Colorado Snowsports Hall of Fame Proudly Announces 2023 Annual Awards
VAIL, Colo. – July 31, 2023 – Tickets are on sale now for the 2023 Colorado Snowsports Hall of Fame Celebration this August 27th. The institution proudly announces the Annual Award recipients for the year, representing snow sports advocates and some of our state’s greatest athletes. In addition, the Colorado Snowsports Museum and Hall of Fame welcome the incoming class of inductees announced last April: Cheryl Jensen, Hilaree Nelson, John Norton, Sandy Shellworth Hildner, & Seth Masia. Learn more about them HERE.
David and Renie in 2012. Photo credit: Holly Cole.
The Hall of Fame’s annual honors include the Lifetime Achievement Award, which recognizes individuals that have made outstanding contributions to the Museum; Top of the Hill Award, which recognizes entities that have contributed to the development of skiing in Colorado; the Competitor of the Year Award, the Collegiate Athlete of the Year Awards, and the Adaptive Athlete of the Year Award. The following individuals and organizations will be recognized along with our five inductees on Sunday, August 27, 2023, for an evening of inspiration and celebration. Tickets are on sale now.
Lifetime Achievement
David and Renie Gorsuch
The Colorado Snowsports Museum may not exist today if not for David and Renie’s continued support and belief that the work our nonprofit institution does is important in preserving our rich snow sports heritage. Before, during, and after our renovation they saw the value in their, what was then considered, a small, local ski museum, but knew what this history meant to the state of Colorado and beyond. Through their outstanding contributions to the Museum and Hall of Fame, we have been able to keep our doors open. It has helped us become the leading Museum for snow sports history in not only Colorado but the country.
Now, and because of them, we are the go-to resource for the public and snow sports depository, even curating exhibitions for President Biden designating Camp Hale a National Monument, Colorado Governor Jared Polis, Colorado Senator John Hickenlooper, as well as international museums. David and Renie’s role in preserving snow sports history will be appreciated for generations to come.
For so many of us, skiing is a way of life, and our mission is to celebrate the people and stories behind this history, like the Gorsuch family. For their immeasurable impact on snow sports, our Hall of Fame recognizes four generations of the Gorsuch family including Jack (1991), David (2002), Renie (2007), and Jeff (2019).
Top of the Hill
SOS Outreach
No matter what social, societal, or economic barriers exist - SOS Outreach believes every child deserves the opportunity to thrive. They start with powerful outdoor experiences because it’s on the slopes or the trail that kids unearth the courage to step outside of their comfort zones, discover new strengths within themselves, and develop lifelong skills.
Through SOS Outreach’s progressive curriculum, they empower kids in our communities to discover their true potential. Since 1993, SOS has grown exponentially, serving more than 80,000 youth across 15 locations in nine states. When they humbly began nearly 30 years ago, they took 15 kids from Denver to the fresh air of Vail Mountain to snowboard for the first time. Those kids left that day forever inspired by the transformative power of the outdoors. The SOS Outreach headquarters is in the Vail Valley.
SOS Outreach Crew
Photo credit: Mike Dawson
Competitor of the Year
Mikaela Shiffrin
Mikaela Shiffrin, of the Vail Valley, is an American alpine skier who, in 2023, became the greatest alpine skier of all time, winning the most World Cup wins of any alpine skier in history. As of this year, she won her 88th World Cup victory and 21st win in giant slalom (GS), moving her one past Swiss great Vreni Schneider to become the all-time leader in GS victories.
Mikaela achieved yet another record this past season with her 138th career World Cup podium, moving her one past former teammate Lindsey Vonn.
Mikaela holds the records for Most Consecutive Ski Championships with Gold; Highest Alpine Ski World Cup Win Percentage in History; Most Women’s Alpine World Cup Slalom Podiums; Most Women’s Alpine Ski World Cup Podiums; Most Women's World Cup Slalom Crystal Globes; 1st Skier to Win in Six Alpine Disciplines; Most Women’s Alpine Ski World Cup Giant Slalom Wins; Most Alpine Ski World Cup Slalom Wins; Most Alpine Ski World Cup Victories in One Season; and Most Alpine Ski World Cup Wins by Any Skier in History.
Adaptive Athlete
Kendall Gretsch
Kendall, who was born with spina bifida, grew up swimming and competed on her high school’s swim team.
She is a three-time Paralympian and four-time Paralympic gold medalist. Kendall currently competes in cross-country skiing and biathlon during the winter and paratriathlon in the summer.
She made her Paralympic debut as a winter-sport athlete, winning two gold medals in Nordic skiing at the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games. At the 2022 Winter Paralympics, she won bronze, silver, and gold medals in the three biathlon competitions.
In 2023, Kendall won another six gold medals at the World Para Nordic Skiing Championships in Sweden this past January. Kendall earned seven total medals in seven days between biathlon and cross-country skiing at the Championships.
Collegiate Athletes of the Year
Filip Forejtek
UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO
Filip is an alpine skier with the University of Colorado. In 2022, he was the NCAA Champion in giant slalom, National Men’s Collegiate Skier of the Year, 3-time First Team All American, and Giant Slalom MVP in the RMISA.
In 2023, as a fifth-year senior, Filip became just the third male ever to win back-to-back national titles in the giant slalom. His performance helped the Buffs finish the first day of the championships in the lead. He repeated as the NCAA giant slalom champion, becoming the third in NCAA history to repeat this win and the first for CU athletes. It was his sixth career win and sixth All American. Finishing his collegiate career, he had 41 finishes in 57 races with 39 top 200 and 35 top 10 finishes. He secured 22 podiums and 6 wins.
Nora Brand
UNIVERSITY OF DENVER
Nora, from Munich, Germany, is a senior alpine skier with the University of Denver.
After recovering from a knee injury in October 2020, Nora came back strong in 2021 and 2022 to excel in alpine skiing, winning a Slalom NorAm cup race in January of that season in Stratton, Vermont, which is a huge accomplishment.
Nora finished second in the NCAA slalom and seventh in the giant slalom for the 2023 season. That same season, she had 9 top-10 finishes and five podiums. In the RMISA finals, she had two firsts in slalom and a third in giant slalom.
On February 21 and 23 of this year, Alyeska hosted the RMISA Alaska Anchorage Invitational where Nora made the podium. This was her third consecutive podium in RMISA races after her pair of third place finishes in the Denver Invitational slalom races earlier in February.
The Hall of Fame Celebration will take place at the beautiful Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater in Vail, on Sunday, August 27th, with ticket prices starting at just $50 for adults. All proceeds support the Colorado Snowsports Museum, a non-profit organization, and the State of Colorado’s official snow sports museum.
Get your tickets today.
About the Colorado Snowsports Museum and Hall of Fame:
Founded in 1975 and located in Vail, Colorado, our mission is to celebrate Colorado snow sports by telling stories that educate and inspire others to seek adventure. The priceless artifacts we collect and display tell the story of the birth, rise and explosion of skiing and snowboarding in Colorado. The Museum features displays including Climb to Glory about the 10th Mountain Division, Vail’s DNA, The Colorado Snowboard Archive, and The Colorado Snowsports Hall of Fame, among others. Learn more and consider supporting the Museum by becoming a member: https://www.snowsportsmuseum.org.
Media Contact:
Jen Mason | Dana Mathios
jen@snowsportsmuseum.org | dana@snowsportsmuseum.org
(970) 476-1876