U.S. Ski & Snowboard Honors Service To Sport At Annual Awards

U.S. Ski & Snowboard will recognize more than 50 athletes, coaches, clubs and leaders who have supported skiing and snowboarding at this week’s annual U.S. Ski & Snowboard Congress. The awards include gold awards, silver awards, athlete, coach and club of the year awards in each sport, and sport-specific awards.

The organization’s highest honor, the Julius Blegen Award, will be awarded to the late Bruce Crane acknowledging his lifetime of service to skiing and snowboarding. Crane spent much of his life serving his passion both professionally and as a volunteer in the sport of ski racing. Throughout his career, Crane served as a competition director for multiple organizations and worked at the 1998 and 2002 Olympic Winter Games. He was world acclaimed for his work in race timing and scoring, athlete ranking systems and race course homologation. Crane was honored many times for his service, including the Westhaven Award for service as a technical delegate in 1997 and the Bud and Mary Little Award for his work with the International Ski Federation (FIS), and the U.S. Olympic Committee in 2002.

U.S. Ski & Snowboard announced various gold awards earlier this week, including Olympic champion Jessie Diggins as the recipient of this year’s Beck International Award, Rowmark Academy’s Troy Price as development coach of the year, Dave Reynolds and Mike Ramirez as international coaches of the year, and Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center as club of the year. Additionally, Brad Ghent will receive the Westhaven Award for his service as a U.S. Ski & Snowboard and FIS technical delegate.

The Utah Olympic Park, Waterville Valley Resort, Craftsbury Outdoor Center and Central Cross Country Skiing will receive silver awards for their service to and support of the sports. The Utah Olympic Park, winner of the John J. Clair Jr. Award, serves as a training center for the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team for elite and development level athletes in multiple Olympic disciplines. Waterville Valley and Craftsbury Outdoor Center will receive the Paul Bacon Award for their event organization, including the 2018 U.S. Freestyle Moguls Championships at Waterville Valley and two SuperTour stops at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center. Central Cross Country Skiing will receive the Russell Wilder Award for service to youth through its Nordic Rocks program.

Other silver award recipients include Tom Johnston (Bud and Mary Little Award) for his service to the FIS and the U.S. Olympic Committee, Ritchie Date (West Family Award) for his work as a U.S. Ski & Snowboard official, Dr. Jamie Watkins (J. Leland Sosman Award) for his service as a team physician and Olympic Champion Kikkan Randall (Buddy Werner Award, and Team Athlete Giving Back Award) for her sportsmanship and leadership as well as her work with the Fast & Female program. 

All of this year’s awards will be presented at the Chairman’s Awards Dinner on May 3 in Park City.

2018 U.S. SKI & SNOWBOARD JULIUS BLEGEN AWARD RECIPIENT
Bruce Crane (Park City, Utah)

U.S. SKI & SNOWBOARD GOLD AWARD RECIPIENTS
Westhaven Award (top U.S. Ski & Snowboard technical delegate) – Brad Ghent (Edwards, Colo.)

U.S. SKI & SNOWBOARD SILVER AWARD RECIPIENTS
Paul Bacon Award (event organization) – Waterville Valley Resort + Craftsbury Outdoor Center & Nordic Ski Club
John J. Clair Jr. Award (service to the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team) – Utah Olympic Park
Bud and Mary Little Award (service to FIS/USOC) – Tom Johnston (Pinedale, Wyo.)
Buddy Werner Award (athlete sportsmanship, leadership) – Kikkan Randall (Anchorage, Alaska)
Russell Wilder Award (service to youth) – Central Cross Country Skiing, Nordic Rocks
J. Leland Sosman Award (service as team physician) – Jamie Watkins, MD (Snowmass Village, Colo.)
West Family Award (U.S. Ski & Snowboard official) – Richie Date (Park City, Utah)
Team Athlete Giving Back Award – Kikkan Randall (Anchorage, Alaska)