Telluride
Telluride
Journalists, Skiers and Innovators Honored at the 2024 NASJA Awards
Manchester Center, Vermont, June 20, 2024—Recreational cross-country skiing pioneer Bill Danner is the 2023-24 recipient of the Carson White Snowsports Achievement Award, the highest honor bestowed by the North American Snowsports Journalists Association (NASJA).
Danner, along with his partner Hans Woitschatzke, is credited with expanding Nordic skiing from a niche, expert-oriented sport to an easily accessible, family friendly experience. They did so beginning in 1970 through the introduction of Trak Skis, a waxless fiberglass Omnitrak cross-country ski. This revolutionary technology allowed for forward gliding and grip on climbing without the need for the intensive preparation and maintenance required on the previous generation of wooden, waxable cross-country skis.
In addition to the Carson White Award, snowsports journalist Philip Johnson was presented with the Mitch Kaplan Award, an honor that has special meaning to members of NASJA. It annually honors a media professional whose work and dedication best embodies the spirit of NASJA’s late colleague and friend Mitch Kaplan, whose unwavering commitment to bringing the joy of skiing to all is perfectly reflected in Philip’s career-long work. Phil writes a column for the Daily Gazette of Schenectady, was the past president of ESWA and NASJA, and a 2020-21 Hirsch Award winner.
NASJA also honored freelance travel writer and former Aspen Magazine editor-in-chief Cindy Hirschfeld and Boston Herald ski writer Moira McCarthy with the Harold S. Hirsch Awards of Excellence, which recognizes creativity and excellence in editorial and artistic content in both print and broadcast journalism.
Hirschfeld was recognized for a standalone article in 5280 Magazine titled, “Can Steamboat Springs Save the Sport of Nordic Combined?,” while McCarthy was recognized for her recurring “Ski Wednesday” column, which has appeared in the newspaper for more than two decades.
Filmmaker Mark Kristofic was honored with the Hirsch Award in the Images category based on a body of work that includes documentaries on figure skating, hockey, speed skating and soccer, as well as the adventure sports series Ascend, which appears on Outside TV.
In the Hirsch Awards Podcast category, Tom Kelly was recognized for hosting Last Chair: The Ski Utah Podcast, which features storytelling sessions with athletes, resort leaders and icons of snowsports culture.
Emily Summers, senior communications manager at Utah’s Deer Valley resort, was honored with the Bob Gillen Award, which recognizes an individual NASJA corporate member for contributions to the advancement of snowsports and exemplifying the highest standards of professionalism in public relations and communications.
Last but not least, NASJA named a pair of snowsports competitors as co-winners of the Paul Robbins Outstanding Competitor of the Year award, given to North American snowsports participants who have distinguished themselves in amateur or professional competition during the current ski season.
The 2023-24 winners of the Paul Robbins Award are Jessica “Jessie” Diggins, the most accomplished U.S. cross-country skier in history with two World Cup overall titles, three Olympic medals (including a gold), six World Championship medals, and numerous other event championships; and extraordinary Canadian freestyle skier Mikaël Kingsbury, winner of both silver and gold medals in Olympic competition as well as the all-time leader in career World Cup moguls victories, with 87.
“One of the highest responsibilities and greatest pleasures of NASJA affiliation is ensuring that the most important and superlative work of our membership is celebrated not only within our professional community, but also recognized by the greater snowsports public,” said NASJA President Charlie Sanders.
“The excellence demonstrated by this year’s awardees is fully representative of the best that our members deliver year after year in writing, investigating, reporting on, and advancing the issues and ideals of the entire outdoor community.
Sanders continues, “Each winner truly has the right to take pride in this level of peer recognition and achievement, just as the NASJA board and membership may rightfully share in the joy of recognizing the tremendous accomplishments of our colleagues and the athletes we cover. We send our most heartfelt congratulations to all.”
The winners of the Harold S. Hirsch Awards of Excellence were chosen from a pool of nominees by judges Adam White, executive director of communications at the University of Vermont who formerly was a reporter at the Burlington Free Press, worked at Ski Vermont, and was Vail Resorts’ Northeast communications director; and Dave Meeker, editor of Ski Area Management Magazine and former communications manager and marketing director of Mount Snow.
The North American Snowsports Journalists Association presents a number of distinguished awards to NASJA members and outstanding individuals in the snowsports industry.
Created by the founder of the White Stag clothing to promote professionalism in winter sports coverage, the Harold S. Hirsch Awards recognize creativity and excellence in editorial and artistic content in both print and broadcast journalism.
Be sure to check out the story behind the Hirsch awards, written by Honorary Member Vicki Hoefling Andersen. A list of the past winners of the Harold S. Awards can be found here.
Since 1963, the Harold S. Hirsch Award has recognized excellence in snowsports reporting, emphasizing journalistic creativity and editorial or artistic content. The concept for these awards came after the 1960 Winter Olympics from Hirsch, a ski clothing pioneer and founder of White Stag, to promote professionalism in winter sports coverage. Award recipients are chosen by a panel of judges with the highest credentials in the fields of journalism, writing, education, snowsports and visual media.
The Hirsch Awards were revamped in 2018 to better reflect the changes in the ways journalists communicate. Several categories were merged so that words could be judged against words, whether in paper or digital form. Video and photography are judged together in the ‘Images’ category. The ‘Book’ award is given every third year and the competition was opened to all journalists, not just NASJA members.
The 2021 Harold S. Hirsch Award Judges include Mark D. Phillips, a former AP photographer (Images); Marcia Biggs, editor and lead writer for St. Pete Life, (Words); Dana White, a former executive editor of Skiing magazine and senior articles editor at Condé Nast’s Women’s Sports & Fitness.
There are four other NASJA awards that honor individuals in the snowsports field. These are the Mitch Kaplan Award, the Carson White Snowsports Achievement Award, the Bob Gillen Memorial Award, and the Paul Robbins Outstanding Competitor Award. Recent winners are listed below.
