Legendary Skier Chris Anthony Host 2024 Colorado Snowsports Hall Of Fame Celebration
The Colorado Snowsports Hall of Fame today announces that native Coloradoan, legendary skier and Hall of Fame member Chris Anthony will emcee the 2024 Hall of Fame Celebration. The Class of 2024 is an inspiring group representing a wide range of people across the snow sports industry. From speed skiing and alpine racing on international fronts to the snow sports devotees building the sport behind the scenes, this year’s inductees have dedicated their lives to snow sports, making a lasting impact in Colorado. The celebration will also honor the annual award winners, from snow sports advocates to some of the greatest athletes.
The induction ceremony kicks off at 3 pm on September 7, 2024, at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater in Vail, Colorado. More information and tickets are available HERE.
Chris Anthony hosting the 2023 HOF Celebration. Chris is holding Mikaela Shiffrin’s globe and telling the story of how it broke. This globe is now on display at the Museum.
For more than 28 years, Chris Anthony traveled as a member of the Warren Miller film team. During his career, he has freelanced for several publications, co-authored a guidebook, commissioned and written a screenplay, and hosted and produced several television and film projects. He has also volunteered thousands of hours for several charitable organizations, raising over $1 million on their behalf, before building his youth outreach project. In recent years, Anthony has dedicated his time to the documentary project: “Mission Mt. Mangart,” which tells the story of the first American ski troop: the 10th Mountain Division. It showcases the soldiers' resilience and determination in the face of adversity and offers a unique and captivating perspective on a pivotal moment in world history. Proceeds from screening this film benefit the Chris Anthony Youth Initiative Project. “Mission Mt. Mangart” was honored as Best Historical Documentary at the Cannes World Film Festival. Chris was also inducted into the United States Army 10th Mountain Division Warrior Legend Hall of Fame in 2023.
As a Hall of Fame inductee himself, Chris knows just how important hosting this night is to the 2024 inductees, their families, friends, and all who attend each year. In welcoming Chris back to the stage, we thought it’d be worthwhile to ask Chris a few questions leading up to the event. The following is an interview conducted between Dana Mathios, Curator and Director of Collections with the Colorado Snowsports Museum and Hall of Fame, and 2018 inductee Chris Anthony. Get to know Chris and learn more about his recent projects and research efforts.
Dana Mathios: What does the Hall of Fame mean to you and why?
Chris Anthony: What the Hall of Fame (HOF) means to me is highly complicated on so many levels. I was raised by the industry and because of my parents as well as my competitive path in the snow sports industry, I was influenced by not only the history of the sport but those amazing individuals that have had an impact on me or defined snow sports. That same force of energy molded me. Those that have been inducted as well as those that will be future inductees have separated themselves from the common man or woman. Something special drives them. There is a reason we immortalize them. It’s as much for them to be recognized as it is for us to raise the bar and influence future generations.
DM: Does the Class of 2024 stick out to you for any reason? Why?
CA: The Class of 2024, like all the classes that preceded them, is amazing. However, I am very excited about this induction ceremony for multiple personal reasons. I know most of them personally and have watched their careers and impacts grow. Unlike so many inductees in the past, their legend and what they built lives on in me directly. I may have never met them but only admire them through their records, photos, films, and words. This brings up another point, I would have never learned about these individuals if they were not recognized through the HOF. This alone shows why this ceremony is important.
DM: What 2024 Annual Award winner stands out the most for you and why?
CA: The annual awards as a whole set the bar for what people can achieve and set the standard to inspire future generations. It is our chance as an industry to say thank you as well. All of their efforts have not gone unnoticed and we want them all to know this. For the younger generation receiving annual awards, this is to also let them know they are part of something bigger than themselves.
DM: If you could meet any Hall of Famer - alive or since passed - who would it be? Why?
Friedl Pfeifer was a certified climbing guide at age 18 and a member of the Austrian FIS team at 22, he became the first of his countrymen to win the Kandahar, considered in 1936 to represent the World Championships. Friedl left Austria in 1938 and became a U.S. citizen, winner of a national ski championship and the Harriman Cup, and director of the ski school at Sun Valley. While training with the 10th Mountain Division at Camp Hale during WWII, he was introduced to Aspen. He returned there in 1945 to operate the ski school and helped to develop both Aspen (Ajax) and Buttermilk Mountains.
CA: That is a hard question as there are so many inductees that are gone now who I would have loved the opportunity to ask them questions. But since you asked if I could go back in time, I would ask all the 10th Mountain Division veterans in the HOF so many questions I now wish I could get first-hand answers to. More specifically, since I am working on another documentary one person, I really wish I could sit down with would be Friedl Pfeifer. What he lived through is just amazing to me. This is why it is important to document the lives of these men and women properly then and now.
DM: Is there anyone not in our Hall of Fame that you think is worthy? Why?
CA: Yes, several people perhaps have gone under the radar. Some of the greatest achievements are by those who do not get publicity as they work behind the scenes. I have worked alongside or around many of these amazing people. One of them would be my father Vino Anthony. Amongst his many accomplishments, he co-started a youth program called the Copper Choppers which brought thousands of kids into the sport. Vino also opened a ski shop to make it more affordable for families as well as ours to get into snow sports. What my father showed me is that there is no excuse to be priced out of and not have access to this industry.
DM: What projects are you working on right now, Chris? Is there anything you would want our readers to know about you and your passions/interests?
CA: Currently I am still touring the documentary film I did about the 10th Mountain Division “Mission Mt. Mangart.” I use this to raise money for my youth foundation which accomplishes several objectives, but one of the most rewarding is bridging youth from underserved communities into the sport of skiing. Through my foundation, I underwrite the entire cost of the program. One of the other objectives of the foundation is building educational programming. In addition, I am currently working on a sequel story to “Mission Mt. Mangart” which I am calling “Mission Grossglockner.” I am in the depths of research now. I look forward to sharing this in the future. Between the foundation and the documentary projects, I am staying busy between the powder days!
DM: What was your favorite moment of being inducted into the Colorado Snowsports Hall of Fame? Do you have any advice for the incoming class?
CA: My favorite moment…Being recognized by your peers with this type of acknowledgment that can’t - like so many things in life - be taken away from you, was so amazing. It is set in stone. But the part that was so amazing that I’ll never forget was sitting up at the podium and looking out at so many of my mentors and heroes that I looked up to and who basically put me on the path to do what I could and be impactful. One of those was Andy Mill. He will never understand what his influence had on me. It literally changed my trajectory. The part that was hard during my induction was that my father was not around to witness it.
