THE CARSON WHITE SNOWSPORTS ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Scroll to the bottom to cast your ballot
Rick Kahl has distinguished himself by notable contributions and a tremendous positive impact to the North American and worldwide ski and snowsports experience in countless ways over his nearly four-decade-long journalism career. He has played a major role in inspiring more people to visit mountain resorts, and has helped mountain resorts serve those people better. What makes him especially deserving of NASJA’s highest award is the influence his work has had on both consumers, as editor of Skiing Magazine, and ski area operators as editor of Ski Area Management magazine (SAM).
After graduating from Dartmouth College, Rick worked at Stratton Mountain, Vt., and taught at Stratton Mountain School. He helped develop the first issues of Stratton Magazine, a publication still in print today.
Moving to New York City, Rick started in the office of SKI and Skiing magazines, eventually became editor-in-chief of Skiing in 1990. In this role, Rick led the publication during a tumultuous time not only for the ski industry, but the publishing industry as well. He maintained Skiing‘s differentiation from sister pub SKI with a more edgy, sexy, and fun content that captured the skiing lifestyle, and inspired readers to join in on the good times.
After leaving Skiing in 2002, Rick was hired by Ski Area Management (SAM) magazine founder and NASJA Lifetime Achievement Award winner David Rowan, as the magazine’s editor. Switching gears from a consumer-facing publication to an industry-facing publication wasn’t a tall order for someone of Rick’s intelligence and instincts. The first few years at SAM strengthened Rick’s ability to inform, inspire, and advance the North American mountain resort industry through magazine’s editorial content. Without spotlight or fanfare and deferring credit to others, he has been quietly responsible for setting much of the dialogue in the mountain resort industry. It’s his uncanny ability to identify trends, issues, challenges and opportunities—and disseminating them in SAM—that leads to ski area operators and suppliers frequently uttering, “I saw it in SAM” during high-level discussions, decision-making meetings, and industry gatherings. Rick is thought of as a sage. People want to know what he knows and sees, and he shares it through careful management of editorial, and by providing guidance to SAM‘s staff and talented group of writers.
Rick was also the driving force in launching Adventure Park Insider, a magazine that serves the burgeoning zip line-aerial adventure industry—an industry being embraced by a growing number of ski areas. He also found time to help develop ski-binding standards, and analyze data trends for the industry’s longtime research firm, Leisure Trends.
He has worked alongside and has the respect of many great veteran and new-gen journalists in our industry. And even though he might fly under the radar of the general public, it would be hard to find a more respected individual in the ski industry.
Rick, who resides in Longmont, Colo., counts his wife Gail and their three grown daughters as his biggest fans, all of whom are avid snowsports participants and outdoor enthusiasts.
Greg Wozer, the founder of Leki North America, has helped contribute to a diverse skiing, trekking and walking pole market, setting the standard in technology, research and development. Leki North America, one of the leading brands in the industry, started from scratch in the mid 1980’s. Leki and Greg have introduced innovation in collapsible poles and its ski pole and glove integration is second to none in the world and has become the standard for design and safety.
They have also led the way in ski pole systems, whereas a ski pole converts into a probe and a shovel and a pole that has a pick on the handle for climbing and self-arrest use.
Greg is a dedicated family man but has also found time to mentor ski pros with their careers and personal lives for over 2 decades. His company is the unsung hero of the industry and humbly goes about their business, growing year to year which is a huge accomplishment in the winter sports world. He is quite deserving of NASJA’s highest award.