3 skiers with ties to Tahoe selected for hall of fame

By USSA

World Champion ski racer Daron Rahlves of Truckee, one of the world’s most noted big mountain skiers, the late Shane McConkey (formerly of Squaw Valley), and iconic skiing legend Glen Plake of the South Shore are among a roster of six skiers and builders named as inductees to the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame’s Class of 2010.

They will be joined by Paralympic medalist and World Champion Muffy Davis, (Salt Lake City), U.S. champion from the 1960s and ’70s and 1972 Olympian Bobby Cochran (Surry, N.H.), and noted sport builder and Sun Valley owner Earl Holding (Salt Lake City).

Daron Rahlves

The class will be inducted April 2 at Sun Valley as part of a week long celebration of skiing history including Sun Valley’s 75th season as a major ski resort.

Rahlves retired from the U.S. Alpine Ski Team in 2006 as the single most decorated skier in the downhill with nine World Cup victories. Among his victories was his 2003 win at the historic and prestigious Hahnenkamm in Kitzbuhel Austria. Two years earlier he had stunned the highly knowledgeable and enthusiastic crowd at St Anton, Austria, by beating local heroes Stephan Eberharter and Hermann Maier for the World Championship gold medal in the super G.

He capped his World Championship resume with a bronze medal in the giant slalom in 2005. His career record includes four U.S. titles and 16 World Cup podiums.

He also holds the 1993 Expert World Championship title in jet skiing and has won many extreme skiing events. After leaving the alpine team Rahlves became one of the world’s best ski cross athletes, leading the USA in the newest Olympic sport at the Vancouver Olympics, his fourth as a U.S. Olympian.

The late McConkey has been called the most influential skier of his generation for popularizing free skiing and encouraging the development of equipment so more skiers could enjoy back country and deep powder conditions. In 1993 he won the World Pro Mogul Tour and added the South American Freeskiing championship in 1994. The next year he claimed the U.S. Freeskiing championship and twice won, in 1996 and 1998, the International Freeskier Association World Tour Championship.

He was a leader in bringing fat skis to the slopes. In 2002, he helped develop the first reverse camber and reverse side cut ski, the Volant Spatula, and four years later introduced the K2 Pontoon. During his career he was featured in 26 films about skiing and became a world leader in ski base jumping. He died in a ski base jumping accident on March 26, 2009.

With his signature multi-colored mohawk hairstyle and his unrelenting enthusiasm for skiing, Glen Plake is certainly the best-known and recognizable skier in the world. The three time World Hot Dog skiing champion has become the symbol of the fun, joy and spirit of skiing. His outstanding ability on skis and personality have made him a skiing film star and many of the films that he has appeared in are now classics in the industry including “The Blizzard of Aahhh’s,” “Fistful of Moguls,” “License to Thrill,” “The Edge of Never” and this year’s “Legend of Aahhh’s.”

His television and magazine appearances as well as commentary work is seemingly endless. He continues to promote skiing at all levels from his high altitude expeditions around the world to his “Down Home Tour” where Glen and his wife, Kimberly, ski at local areas around the United States.

The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame is located in Ishpeming, Mich., the birthplace of organized skiing in America. Its mission is to provide respected, permanent national recognition for excellence in achievement in skiing and snowboarding.