 |
|
| ||
*The Legends of Skiing shown are confirmed as of February 21, 2011. Photos courtesy Jim Heath.
| ||
 TERRY AHOLA Terry Ahola, a native of Gladstone, Michigan, spent three years on the U.S. National Team, 1982–1984. He was named Western Rookie of the Year in 1984 before turning his attention to professional racing. |  JIM “MOOSE” BARROWS Moose Barrows was a member of the U.S. Ski Team from 1965 through 1970 and represented the U.S. at the 1966 World Championships in Portillo, Chile, and the 1968 Grenoble Olympics. Primarily a downhiller, Barrows was third in a World Cup Downhill at Franconia, New Hampshire in 1967 and was the 1969 North American Downhill champion. | |
 FELIX BELCZYK A seven-year World Cup veteran with the Canadians, Belczyk recorded a World Cup Super-G win in 1988 in Leukerbad, Switzerland, while also collecting a third place podium appearance in the 1990 World Cup Downhill in Are, Sweden. |  TODD BROOKER Cut from the same cloth as the original “Crazy Canucks”, Todd Brooker carried on the tradition of world-class Canadian downhillers on the World Cup circuit from 1975 to 1987. During his time on the White Circus, Brooker recorded a total of four World Cup downhill wins, one on the famed Hahnenkamm course in Kitzbuhel, Austria, and another on America’s Downhill in Aspen. These days, Brooker still follows the World Cup circuit as an expert television commentator. | |
 MARCO BUECHEL With the Vancouver Games marking his fourth Winter Olympics, Buechel’s best results in five Olympic starts came at the 2006 Torino Games, when he finished sixth and seventh in the Super-G and Downhill, respectively. A veteran of six World Alpine Ski Championships, Liechtenstein’s Buechel captured the silver medal in Giant Slalom at the 1999 Worlds in Vail and Beaver Creek. During the course of his 14 years on the World Cup, he claimed a total of four victories, two in Downhill and two in Super-G. |  KIKI CUTTER From 1967–69 Christina “Kiki” Cutter was America’s most successful World Cup skier.In 1968 she won a Slalom in Oslo, Norway, becoming the first American to win a World Cup event. During the course of her career, the Bend, Oregon native won five World Cup races, four in Slalom and one in Giant Slalom. | |
 BARBARA FERRIES-HENDERSON Barbara was a member of the 1962 World Championships team in Chamonix, France and brought home a bronze medal in Downhill. She was also a member of the 1964 Olympic Team to the Innsbruck Games. But perhaps her best year came in 1961 when she won the Harriman Cup in Sun Valley, Idaho, as well as claiming double wins in the Aspen Roch Cup at the age of 17. |
|  HOLLY FLANDERS A 10-year veteran of the U.S. Ski Team, Flanders was a member of both the 1980 and the 1984 Olympic teams in Lake Placid and Sarajevo, as well as the 1982 and 1985 World Championship teams in Schladming, Austria and Bormio, Italy. Perhaps her best season came in 1982 when she recorded a pair of World Cup Downhill victories and led the Downhill standings up to the final race of the season before dropping to second. |
 CHAD FLEISCHER A ten-year member of the U.S. Ski Team, Fleischer hails from that hotbed of ski racing… Nebraska. A two-time Olympian, Fleischer captured the 1996 and 1999 U.S. national Downhill titles and earned the runner-up position in Downhill at the 1999 World Cup Finals. One of his most memorable career highlights came in his own backyard in the form of a sixth place showing in Super-G at the 1999 World Alpine Ski Championships on Beaver Creek’s Birds of Prey course. |
|  PAM FLETCHER Without a doubt, “Fletch” has some very fond memories of Vail and the American Ski Classic. In 1986, she came out of the 30th start position to capture the World Cup Downhill. Pam was on her way to a second victory the next day in Super-G when she hooked a tip three gates from the finish. |
 TORIL FORLAND In the heyday of women’s professional racing, the late 70s and early 80s, Norway’s Toril Forland was the sport’s dominant figure. She won five overall pro titles, including four consecutive ones from 1981–84. |
|  MARTINA FORTKORD A six-year World Cup veteran with the Swedish team from 1994 to 1999, Fortkord’s top result came in the form of a podium third place Giant Slalom showing in the opening World Cup race of the 1997–98 season on the glacier in Tignes, France. |
 DAVE GORSUCH A Vail resident since 1965, Dave Gorsuch was a member of the U.S. National Team from 1957 to 1964, and represented the United States in the 1960 Olympic Winter Games of Squaw Valley and the 1958 World Championships in Bad Gastein, Austria. |  SCOTT HENDERSON A member of the Canadian national team from 1962–69, Henderson competed in both the 1964 Innsbruck and 1968 Grenoble Olympic Winter Games, as well as the 1966 World Championships in Portillo, Chile. He was a Europa Cup winner in Downhill, Slalom and Giant Slalom. | |
