Nordic skier among 7 inducted into Hall of Fame

Thu, Oct  21, 2010 - By US Ski Team

PORTLAND, ME (Oct. 20) – U.S. Ski Team veteran Kirsten Clark-Rickenbach, who capped her international career with a World Championship silver medal in 2003, will be among a group of Team alumni being inducted into the Maine Ski Hall of Fame Oct. 22. Joining her will be Olympic cross country skier Marcus Nash.

Since its inception in 2003 the Maine Ski Hall of Fame has honored 73 Maine skiers who have brought distinction to the sport in the state, nationally and internationally. The members inducted to date include competitors, coaches, ski area founders, instructors, ski patrollers, competition officials, volunteers and even inventors. This year's class, listed below is typical, with competitors, coaches and a writer whose work has been read around the world.

Kirsten Clark-Rickenbach is a Hall of Fame skier with a brilliant career. Her U.S. Championship titles include five downhill crowns, one super G and one combined. In addition, in 13 years on the U.S. Ski Team, the Raymond, ME native stood on the World Cup podium eight times, including one downhill victory, in 28 top-10 finishes.  In 2003, she won a silver medal in the FIS World Alpine Ski Championships and skied in three Olympic Winter Games.  It's the best alpine record of any Maine skier.

Fryeburg's Marcus Nash skied on the U.S. Cross Country Ski Team for over a decade and participated in two Olympic Winter Games.  His best international result was a gold medal along with teammate Justin Wadsworth in the 2000 Winter Goodwill Games at Lake Placid, NY.  Nash was a nine-time U.S. Champion in various distances.

Joan McWilliams [Dolan], a native of Sugarloaf, ME, was a top athlete in the sport of freestyle skiing from the early 1970s to early '80s winning five U.S. Championships in seven years on the U.S. Ski Team.  After her career as an athlete, she turned to coaching. During a tenure of more than 25 years at Maine's Carabbassett Valley Academy, she was considered one of the nation's best development coaches.

Bob Harkins joined the U.S. Ski Team after serving as director of the Alpental Ski Area racing program in Washington. While at the U.S. Ski Team, he headed up the Development Program and worked as alpine operations manager during the 1988 Olympic Winter Games in Calgary. Following his tenure with the U.S. Ski Team, he returned to Sunday River, ME creating the Perfect Turn Program, an innovative way to develop skiers, which is still used at Sunday River and other ski resorts.

Other inductees include Mort Lund, Bernard "Ben" Paradis and John Atwood. The Hall of Fame is a division of the Ski Museum of Maine which is located above at Maine's Sugarloaf/USA.

2010 Maine Ski Hall of Fame Inductees
Kirsten Clark-Rickenbach
Marcus Nash
Joan McWilliams [Dolan]
Bob Harkins
Mort Lund
Bernard "Ben" Paradis
John Atwood

About the Ski Musuem of Maine
Maine is very rich in ski history, yet many people do not realize it nor recognize the place this history holds within the American ski world. Because of this, many of those who have valued the special spirit our sport entails are concerned this history will be lost. It is this concern which motivated the founders of the Ski Museum of Maine to organize.

Established with the mission to "preserve and publicize the business of skiing in Maine, while celebrating Maine's ski history and heritage," the board of directors has undertaken a number of projects to identify and preserve our skiing heritage and to share this heritage with the younger generations. The formation of the Maine Ski Hall of Fame is an exciting outcome of this effort.