U.S. National Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame Class of 2007

The U.S. National Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame in Ishpeming, Michigan will induct seven new members as the class of 2007. Induction ceremonies will take place at the Snowsports Industries America (SIA) annual trade show in Las Vegas. Selected by an independent committee of ski professionals, historians, and writers and voted on by a national panel the inductees are:

Everett Kircher- Developer, visionary, and executive of Boyne USA Resorts. Kircher, starting in 1947 with the proverbial "dollar and a dream" turned a piece of the northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan into Boyne Mountain Ski Resort. A true visionary, he developed the first double and triple chairlifts in the world, state-of-the-art snowmaking equipment, and a ski resort management model that would grow the most successful family-owned ski resort corporation in the United States.

Mitch Cubberly - Inventor of the first multi-angle release ski binding, called the Cubco Binding. A mechanical engineer, Cubberly made skiing safer for thousands of American skiers, inventing the first step-in binding, the first anti-friction binding plate (the Cubco Skidder) and the Cubco ski brake.

Jake Burton Carpenter and Donna Carpenter - started The Burton Snowboard Company in 1977 in a Vermont barn. In 2007, the Carpenters, still the sole owners, have grown the company into the world’s leading snowboard company, accounting for up to 50 percent of the industry’s sales.

Eric Bergoust- U.S. Freestyle Ski Team member joined the squad in 1990 and went on to become a two-time World Champion, three-time U.S. Champion, and four-time Olympian. He holds Olympic Gold from the Nagano Games in 1998, several U.S. aerial gold medals, world championship gold and silver medals, and numerous other honors.

Doug Lewis - U.S. Alpine Ski Team member, a two time Olympian - Sarajevo, in 1984 and Calgary in 1988. He won two U.S. National Champion Downhill titles and his bronze medal at the Bormio, Italy World Championship race in 1985 was the first won by an American male skier at any World Championships in the downhill event.

Tom Jacobs - U. S. Olympic team member at the Oslo Olympic Games in 1952, competing in cross-country and Nordic combined. He later went on to a successful career as coach for Colorado University’s ski team. He served as the Executive Director of the National Ski Association (today the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association) in 1956-1957. In the 60s, Jacobs and his wife started Reliable Racing Supply, the first mail order ski race equipment distributor of its kind.

Kircher and Cubberly will be inducted posthumously and a special event in their honor will be held at the U.S. National Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame in Ishpeming, Michigan in September 2008.

_{Everett Kircher Photo Copyright: Boyne USA Resorts}