Colorado Snowsports Hall of Fame Proudly Announces 2024 Annual Awards
VAIL, Colo. – July 9, 2024 – Tickets are on sale now for the 2024 Colorado Snowsports Hall of Fame Celebration this September 7th. 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 month: Ross Anderson, Bjorn Erik Borgen, John McBride, Sigurd Rockne, and Lindsey Vonn. Learn more about them by clicking the link below.
The Hall of Fame’s annual honors include the Lifetime Achievement Award, which recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the Museum; the Top of the Hill Award, which recognizes entities that have contributed to the development of skiing in Colorado, the Collegiate Athlete of the Year Awards, the Adaptive Athlete of the Year Award, and the Mikaela Shiffrin Colorado Competitor of the Year Award.
Announced at last year’s celebration, our former “Competitor of the Year” award has changed its name to honor Mikaela Shiffrin, the greatest skier of all time. Mikaela, from this point on, breaks a record when she sets out those gates. We are watching history be made. Mikaela is no longer eligible for this award, with her blessing, from here on out, this award will be called the Mikaela Shiffrin Colorado Competitor of the Year Award. This change allows us to continue to celebrate Mikaela’s record-breaking career, while also recognizing other outstanding athletes from the state of Colorado. If she is available, Mikaela will present the award in person.
The following individuals and organizations will be recognized along with our five inductees on Saturday, September 7, 2024, for an evening of inspiration and celebration. Tickets are on sale now.
Lifetime Achievement
Kent Erickson and Barbara Krichbaum
Photo credit: Holly Cole
On a typical day in Vail, you will find Kent at the Colorado Snowsports Museum. If you find him in the village, he is often talking about the Colorado Snowsports Museum and encouraging passersby to come check us out. Kent is our local advocate and in-person promoter, but also one of our most consistent and valued supporters. Kent and his beloved wife Barbara have been Museum Members since 2005, and generously contribute to capital campaigns and exhibition projects. Skiing is a way of life for Kent and Barbara. As avid skiers, they believe in the work that we do at the Museum. Kent moved to Vail in the early days of the area's development, in 1966, and shortly after met Barbara. Kent worked for Vail Associates as their chief financial officer and helped Telluride Ski Resort during the early days of the resort’s opening, also working as an accountant for Telluride. In addition, Kent is a long-time Board Member for the Colorado Snowsports Museum. Barbara has been a ski instructor at Vail for many years. Over the past several decades, Kent and Barbara have made outstanding contributions to the Museum making some of the unthinkable projects possible, setting us apart as an institution.
Top of the Hill
National Sports Center for the Disabled, Winter Park
The National Sports Center for the Disabled (NSCD) was founded in 1970 when Hal O’Leary, a ski instructor at Winter Park Resort, volunteered to teach skiing to a group of children with amputations from Children’s Hospital Colorado. Hal quickly discovered the demand for a ski program for people with disabilities and became a pioneer in the field, creating adaptive equipment and designing methodologies for teaching people with disabilities. Over the past 54 years, The NSCD has worked tirelessly to expand Hal’s vision of seeing the “able” in everyone and believing that anything is possible. Today, the NSCD operates an internationally renowned adaptive recreation and competition program and is the largest provider of adaptive outdoor experiences in Colorado. The National Sports Center for the Disabled offers adaptive programs year-round in a variety of outdoor activities for every skill level, from first-time athletes through Paralympians.
Mikaela Shiffrin Colorado Competitor of the Year Award
River Radamus
River has established himself as a force to be reckoned with on the World Cup stage. He hails from Edwards, Colorado where he learned to ski on the slopes of Vail, alongside his parents who are coaches. River showed promise from an early age, named to the US Alpine Ski Team in 2016. He is a three-time Youth Olympic Games gold medalist; he is the first to achieve this feat. River also won two Junior World Championships gold medals, one in super-G and one in giant slalom. River finished just off the podium at the Beijing 2022 Olympics, in fourth place. He was also part of the team event that won gold at the 2023 World Championships event. River, in 2024, scored his first career podium on home snow at the Stifel Palisades Tahoe Cup, where he was third. "It's been a long time coming," said River. "I've wanted to feel what this moment feels like for so long and I've just been working and working." As our Competitor of the Year, we want to recognize all of River’s endless hard work.
Adaptive Athlete
Noah Elliott
Noah, now residing in Colorado Springs, Colorado, learned about Paralympic snowboarding through viewing the 2014 Sochi Paralympic Winter Games, later attending a camp for children with cancer, and was inspired by meeting an adaptive athlete. This helped him make the decision to amputate his leg and start his Paralympic journey. Noah moved from the Midwest to begin snowboarding and start his training. Throughout his competitive career, Noah has become a two-time Paralympian and a two-time Paralympic Champion, bringing home the banked slalom gold in 2018. At the same games, he also took bronze in the snowboard cross. Noah is a four-time World Champion and has seven World Championship medals to his name. This season, Noah earned a staggering six World Cup wins and two additional podiums. His consistency and speed helped him win the banked slalom and overall Crystal Globes for the 2023-2024 season. Noah takes pride in hard work and dedication and enjoys sharing stories with others and learning new things.
Collegiate Athletes of the Year
Magdalena Łuczak
University of Colorado
Magdalena returned to the Buffaloes in the 2024 season after taking the 2023 season off from collegiate skiing to focus on the international circuit, which included 11 World Cup and three national championship starts. In 2024, as just a sophomore, she did not disappoint, winning four of the six collegiate races she started and finishing second in the other two. She claimed both individual National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Championships, and one individual Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association (RMISA) Championship and assisted mightily in Colorado winning its first team National Championship in nine seasons. She was named the National Skier of the Year by the United States Collegiate Ski Coaches Association and posted a 172-2 record against the field in her six college races. She also earned World Cup points in six races including three top twenty finishes with a best of 17th in Killington in November.
Andreas Kirkeng
University of Denver
Junior Andreas was the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association’s MVP in both Nordic classic and freestyle in 2024. He made eight podium appearances and won six races, including all four regular-season events in Colorado. Overall, Andreas placed in the top ten in each of the first twelve races of the season and won his third consecutive Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association (RMISA) West Regional Championship in the men’s classic on February 25 in Bozeman, Montana. In January 2024, RMISA named Andreas the Skier of the Meet for the men's Nordic portion of the Westminster Invitational, which included him winning the U.S. Cross Country National Championship in the 10K classic. He picked up his third-straight All-American award at the 2024 National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Championships in Steamboat Springs. Through three seasons at Denver, Andreas owns twelve wins, twenty podiums, and thirty-two top-10 finishes in thirty-seven career races—with 2024 being his personal best on record.
Open to the public, the Hall of Fame Celebration will take place at the beautiful Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater in Vail, on Saturday, September 7 with the gates opening at 3 PM. This year, we will offer slightly different ticket options, with ticket prices still starting at just $50 for adults (children 18 and under receive complimentary lawn seating). All proceeds support the Colorado Snowsports Museum, a non-profit organization, and the State of Colorado’s official snow sports museum. Come mingle with the current and previous snow sports Hall of Famers! Get your tickets today by clicking the button below.
“I wouldn't miss the Colorado Snowsports Hall of Fame Celebration! It draws many past inductees and individuals who have dedicated their lives to snow sports. All working in different capacities of the industry, we come together to catch up, stay connected, and celebrate the incoming class!” said Brenda Buglione Kirwood, CEO at Snow Motion Films and former pro ski racer.
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