Olympic skier Suzy Chaffee will be honored at the 35th Annual Sportswomen of Colorado Hall of Fame Awards banquet at Denver’s Marriott Tech Center Hotel on March 8. “Suzy deserves the ‘Pioneer Award’ for birthing freestyle skiing, Title 1X and inspiring ski areas to share the joy of skiing with tribal youth,” said Joan Birkland, executive director.
On October 7, 2008, Carrie Holmes, 30, and a team of international skydivers became the first to skydive from above Mount Everest. With oxygen tanks and custom high altitude jumpsuits, the 16-person team broke a world record when they jumped from above the summit and landed in the highest drop zone ever—at 12,350 feet in the nearby village of Syangboche. —As told to Bryn Fox
“I’m so proud of Delaney,” said Olympian Billy Kidd (Abenaki), now Captaining the Native American Olympic Ski Team. “He’s the fastest six-year-old on skis. Four runs means he was consistently fast,” said Kidd, who put Delaney and his grandparents, Kathy and Lou of Pine Ridge, SD, under his wing, including jobs. And the pint-sized phenomenon got coaching at Steamboat’s Winter Sports Club, producer of over 60 Olympians.
“I think it is wonderful that ski areas have been inviting the tribes back to ski and snowboard, which inspired them this winter to share their earth-honoring prayers and snowdances for all U.S. Ski Areas. It would be wise to further explore and expand such cross-fertilization,” said Stanford Climatologist Dr. Stephen Schneider, 2007 Nobel Peace Prize Winner as part of the Intergovernmental Panel for Change Climate (IPCC) team, who has been working with the Native American Olympic Team Foundation.
Graduating Hawaiian and Maori Stanford Fellows and Native American Olympic Team Foundation’s (2nd from left) Dick Enersen and Olympic skier Suzy Chaffee, who have been exploring tribal solutions to “Keep Winters Cool” with Nobel Laureate Dr. Stephen Schneider.)
Telluride, Colorado, April 11 – On Closing Day for Spirit Mountain, Wisconsin, 14 yr old ‘Honor the Earth Princess,’ Mariah Cooper (Lac Courte-Oreille-Oneida), a Native American Olympic Hopeful, led their first Snow Gratitude Ceremony. They joined Steamboat, Telluride, Ascutney (VT) and Arizona Snowbowl in ceremonies expressing appreciation for one of the best American snow years,“ said amazed Olympic skier Suzy “Chaptick” Chaffee, Native Voices Foundation (NVF) sponsor.