowboards were relegated to gravity for travel, and if you wanted to get fresh snow, the only options were bootpacking, snowshoes, or snow machines. The invention of the splitboard has completely revolutionized the backcountry experience, allowing riders to travel to their destination in a new way, opening a world of experiences they couldn’t access before.
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For our first blog post, we asked our Curator and Director of Collections, Dana Mathios, what she thinks are the top five artifacts, currently on display at the Colorado Snowsports Museum, that sum up Colorado’s rich snow sports history. Although she explained that picking only five artifacts was a challenge, she was able to narrow it down. Read on to learn more about her top five picks and why.
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We invited Jack Spicer to write a piece for the Museum about Vail’s history and the many pioneers that made it happen. Jack is an avid skier, former ski instructor, and digital marketer. He lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, and runs mtbskiingandfitness.com. A blog dedicated to action sports and living a lifestyle that supports recreating in the mountains.
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When you hear “Riva Ridge,” what first comes to mind? Do you think of the ever popular and longest run at Vail? Maybe you think of long-time Vail resident and 10th Mountain Division veteran Jack Tweedy’s horse? Or do you long for a pint of Holidaily Brewing Company’s Riva Stout? Have you ever stopped to wonder why “Riva” is so often used as a name? The history behind these names goes back to World War II and the legendary 10th Mountain Division troops. With the 77th Anniversary of the Battle of Riva Ridge approaching on February 18th, the Colorado Snowsports Museum wants to share why this battle was a significant achievement during World War II.
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After our second to last Through the Lens presentation with Erik Lambert, co-founder of Bluebird Backcountry, this past March 2022, we linked up with Culturelines to provide a deeper dive into the story behind Bluebird, with an interview conducted by the Culturelines team and Lambert back in 2020. Here, they dive into the vision for Bluebird.
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What does the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the Smithsonian Institution and the Colorado Snowsports Museum & Hall of Fame have in common? Both cultural institutions house a permanent collection of artifacts from Sherman Poppen, the inventor of the first commercially viable snowboard in the United States: the Snurfer. One of the original boards resides on display at the Smithsonian and five, which were originally on loan to the Colorado Snowsports Museum, are now part of their permanent collection thanks to the generosity of Sherman’s wife, Louise Poppen, and his daughter, Wendy Poppen.
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Today is the Colorado Snowsports Museum’s birthday! To celebrate, we thought we’d share a bit of history with you about how the Museum and Hall of Fame came to be and remind our audience what we’re all about – in the now.
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The following is part of a series of articles compiled by the Colorado Snowsports Museum and Hall of Fame that will take a closer look at some of the priceless artifacts and stories contained in the Museum’s archives.
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