Richard Goetzman of Long Beach, California, President of the US National Ski Hall of Fame, announced the election into the US National Ski Hall of Fame of six very prominent people who have supported skiing in the United States for many years.

The Class of 2000 includes:

Dick Barrymore
Dick Barrymore, born in 1933 in California, was one of a small group of ski movie makers who traversed the country for many years showing and personally narrating, with wit and humor, their films at ski clubs, school auditoriums and movie houses.

Dick, who is not related to the "famous" movie Barrymores (he says he is the "famous" one), made nine, 90-minute shorts for his club showings. He also shot longer shows including Ski West Young Man, Eleven Minutes and 59 Seconds of Skis and Skiers, and The Last of the Ski Bums. Two films for K2, Assignment K2 and The Performers were early depictions of free-style skiing.

In over 30 years of shooting ski films all over the world, he, along with John Jay and Warren Miller, delighted untold thousands of snow lovers all over the USA and undoubtedly induced hordes of curious viewers to try the sport.

John Jay and Warren Miller are already in the US National Ski Hall of Fame and it is time for Dick Barrymore to join them.

Bill Beck
Bill Beck was one of the outstanding US alpine ski racers of the 1950s. He was a member of the national A Team from 1951 to 1957. In 1952, he was named to the US Olympic Team with, among others, Jack Reddish, Brooks Dodge and Jimmy Griffith.

At the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo, Bill Beck finished 5th in the downhill, which was at that time the best Olympic downhill finish ever by an American male. That record was tied by Pete Patterson in 1980 and finally surpassed by Bill Johnson's gold in 1984. Beck's record stood for 28 years.

That same year, he was 5th in the prestigious A-K Downhill in Chamonix, again the best American showing against the cream of European champions. He tied Chick Igaya for 1st place in downhill in the National Championships on Cannon Mountain in 1955. His race results during the '50s were such that he was named to the World Championship team in 1954 and the Winter Olympic team again in 1956 along with Tom Corcoran and Buddy Werner.

Bill Beck is more than deserving of joining those teammates, named above, who are already Honored Members of the US National Ski Hall of Fame.

Ned Gillette
In more than 20 expeditions starting in the late 1970's, the former US Ski Team cross-country ski racer pioneered routes around Everest and McKinley, navigated an oversized rowboat to Antarctica, and arced turns down the highest mountain ever skied from its summit, namely the 24,757 foot Mustagh Ata in the Pamirs. He opened new frontiers for skiing, traversing Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic and cross-country skiing in China's former Manchuria.

Originally from Vermont, Gillette, a Dartmouth graduate, was the 1967 NCAA cross-country champion. He was a member of the 1968 US Olympic Cross-Country Ski Team, and a member of the A Team from 1967 to 1969. Later, he headed the cross-country ski school at Stowe's Trapp Family Lodge when the idea of ski touring centers was new. And he served as Director of Skiing at Yosemite Mountaineering School. He wrote a book about the sport, Cross Country Skiing, published in 1979.

Twenty years ago, when climbers and ski adventurers typically solicited expedition sponsors with all the sophistication of a family organizing a rummage sale, Gillette saw the need for reform. Promises were often ignored and companies were disappointed by their experiences. Ned changed that by being the first to present sponsors with real business plans.

Gillette's life ended on August 5th, 1998, at the age of 53, when he was brutally murdered in his tent in Pakistan.

Bob Lange
Mid-20th century was a period of rapid technical improvement in ski equipment. Skis, poles, bindings set new benchmarks. Boots, too, needed upgrading from the low-cut leather construction so long in use. In 1948, Robert B. Lange reinforced a pair of boots custom-made by Peter Limmer, an internationally known bootmaker, with some fiberglass-reinforced polyester resin left over from a boat hull. It was the first recorded use of a plastic in a ski boot.

Bob started The Lange Corporation and manufactured various products from fiberglass and then, in the late 1950's decided to invent a plastic boot. He started with vacuum-molded ABS sheet and made 750 the first year. Many discouragements and months later, he switched to polyurethane and finally a successful Lange boot was born. That black boot became a benchmark in ski history. Closures, stiffness and height were constantly adjusted and enhanced and the boot sold by the thousands.

In the ensuing years, other boots were successfully manufactured and marketed, but Bob Lange's black plastic boot marked the jump from the early soft leather boot to the one that really bonded ski and leg. It deserves historical note. Bob Lange deserves recognition for it. Sadly, Bob passed away this past June at the age of 74.

Olav Pedersen
Born on February 17, 1917, Olav Pedersen won his first trophy ski jumping at age 12 and spent his youth skiing and competing in his beloved Norwegian mountains. He used his skiing skills while serving in the Norwegian Resistance during the German occupation in World War II. In 1955, Olav chaired the organizing committee for the Norwegian Nordic Ski Championships. In 1963 Olav was invited to Breckenridge, Colorado to teach skiing. He accepted, emigrated to the US and taught alpine skiing until 1980. Since then, he has taught cross-country skiing at the Breckenridge Nordic Center. At age 70, Olav won the national NASTAR alpine ski championship in his age group and continued competing in cross-country skiing as well.

Inspired by a blind friend in Norway, Olav started a skiing program for visually impaired people in the US. Launched in 1975, Ski For Light is in its 24th season, hosting participants from around the world. Thousands of visually impaired Americans have experienced cross-country skiing because of Ski For Light.

King Olav V of Norway awarded Olav Pedersen the Order of St. Olav in 1976. In 1997 Olav was inducted into the Colorado Ski Hall Fame.

Preston Leete Smith
In 1955, at the age of 25, Preston Smith searched New England for a promising ski mountain. He settled on Killington, in Vermont. With much difficulty, he managed to raise $85,000 in start-up capital. The resort opened in December, 1958. Despite its shoestring start, the resort grew into a major eastern ski operation when skier visits went over one million by the 1980s.

One of Preston's greatest achievements was Killington's expansion of snowmaking which earned the area a wide reputation for dependable snow conditions. Its season normally runs from October to June. His colleagues agree that Pres Smith set the standards for other resorts to follow. Killington also was the first in the nation to promote GLM which boomed ski school business.

Besides the resort, Pres devoted countless hours of volunteer work in the interest of the sport. He is a past president and treasurer of the Vermont Ski Areas Association, former director and treasurer of the National Ski Areas Association and long-time chair of its Competition Committee.

Killington, under Smith, produced a fair share of US Ski Team members over the years, including Preston's own daughter Leslie Leete Smith, who raced in the 1976 Olympics, and Gold Medal Mogul specialist, Donna Weinbrecht.

When Preston Leete Smith finally sold his publicly listed company in 1996, it owned and operated six ski resorts in Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and California.

Induction Ceremony
The induction ceremony will take place on Saturday, September 30, 2000 in Ishpeming, Michigan. A welcoming reception will be hosted by the US National Ski Hall of Fame on Friday evening, September 29th, 2000 for the new members, their families and friends.

Complete details of all events associated with the gala event will be forthcoming in a later news release. Tickets for all events will be available by calling the US National Ski Hall of Fame at (906) 485-6323 or fax at (906) 486-4570.

Ishpeming, the birthplace of organized skiing in the US, has been the site of the United States National Ski Hall of Fame and Museum since it's inception in 1956.

— Courtesy US Ski Team News Bureau