NASJA News Archive

Bob Hollingsworth, 1925-2009

Bob Hollingsworth, longtime NASJA member, when it was still the U.S. Ski Writers Association, died October 6 of complications related to a series of lumbar and cervical spine problems. He was 84.

ESWA members knew him as a ski journalist, and members of what was then the Rocky Mountain Ski Media Association (now part of NASJA-West) knew him as co-owner, with his wife, ski/travel writer Abby Rand as co-owner and editor/publisher of the Snowmass Sun in Colorado. He was a newspaper man to the core: reporter, editor and editorial board member for more than 40 years, 30 of them with Newsday.

He began his newspaper career in 1948 as weekend reporter for Newsday while editor of the Hofstra Chronicle. At Newsday, he rose rapidly through the ranks, joined the copy desk, covered the two memorable Long Island Rail Road wrecks in 1950 and was on the team that covered the 1952 Democratic National. He was also editor in charge who stopped the presses and got 35,000 copies of the paper on the stands less than 30 minutes after the confirmation of President John F. Kennedy's assassination in Dallas in 1963.

Hollingsworth left Newsday in 1965 and became managing editor of the Middletown, NY, Times-Herald-Record and two years later joined the Providence Journal,.where he served as Metro Editor and later Managing Editor of the Journal's now-defunct sister newspaper, The Evening Bulletin. After a year as editor of Facts on File's annual yearbook, he rejoined Newsday, became a member of the editorial board and wrote all of the editorials on New York City for the first six months of New York Newsday's existence. He retired in 1989 and soon purchased the Snowmass Sun. After they sold that resort weekly, they returned to their apartment in New York City.

Hollingsworth is survived by Abby Rand, also a former ESWA/USSWA/RMSMA member, four children and five grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at a time to be announced.

Condolences can be sent to Abby at 11 Riverside Dr., Apt. 12FE, New York, NY 10023. Her e-mail address is abbyrand@rcn.com.

- Claire Walter

Blasting the headphones...

Our newest corporate member, Blast Outdoors, represents Skullcandy, a popular manufacturer of headphones for the snowboarding community.

Skulcandy CEO Rick Alden has been nominated for Entrepreneur of the Year honors by Entrepreneur Magazine and Blast is embarking on a campaign to generate votes for him. Blast President Mendy Werne considers a win for Alden a boost for the industry.

Werne is encouraging all NASJA members to join in the fun, vote for alden and to pass it along to our networks.

To vote, log on to:

http://www.entrepreneur.com/e2009/vote/established.php#584.

In Memoriam: Legendary Ski Instructor Nic Fiore

Nic Fiore arrived in Yosemite Valley on a snowy night in 1947. In the following 57 years, Nic taught some 137,500 people how to ski at Badger Pass. He retired in 2004, after teaching skiing for more than 60 years.

Fiore, who died recently in Fresno at age 89, is believed to have taught more people to ski than any other ski instructor in North America. Thousands of baby boomers were introduced to skiing at dry land ski schools conducted by him during the 1950s and 60s, and he became a Yosemite institution not only in winter. He also managed the Glacier Point Hotel, Big Trees Lodge, Hotel Wawona and Yosemite Lodge, and in 1966, began directing Yosemite High Sierra Camps, often walking from five to 25 miles a day between camps.

In 1965, Nic Fiore authored the ski technique guide, "So You Want to Ski" and, in 1967, he was selected by the French government to represent the United States at its prestigious French National Ski Instructor's academy in Chamonix. Fiore subsequently coordinated similar exchanges in the U.S. to improve American ski instruction techniques.

For many years, Nic Fiore served as executive director of the Professional Ski Instructors of America/Western Division and became the only person to receive both the Northern California and Nevada Ski Media Association and the Southern California Association of Ski Writers awards for outstanding contributions to the sport of skiing. Fiore is the only ski instructor ever to have been inducted into the California Tourism Hall of Fame and the California Outdoor Hall of Fame. He was also nominated three times to the U.S. National Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame.

A memorial service in Nic Fiore's honor is planned at Yosemite's Badger Pass ski area in autumn. His family has asked that contributions be made in his memory to The Yosemite Fund (yosemitefund.org) and the Air Warrior Courage Foundation (airwarriorcourage.org).

Bernie Weichsel Named Board Chair

The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame and Museum recently announced a new board chairman, Bernard Weichsel of Wayland,Massachusetts. Weichsel, long time Corporate Member of NASJA and founder of BEWI Productions, has an extensive background in winter sport promotions, activities and events. Serving on the board of directors since 2000, our good friend Bernie takes over the chairmanship from David Holli of Ishpeming, Michigan, who served as chairman since 2004.

Congratulations Bernie!!

Jackson Hole Mountain Resort Announces
New Chief Marketing Officer
Courtesy of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort


TETON VILLAGE, Wyoming - Jackson Hole Mountain Resort (JHMR) announced the appointment of Chip Carey (long time friend and past member of ESWA and NASJA) as chief marketing officer responsible for sales management, product development, marketing communications and market research. Carey will lead this effort under the direction of JHMR President, Jerry Blann.

Carey will join JHMR from his current brand consulting business in Park City, UT which he has operated since leaving American Skiing Company in 2007, where he was senior vice president of marketing and sales.

