Celebrate Ski Heritage Days this weekend
<p>Jim Barrier was the first Olympic skier from Montana. He will be inducted into the FVSEF hall of fame this month.</p>
Olympic and World Champion skier Phil Mahre will be the guest of honor at the Flathead Valley Ski Education Foundation’s annual Hellroaring Ski Heritage Days March 18-19 in Whitefish.
The Heritage Days event was conceived as a celebration of the Flathead Valley’s rich and colorful skiing history, and as a fundraiser for the new Ski Heritage Center Museum of Skiing and the Flathead Valley Ski Education Foundation.
“In the first two years we saw amazing growth in this event, so we’re definitely going even bigger and better this year!” said Tim Hinderman, executive director of the Flathead Valley Ski Education Foundation. “It’s a great opportunity for people to actively partake in the festivities by dressing up in old ski outfits and bringing along old ski equipment, and to raise money for the new ski museum and the ski foundation at the same time.”
Mahre, whose biography includes Olympic and World Championship gold medals as well as three overall World Cup titles, will preside over the Hall of Fame induction ceremony and reception on Friday, March 18, at Grouse Mountain Lodge.
A social hour begins at 6 p.m. with the dinner and induction ceremony at 7 p.m. Tickets are $35 per person and available at Glacier Bank in Whitefish and Kalispell, or online at fvsef.org.
A Ski & Lunch event with Mahre is planned at 9:45 a.m. Friday. Tickets are $100, and only 20 tickets will be sold. Ticket information is available online.
Saturday activities will take place at Whitefish Mountain Resort and include a ski-a-thon, retro ski race, “Nice Day” run dedication, vintage outfit contest and Toni Matt Promenade. A full schedule is available online at fvsef.org.
Inductees for the 2016 class are Steve Spencer, Bill Martin, Jim Barrier and Tim Grattan.