U.S. National Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame Names Class of 2008

In April, the U.S. National Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame in Ishpeming, MI, will induct, as the Class of 2008, the U.S. Ski Team's Liz McIntyre, Nelson Carmichael, and Cary Adgate, along with Bill Briggs, a pioneer first descent skier.

McIntyre and Carmichael are both Olympic medalists and Adgate, also an Olympian, was named 2005 Masters Racer of the Year. Briggs, a foreleader of American ski mountaineering, is most famous for the 1971 first descent from the Grand Teton.

Liz McIntyre's career spanned 20 years with the U.S. Ski Team, first as an athlete on the freestyle moguls squad from 1986-98, then as the moguls technical coach from 1999-2006. The culmination of McIntyre's career came during the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer where she led the qualifying round and went on to take the silver medal.

Nelson Carmichael jumped into a spot on the U.S. Ski Team straight out of high school in 1984. In 1988 and 1989 he won the World Cup mogul championship. At the 1992 Olympics in Albertville, France, he won the bronze when freestyle debuted as a sport in the Olympics. During his career with the U.S. Ski Team, he won six U.S. Championships and 12 additional World Cup events.

Cary Adgate joined the U.S. Ski Team in 1973 and won the Can-Am Overall Championship, the Can-Am GS championship, and the Roch Cup downhill/overall championship. He earned the U.S. Alpine Championship title in slalom or combined six times, and was a member of the U.S. Olympic team in 1976 and ’80. In 2005 he won three U.S. Masters Championship events and was named Ski Racing Magazine’s 2005 Master Racer of the Year.

Bill Briggs is a pioneer first descent skier and a foreleader of American ski mountaineering. He started his professional ski career as a fully certified instructor in 1955 and founded the Bill Brigg’s Ski School at Suicide Six Ski Area near Woodstock, Vermont in 1958. He currently holds the position of director at the Snow King Ski School in Jackson, Wyoming.

With three companions, he made the first 100-mile traverse from the Bugaboos to Rogers Pass, BC in 1958. He skied a series of first descents from Mount Rainer in 1961, Middle and South Teton in 1967, Mount Moran in 1968 and, of course, the Grand Teton in 1971. He did these accomplishments in spite of being born with a defective hip.

The official induction of the four members of the Class of 2008 will take place at Park City, Utah at April 2009 with an enshrinement in Ishpeming, Michigan in September, 2009. The U.S. National Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame and Museum is dedicated to honoring America's skiing and snowboarding professionals, pioneers and athletes. The museum houses one of the largest collections of skis and snow sport related memorabilia in the United States.

More: Skiing History | U.S. Ski Team