"Chip has worked in the ski industry for nearly four decades and is an established leader with unprecedented experience. With over 25 years at Sugarloaf/USA, ME, six years as VP Marketing and Sales for The Canyons Resort, Park City, UT which coincided with the Salt Lake Olympics and four years with ASC, he has developed and guided many successful sales, marketing and public relations campaigns. His diverse skill set includes establishing Sugarloaf as a major resort destination despite its remote location, building and launching new brands such as The Canyons and driving record revenues and skier visits for ASC's family of eight resorts. We look forward to drawing upon this, as we continue to position Jackson Hole as a unique, year round destination resort," stated Jerry Blann, JHMR President.

Carey commented, "I am excited to join the team at Jackson Hole. They share the same passion for the sport of skiing as I do. It is an honor to be able to work with one of the strongest brands in the ski industry and the recent launch of the new aerial tram continues to strengthen its legendary reputation. While Jackson Hole has successfully developed a globally recognized brand, we will need to spearhead our use of technology to communicate with and engage new and returning guests in a highly competitive marketplace. I am committed to staying ahead of the trends to enable us to tailor appropriate products for our guests and deliver the desired skier visit and revenue results."

Chip and his wife Nancy have spent their married life in and around ski resorts. Their passion for the sport was instilled on their three (now) grown children, two of whom now work as a nationally-recognized ski coach and as owner of a nationally-franchised ski rental business. With nearly 70 ski days under his belt during this past winter, Chip and his "skiing family" look forward to moving to Jackson Hole and becoming an active member of the community.

Tribute to Evelyn Fischer

It was Evelyn Fischer's wit and charm that lured me into NASJA back in 1996. From the moment we met, I knew she not only loved skiing, snow and her lifelong boyfriend Bert, but she was deeply proud to be from the Midwest, home to the "Breeders & Feeders" of our sport.

As secretary/treasurer Ev was the "Mother Hen" of our Midwest NASJA chapter: nurturing newcomers as well as keeping track of all the accomplishments of our veteran members. She and Bert never missed a regional or national NASJA meeting even though it meant thousands of miles traveling by car from their Bay Village, Ohio, home to Northern Michigan, the Upper Peninsula, or even as far as Mammoth Mountain, California. Bad weather never stopped them.

It was in Mammoth that my husband Ron and I first 'tasted' the Fischer hospitality. Bert and Ev didn't travel lightly. Whether they were up for a weekend or gone for a month, their car was loaded, and not just with Bert's ski gear. But we gladly helped them load and unload because somewhere in that pile was their portable bar. Wherever they went, they made apres-ski fun and often when you met up with this full-of-life couple you were invited to cocktail hour to learn a new ski song.

I never followed Ev down the slopes. By the time we met she called herself a "bionic" woman with an artificial knee and shoulder. "The only thing still real on me is my boobs," she would say, "And that's where most women start," she would add prompting a laugh. Her stories had a zing and she never missed a punch line.

Even in a wheelchair, Ev brought energy to a room. That glow and the woman who spread it to everyone she met, will be truly missed. But Bert, Erik, Clark and Mark, take comfort knowing she won't be forgotten.

THE SNOW SPORTS INDUSTRY SAYS GOODBYE TO A LEGEND- ANDREA MEAD LAWRENCE

MAMMOTH, Ca. (March 31, 2009)- SIA and The International Skiing History Association (ISHA) joins the rest of the skiing world in mourning the passing of one of the sports superstars, Andrea Mead Lawrence, who passed away last night after a long battle with cancer. She was surrounded by family and friends.

Mead Lawrence's generous spirit and sense of sportsmanship developed through her intimate love for the mountains where she was born in Rutland VT. At age 14 "Andy" Mead was the youngest athlete ever to be chosen for the 1948 U. S. Women's Olympic Alpine Ski Team ('48, '52, '56), and she garnered numerous awards in national and international championships from 1948 - 1952, including the 1948 Austrian National Championships, and the 1950 U. S. National Championships in Sun Valley, Idaho. NASJA awarded her the Lifetime Achievement honor in 2002.

Mead Lawrence's transcendent moment came while winning two gold medals (Slalom and Giant Slalom) at the 1952 Winter Olympics, in a come-from-behind performance Olympic historian Bud Greenspan called, "The greatest attempt at immortality in the Olympic Games."

Mead-Lawrence is recognized one of the best women skiers in the world, who captivated an entire nation, and was a celebrity in her time. Her story of personal challenge and triumph is enriched by a philosophical worldview: mountains are sacred, and skiing is an art. She is an archetype of the pure amateur athlete, competing only for the love of the sport, to "make beautiful runs" through the gates.

Mead Lawrence's quiet intensity and love of the mountains infused a political career culminating in the formation of the Andrea Lawrence Institute for Mountains and Rivers in 2003, a non-profit organization that oversees environmental conservation and responsible land use in the Eastern Sierras and Mono Lake region of California.

Coincidently, ISHA is in Mammoth holding a Board of Directors meeting and its members will be viewing an advance screening of The Andrea Mead Lawrence Story - a film directed by Allison Pobrislo (Prance.com).

According to Barry Stone, Chairman of ISHA, "Andy was instrumental in helping raise large sums of money for the U.S. Olympic Committee. I was the Northeast chairman for the USOC Andrea came to several of our events lending her personality and style to the cause. I was lucky enough to forerun a dual slalom ski race against Andy and the results shall remain confidential'.

Mead-Lawrence was an incredible and courageous woman. Her remarkable athletic feats shaped the future of women's skiing. She is truly a legend that will be missed and never forgotten.