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.