Museum News: U.S. Hall of Fame to Induct Eight in Class of 2021

Because of Covid-19-related event cancellations, the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame will induct its Class of 2021 in the spring of 2023 at Big Sky, Montana. The Classes of 2019 and 2020 will be inducted at Sun Valley on March 27.

The Class of 2021:

Sven Coomer made plastic boots comfortable and skiable. At age 16, Sven was the youngest Olympian at the 1956 Summer Games. He studied product engineering in Sweden and consulted on athletic shoe design for Puma. He became an influential ski instructor before joining Nordica in 1968, where he drove boot design and created the pattern for race boots still in production after 50 years.

Herman Dupré grew up at Seven Springs Resort in Pennsylvania, founded by his parents in 1937. After building his own rope tows and chairlifts, and after much experimentation, in 1960 he built the resort’s first snowmaking system. Eventually he held 34 patents for his HKD snowmaking products, including innovative low-pressure systems that were widely adopted across the resort industry. Herman died in April 2020.

John Eaves stunt-doubled as James Bond in “A View to a Kill” and starred in the classic Willy Bogner film “Fire and Ice,” then went on to a career as a cameraman. On the pro freestyle circuit of the 1970s he scored dozens of victories in aerials, ballet and moguls and was three-time aerial and overall World Freestyle Champion; in 1980, the first year of the FIS Freestyle World Cup, he was aerials champion.

Dave and Renie Gorsuch competed at the 1960 Squaw Valley Olympics and, after marrying, established leading ski retail stores-first in Gunnison and Crested Butte, then in Vail, Aspen, Snowmass, Beaver Creek and Park City, serving a worldwide customer base. The couple have been effective leaders and philanthropists in their communities, helping to develop hospitals, schools, museums and other institutions. Dave died in June, 2021.

Peter Graves is an American television sportscaster and public address announcer specializing in Olympic, lifestyle and action sports. He covered 11 Olympic Games and become the voice of Nordic skiing at U.S. World Cup events and the American Birkebeiner cross-country ski race from 1977 to 1985.

Mike Hattrup was named to the U.S. Freestyle Mogul Team in 1987, missing a chance to ski on the World Cup due to injury. He skied in numerous ski films, including the most important ski movie of his generation, Greg Stump’s The Blizzard of Aahhhs. Mike was named by Powder magazine in 1998 as one of the “50 Best Skiers in North America” and in 2006 as one of the “48 Most Influential Skiers of Our Time.”

Jan Reynolds elevated extreme ski mountaineering as a sport worldwide. In 1980 she skied from the summit of Mustagata in the Pamirs, setting a high-altitude skiing record for women that held for a decade. Esquire Magazine selected Jan as “Athlete of the Decade” for her grueling first descents in winter during the Everest Grand Circle expedition of 1981-82, and her performance as a member of the U.S. Biathlon Team during the inaugural seasons of the women’s biathlon World Cup (1983-84).

Pro freestyler Alan Schoenberger won the world ballet championship and 14 first or second place freestyle podiums. To bring skiing to live theater, he created SkiBed, enabling skiing on stage. Beginning in 1978 he launched seven touring productions, with 1,250 performances, including appearances with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, at the 1994 World Cup Finals in Vail and 75 performances during the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics.