Bill Briggs inducted into National Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame
Posted on Monday, December 8th, 2008
Earlier this fall, the National Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame announced the induction of Bill Briggs, joining such ski legends as Dick Durance, Stein Eriksen, Howard Head, Phil and Steve Mahre, Warren Miller, Penny Pitou and Pepi Stiegler. It’s certainly an honor for Bill and the ski mountaineering community, and somewhat hard to believe that Bill is the first ski mountaineer to be inducted. The Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame is dominated by racers and instructors, and hopefully Bill’s induction is an indication that another community pushing the limits of skiing will continue to get noticed. In the letter informing Bill of his induction, David V. Holli, Chairman of the Board of the National Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame, wrote “This is the highest honor in snow sports in the United States and accords to you national permanent recognition for your many achievements as a high mountain skier with many first descents and your efforts to teach your art to other skiers in the country.” He also wrote, “Your induction is the first for that special group of skiers who challenge the higher altitudes and steeper slopes in our mountains.”
There’s definitely no shortage of write ups on Bill’s history and exploits. We did a 5 part series on Bill on The Mountain Culture this fall, and Lou Dawson put together a great piece on him at Wildsnow. We sponsored a film by Piton Productions that was released last year called ‘Legends of the Fall Line’ that showcased a priceless history of Teton area skiing. I called Derek Weiss and Dave Hanning who shot and produced Legends and asked if they had a video piece on Briggs’ descent of the Grand. This video above is what they sent me, thanks guys.
The other members of this year’s class were the U.S. Ski Team’s Liz McIntyre, Nelson Carmichael, and Cary Adgate. The official induction of the four members of the class of 2008 will take place in Park City in April with an enshrinement in Ishpeming, Michigan in September.