 FINN CHRISTIAN JAGGE A 15-year veteran of the World Cup circuit, Norway’s Jagge recorded a total of seven career World Cup wins, while also collecting an Olympic gold medal for his Slalom victory at the 1992 Albertville Games. |  BILLY KIDD One of the more prominent U.S. Ski Team members from the 1960s and 70s, Kidd made the “Stars and Stripes” look popular with his red, white and blue “Captain America” sweater and Downhill helmet. He was the first U.S. male to win an Olympic medal, the silver in Slalom at the 1964 Innsbruck Games. In 1970, he became the first American male to claim a World Championships medal with a gold in the Combined in Val Gardena, Italy. | |
 MARINA KIEHL Kiehl claimed two World Cup victories in Vail, both Super-Gs, in 1986 and 1987. She culminated her amateur career in 1988 at the Calgary Olympics with a gold medal in Downhill. |  ELISABETH “LISI” KIRCHLER-RIML During her career, Kirchler was known as one of the most congenial members of World Cup racing. A member of the 1984 and 1988 Austrian Olympic Teams, she took the silver medal in Giant Slalom at the 1985 World Championships in Bormio, Italy. | |
 FRANZ KLAMMER In one run of the 1976 Innsbruck Olympic Winter Games, Franz Klammer romanticized the sport of downhill skiing for millions of viewers as he sped to victory from the 15th start position. “The Kaiser” accumulated 25 World Cup Downhill victories, including a four-year span from 1974–77 when he won 19 of the 33 downhills contested, with a nine-win streak at one point. |  ISOLDE KOSTNER As an 18-year-old World Cup rookie, Italy’s Isolde Kostner burst onto the scene in a big way, bagging a pair of Olympic bronze medals (Super-G and Downhill) at the 1994 Lillehammer Games. She would finish her illustrious career with a total of 15 World Cup victories, capturing back-to-back World Cup Downhill titles in 2001 and 2002. The 2002 season also produced her third Olympic medal with a Downhill silver in Salt Lake. Her World Championships exploits are equally impressive, earning a career total of three medals in Super-G, with two golds and one silver. | |
 KRISTIN A KOZNICK Koznick was the youngest American woman ever to compete in a World Cup event, having been named to the Ski Team at 15. She separated from the USST to train and compete on her own from 2001-2003 and would enjoy her best World Cup season in 2002, ending the winter in 2nd place in the Slalom rankings. Koz ended her career at the conclusion of the 2006 campaign with a total of six World Cup Slalom wins and five U.S. National Slalom titles. |  HILARY LINDH Named to the U.S. Ski Team when she was just 14, Lindh captured the World Junior Downhill title in 1986, becoming the first American to claim that honor, while also collecting a U.S. National title just three weeks later. A three-time Olympian, Hilary won the silver in Downhill at the 1992 Albertville Games while also collecting a bronze in Downhill at the 1996 World Championships in Sierra Nevada, Spain and a Downhill World Championships gold medal in 1997 in Sestriere, Italy. | |
 PHIL MAHRE Phil’s 27 World Cup career victories now stands as the second highest for an American male racer, while his trio of consecutive overall World Cup titles in 1981, 82 and 83, were matched by Lindsey Vonn this past winter. Few will forget the one-two punch that Phil and Steve delivered in the 1984 Olympic Slalom in Sarajevo, with Phil winning the gold and Steve taking home the silver. |  STEVE MAHRE During his illustrious career on the World Cup circuit, Steve collected a total of nine victories, including a pair of historic Slalom wins in 1982 as Phil claimed the runner-up spot in both. That same season, Steve also captured the gold medal in Giant Slalom at the World Championships in Schladming, Austria, marking the first World Championships gold medal for an American male in an individual event. He rounded out his career with a silver medal in Slalom at the 1984 Olympic Winter Games in Sarajevo. | |
 CINDY NELSON Nelson represented the U.S. on four Olympic and World Championship teams. Highlights of her career include a bronze medal in the 1976 Olympic Downhill in Innsbruck and a silver medal in the 1982 World Championships Downhill in Schladming, Austria. In all, Nelson collected a total of seven World Cup victories and seven U.S. national titles during her career. |  YLVA NOWEN A native of Oestersund, Nowen was a 12- year veteran of the World Cup tour, collecting a total of four career wins, all in Slalom, during that time span. This quartet of Slalom victories carried her to the top of the World Cup discipline rankings in 1998 and she was rewarded with the World Cup Slalom crown. | |
 BRIGITTE OERTLI A ten-year veteran of the powerful Swiss women’s team from 1981 to 1990, Oertli claimed a bronze medal in Combined at the 1989 World Alpine Ski Championships in Vail and Beaver Creek, while also picking up a pair of silver medals in Downhill and Combined at the 1988 Winter Games in Calgary. |  CHRIS PUCKETT Puckett was first named to the U.S. Ski Team in 1987, enjoying a ten-year World Cup career from 1989 through 2001. He was named to the 1992 Olympic team for the Albertville Games, while also representing the U.S. at the 1993 and 1996 World Alpine Ski Championships in Morioka, Japan and Sierra Nevada, Spain. | |
