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NASJA RECOGNIZES EXCELLENCE IN SNOWSPORTS MEDIA AND COMPETITION
Seth Masia wins Carson White Snowsports Achievement Award;
American X-C Skier and Biathlete Jake Adicoff Wins Competitor of the Year
ESSEX, Massachusetts (July 9, 2025) – The North American Snowsports Journalists Association (NASJA), founded over 60 years ago, today honored excellence in snowsports media and competition with its highest awards. Some 102 active snowsports professionals and corporate communicators voted online to recognize their peers in the “Oscars” of snowsports journalism.
Award recipients were announced on July 8, 2025, during a Zoom ceremony emceed by board vice president and extreme skiing pioneer Dan Egan.
“The 2025 NASJA awards recognize North America’s top snowsports journalists as well as the industry leaders and athletes who inspire their outstanding writing, podcasting, and photography,” said NASJA President Bob Curley.
The winners are:
Seth Masia
Carson White Snowsports Achievement Award
Seth Masia, president of the International Skiing History Association (skiinghistory.org), received NASJA’s highest honor, bestowed to an individual or individuals who have made a significant contribution to the advancement of snowsports in North America, either achieved with a single, defining accomplishment or through a lifetime of snowsports endeavors.
In 1974, Masia joined the staff of Ski magazine at an influential time, becoming a senior editor, technical editor, head of ski testing, and editing Ski Business and Cross-Country Skiing magazines. Around the same time, he became a ski instructor at the former Squaw Valley and ended up a Level 3 instructor at Snowmass.
Masia recently retired from teaching skiing at Snowmass and is living sustainably in Paonia, Colorado. In 2023 he was elected to the Colorado Snowsports Hall of Fame.
Carson White was the first president of the U.S. Ski Writers Association, NASJA’s predecessor organization.
Jake Adicoff
Paul Robbins Outstanding Competitor of the Year
American cross-country skier and biathlete Jake Adicoff, a two-time Paralympian and 2018 Paralympics gold medalist in the 10K cross country competition, was honored by NASJA with the Paul Robbins Outstanding Competitor of the Year Award.
Recent past winners of the Paul Robbins Award were stand-out competitors Jessie Diggins, Lindsey Jacobellis, Ted Ligety, Mikaela Shiffrin, and Maggie Voisin. The award is named in memory of the late Paul Robbins, who spent 30 years as the primary journalist for the U.S. Ski Team.
The Harold S. Hirsch Awards
The Harold S. Hirsch Awards recognizes excellence in writing, photography, and podcasting among NASJA’s active journalist members. The 2025 honorees are:
Words, Recurring: Moira McCarthy, “Ski Wednesday” column, Boston Herald
Words, Stand-alone: Lisa Ballard, “The Big Why,” Adirondack Explorer
Words, Stand-alone (Honorable mention): Josh Laskin, “Can Backcountry Skiing Survive in the Northeast?”, The New York Times.
Photo: Bob Legasa
Images: Bob Legasa, Chatter Creek “Pillow Line,” taken in the backcountry of Golden, British Columbia.
Podcasts: Stuart Winchester, The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast, #179, interview with Snow Angel Foundation Co-Founders Chauncy and Kelli Johnson (stormskiing.com)
Podcasts (Honorable Mention): Nicole Feliciano, The Ski Moms, Tori Collins Teach Your Children episode (theskimoms.co).
The Hirsch Awards are named for Harold S. Hirsch, founder of White Stag Skiwear, who was elected to the U.S. National Ski Hall of Fame in 1990.
Other Honorees
Bob Gillen Memorial Award: Honoree Hugh Johnson, Smugglers’ Notch Resort’s snow reporter, has provided the daily snow conditions as well as a local’s perspective of the Smuggs world for nearly 30 years, including writing and providing images for the daily “Hugh’s Views” column (now “Views from the Notch”), updating local media, and lending his distinctive voice to both the snow report and on-mountain activities.
The Gillen recognizes achievements in snowsports public relations and communications. It is named for the late Bob Gillen, former Ski magazine editor and marketer at Crested Butte and Sugarbush resorts, and a staunch ally of NASJA.
Mitch Kaplan Award: Honoree Iseult Devlin is a former NASJA president andskiing columnist for the Bergen (New Jersey) Record. The award is named for the journalist whose work best captures the spirit, enthusiasm and dedication that the late NASJA member Mitch Kaplan brought to the coverage of snowsports. Kaplan was a former NASJA Secretary-Treasurer and multiple Harold S. Hirsch Award winner.
Judges for the 2025 awards were:
Nancy Marshall, who previously worked as Director of Communications at Sugarloaf in Maine, until she launched her agency, Marshall Communications in 1991. She said of the awards, “The winners in this competition were without a doubt of extremely high quality, which will make an impact on the sport overall. Images, stories, and podcasts promoting the beauty and desirability of snowsports as a way of life will only help attract more participants to guarantee a healthy future.”
Dave Meeker, the editor for Ski Area Management (SAM) magazine, the B2B resource for the North American ski industry. Prior to joining SAM nearly 10 years ago, he was the communications manager and then marketing director at Mount Snow, Vermont.
Meeker commented, “Ski journalists have historically been talented storytellers, and that remains true today as evidenced by the strong entries we received for this year’s NASJA awards. Congratulations to the winners, and here’s to everyone who contributes to elevating the craft of ski journalism.”
The third judge was Adam White, executive director of communications at the University of Vermont. White was formerly the sports editor and snowsports multimedia reporter at the Burlington Free Press, served as communications director for the Vermont Ski Areas Association (Ski Vermont), and was the Northeast director of communications and marketing for Vail Resorts.
White commented, “Creating world-class content is a process that, like skiing, is fueled by passion and enthusiasm, a true labor of love. This year’s recipients of the Harold S. Hirsch Awards show a true love for the mountains, winter, and snow that shines through in their words and images.”
About NASJA
The North American Snowsports Journalists Association (NASJA) is a professional group of press and corporate members. Press members include writers, photographers and other communicators who report on ski, snowboard and Nordic related news, information and features via various media outlets. Corporate members include media contacts or employees of ski resorts, convention and visitor associations, manufacturers and others who have a commercial interest in the journalistic coverage of winter sports.
NASJA is committed to encouraging and increasing diversity and inclusivity in snowsports, and welcomes these unique perspectives and experiences, since clearly, the winter playgrounds are for everyone. Learn more at: nasja.org
Media Contact: Bob Curley, NASJA president, curleybob@gmail.com, 401-222-9604.
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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.
