The Colorado Snowsports Museum and Hall of Fame announced Thursday its Class of 2024 Hall of Fame inductees, and Colorado’s “Queen of Speed” Lindsey Vonn is among the inspiring group headed for the Hall in Colorado’s skiing world.

The 2024 inductees represent a wide range of people across the snow sports industry from speed skiing and alpine racing to the snow sports devotees building the sport behind the scenes, Snowsports Museum officials said.

“This year truly represents Colorado’s snow sports industry with inductees having connections to Durango, Breckenridge, Aspen, and Vail,” Jennifer Mason, executive director of the Colorado Snowsports Museum and Hall of Fame, said.

“We’re honored to celebrate all the inductees, but we’re especially excited to recognize the accomplishments of the legendary Sigurd Rockne, in person with him, a few months before his 92nd birthday” she said. “We look forward to celebrating Sigurd alongside his third-generation Breckenridge family.”

The Colorado Snowsports Hall of Fame Class of 2024:

Lindsey Vonn | Athlete

Colorado’s “Queen of Speed” Lindsey Vonn had an extraordinary career and her achievements have solidified her place in history as one of the greatest American skiers of all time.

In her 15-year career, Lindsey earned 82 World Cup victories and became the first-ever women’s Olympic downhill champion, redefining the boundaries of alpine skiing while setting numerous records — including 18 victories on the same course (Lake Louise), 20 World Cup crystal globes and 43 downhill victories.

Vonn’s impact transcended the world of skiing through her creation of the Lindsey Vonn Foundation. She used her platform to provide programming for education, sports, and enrichment programs to help young girls grow as athletes, leaders, and individuals.

More recently, Vonn became a Brand Ambassador for Three Forks Ranch, a resort in the heart of the Rocky Mountains 40 miles north of Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

Pro-skier and filmmaker Chris Anthony told the Denver Gazette Vonn’s dad is working hard to make sure Vonn will be at the induction ceremony in September.

Sigurd Rockne | Pioneer

Before his days of working for Colorado ski resorts, Sigurd was an accomplished ski racer, winning three Norwegian Championships, starting first on “the most famous downhill ski race course in the world,” the Hahnenkamm in Kitzbühel, and also ranked in the FIS Top 15 and was named to the Norwegian ski team for the 1956 Olympics.

After the Olympics, Rockne received a letter from Stein Eriksen to work for him as a ski instructor for Aspen Highlands, the first year the ski resort was open.

Sigurd came to America on Dec. 5, 1958, and became a ski instructor for Eriksen in Aspen for three years. Rockne was famous for being one of the founders of the Breckenridge Ski Resort. He was intimately involved with laying out where the runs would be and the lifts to service them and was an early ambassador and promoter of Breckenridge.

Rockne undoubtedly contributed to the early growth of skiing in Colorado, and helped create and run one of our state’s most popular resorts.

Ross Anderson | Athlete

Native American Ross Anderson became the fastest skier in the Western Hemisphere in 2006.

Born in New Mexico, Anderson grew up in Durango, Colorado, and started racing gates at an early age. He was on skis by age three at Purgatory Resort, where his father was on the ski patrol and by six, was ski racing — but inevitably drawn toward speed skiing.

He became one of the top U.S. Speed Skiing Team athletes, winning bronze at the 2005 World Championships, and was an eight-time national champion. Anderson also holds the record for the fastest American ever on skis: 154.06 mph, achieved in 2006.

Anderson leveraged his athletic success to bring skiing to native youth, beginning engaging programs, initially at Purgatory with the Southern Ute tribe, as well as the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes of Oklahoma and the Mescalero Apache tribes of New Mexico.

Over the years, he has partnered with fellow athletes, such as Suzy Chaffee and Billy Kidd and an Abenaki tribe member at Chaffee’s Native Voices Foundation to advocate for native youth. Anderson was inducted into the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame in 2023.

Bjorn Erik Borgen | Sport Builder

Bjorn Borgen has been a force in elevating the sport of skiing through his lifetime, providing leadership and support for athletes, venues, and major events. Borgen’s efforts and persistence were pivotal in bringing the FIS World Championships to Vail in 1989, 1999, and 2015.

He consistently supported athletes in the US and his home country of Norway, making it possible for athletes to achieve their dreams on-and-off the snow through the creation and funding of educational scholarships.

Through board service and leadership for the US Ski & Snowboard Team, Ski & Snowboard Club Vail and the Vail Valley Foundation, his efforts have resulted in the successful completion of major projects in the U.S. and abroad, from the Ski & Snowboard Club Vail Clubhouse and race venue expansion to the USSA Center for Excellence in Park City to the expansion and enhancement of Kvitfjell Resort in Norway.

John McBride | Sport Builder

John McBride is now the head Alpine Coach for the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club (AVSC) after an impressive career with the US and Canadian National Alpine Teams. Raised in Aspen, McBride trained with the Aspen Ski Club and was named to the US Development Team. He went on to race for the University of Vermont.

He coached AVSC from 1989-1995 and then the US Ski Team for a decade, where he led his athletes to a US record number of wins and podium finishes on the World Cup, in addition to Olympic and World Cup medals.

He coached Bode Miller to Olympic medal performances and two overall crystal globes, and Daron Rahlves to 28 World Cup podiums and 12 World Cup victories. He returned to Aspen and coached at Challenge Aspen, a competitive ski team for individuals with cognitive or physical impairment.

A year later, the Canadian Team recruited him to lead its speed team through the 2014 Sochi Olympics. He led the Canadian team to 20 podiums in addition to Eric Guay’s gold medal at the 2011 World Championships and a bronze medal by Jan Hudec in the Super-G at Sochi, Russia.

“On behalf of the Colorado Snowsports Hall of Fame, we are incredibly proud to announce the Class of 2024, which features two truly extraordinary athletes, two remarkable sports builders who played enormous roles in allowing dozens if not hundreds of athletes to fulfill their World Cup and Olympic dreams, along with one legendary pioneer who in the early days of Breckenridge Resort’s development, saw its potential and executed its growth making it a world-class resort,” Bill Tomcich, board member of the Colorado Snowsports Museum and chairman of the Hall of Fame Committee said in the news release. 

Hall of Fame candidates are nominated under the established criteria of Athlete, Sport Builder, Inspirational, or Pioneer categories, with the Hall of Fame Nomination Committee evaluating and confirming the nominees to move on to the final ballot.

The 140-member Hall of Fame Voting Panel is comprised of current Hall of Fame members, key snow sports industry representatives, snow sports resorts, and the Hall’s Board of Directors. 

The annual induction ceremony is on Sept. 7 at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater in Vail, Colorado. Ticket prices start at $50 for adults, with all proceeds going to support the Colorado Snowsports Museum. Tickets will be available soon and the Museum encourages potential attendees to check the website’s events page for ticket information.