 DARON RAHLVES The most decorated American Downhill and Super-G skier in history, Rahlves earned a career total of 12 World Cup victories during the course of his 12-year U.S. Ski Team career. Rahlves officially announced his presence as one of the worlds top skiers in 2001 when he crashed an Austrian World Championships party in St. Anton, winning the Super-G gold medal. He would also collect a silver in Downhill and a bronze in Giant Slalom at the 2005 Championships in Bormio, Italy. |  KEN READ Read became the first North American male to ever win a World Cup Downhill with a victory in Val d’Isere, France in 1975. A seven-time Canadian National Downhill champion, Read picked up a fifth place Olympic Downhill result in the 1976 Innsbruck Winter Games. On the World Cup tour, Read skied to a second place finish in the 1980 season-long Downhill rankings, winning both the Hahnenkamm Downhill in Kitzbuhel, Austria and the Lauberhorn in Wengen, Switzerland. | |
 LIISA SAVIJARVI The only Canadian woman to compete in Downhill, Super-G and Giant Slalom in the 80s, Savijarvi earned her lone career World Cup victory in 1986 with a Super-G win in Furano, Japan. She represented Canada at the 1984 Olympic Winter Games of Sarajevo, finishing ninth in Giant Slalom, as well as the 1985 World Championships in Bormio, Italy. |  BRIAN STEMMLE A 14-year member of the Canadian National Team, Brian’s career almost came to an abrupt end in 1989 while racing Downhill on the infamous Hahnenkamm course in Kitzbuhel, Austria. However, Stemmle did return to the World Cup circuit, winning a gold medal in the 1990 Winter Pan Am Games in Las Lenas, Argentina, and closing the book on Kitzbuhel by racing on the Hahnenkamm again in 1994, five years after his accident. | |
 KAREN STEMMLE A successful five-year member of the Canadian Alpine Team, Stemmle recorded numerous top-five World Cup Downhill finishes during the course of her career, while also earning top honors as Canadian Junior Downhill champion and wearing back-to-back North American Downhill crowns. |  MARCO TONAZZI A member of the Italian World Cup technical team from 1981–90, Marco Tonazzi’s top result came in the form of a runner-up Giant Slalom performance in 1986 in Adelboden, Switzerland. Following his amateur career, Marco turned his attention to the pro tour, earning Rookie of the Year honors in 1990, by virtue of a sixth place overall finish on the U.S. Pro Tour. | |
 HANNES TRINKL Trinkl cemented his legacy with a World Championship gold medal in Downhill in 2001 on home turf, with a win in St. Anton. The native of St. Pankraz began his medal run in 1998, with an Olympic Downhill bronze from the Nagano Games. A 13-year World Cup veteran, Trinkl recorded a career total of six World Cup victories, five in Downhill and one in Super-G. |  OTTO TSCHUDI An American Ski Classic participant since the event’s inception in 1981, Tschudi began his 17-year ski racing career as a member of the Norwegian national team in 1964 and represented his country at the 1968 Grenoble and 1972 Sapporo Olympics, in addition to the 1970 World Championships in Val Gardena. During his tenure on the Norwegian Team, he earned five Norwegian National titles before coming to the U.S. to ski for the University of Denver. | |
 FRANZ WEBER Once given the title of the “fastest human on skis” by the Guinness Book of World Records, Weber is a former six-time World Speed Skiing champion, who was clocked at 138.1 miles per hour at the peak of his career. From the late 1970s to the mid-80s, Weber dominated the sport of speed skiing, winning six consecutive titles from 1980–85, while also competing on the World Pro Tour. |  PERNILLA WIBERG A 14-year veteran of the World Cup wars, Sweden’s Pernilla Wiberg is one of only a handful of racers to have won World Cup events in all five disciplines (Downhill, Super-G, Giant Slalom, Slalom and Combined). In fact, “Pila” ended her illustrious 13-year career with a total of 24 World Cup victories and the 1997 overall World Cup crystal globe. In the big events, Wiberg was equally stellar, winning a career total 6 World Championships medals, including the gold in Combined and the silver in Slalom in the Vail Valley’s 1999 World Alpine Ski Championships, as well as a trio of Olympic medals that included a Giant Slalom gold in Albertville. | |
 PETER WIRNSBERGER A native of Vordernberg, Wirnsberger has eight World Cup Downhill victories to his credit, as well as the World Cup Downhill title in 1986. A silver medalist in Downhill at the 1980 Olympic Winter Games in Lake Placid, Wirnsberger in the top ten of the World Cup Downhill standings eight of his 14 seasons on the tour. | ||
