David Stapleton - Hall of Fame Class of 2021 - Athlete
One of the most important annual celebrations of the state’s snow sports industry, the Colorado Snowsports Hall of Fame induction, is on tap for Sunday, August 22 at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater. For the next several weeks leading up to the 2021 Hall of Fame Celebration, the CSM will be highlighting inductees and annual award recipients. Tickets for the event are on sale: HERE.
David Stapleton Jr., former U.S. Ski Team and professional racer has dedicated his career to strengthening the Aspen Valley Ski Club.
A true Aspen native with a family heritage dating back to 1881, David Stapleton fell in love with the sport of ski racing and thrived on the rich racing heritage and nurturing ski racing community and opportunities in Aspen. Spending his formative years on the slopes of Aspen with the Aspen Valley Ski Club, David’s talent thrived incredibly early and by the age of 15, he was winning big races. At 17, he won the overall NorAm title, earning a spot on the World Cup tour the subsequent year. In only his third downhill start at the age of 18, he raced the famed Hahnenkamm in Kitzbühel, Austria, a feat that few at any age accomplish.
David continued to race in the World Cup for two more years, earning an exceptional third-place finish in the famed Wengen combined in Switzerland. In 1981 David’s amateur career came to a close and he joined the U.S. Pro Ski Tour, winning Rookie of the Year honors in his inaugural season. The Pro Tour was where he truly hit his stride. For ten years, he was a formidable competitor on the circuit, winning eight Pro Tour races and dominating the Winter Park competitions. Toward the end of his pro career, David competed on the Japanese tour before returning to the U.S. to finish up on the U.S. Pro Tour. In total, David amassed more than 50 trophies and podiums out of approximately 400 race starts.
In 1992, with competitive ski racing behind him, he opened Stapleton Sports, supporting and helping hundreds of young ski racers during his 17-year ownership of the shop. In 2009, Jeff Gorsuch hired Stapleton and David assumed oversight of the hard goods and tune shop for Gorsuch in Aspen. David’s support of the Aspen Valley Ski Club has been unwavering. Serving as an organizer for a fundraising gold tournament for 10 years and raising more than $700,000, his efforts benefitted AVSC, Aspen Junior Golf, and the Aspen hockey program.
He is also credited with launching the AVSC’s most important fundraiser, the Ajax Cup, which raised nearly $750,000 in 2018. The Aspen Valley Ski Club honored David’s selfless gift of time and fundraising, inducting him into their Hall of Fame in 2012. Through his efforts, David secured a multi-million-dollar donor to expand the AVSC facility, which is aptly named the Stapleton Training Center in his honor. David has most certainly given back to the sport at a level beyond most, benefitting future generations of ski racers.
Watch David’s Tribute Video below:
If you cannot attend in person, please consider making a tribute gift: HERE.