DU has a new hall of famer roaming its halls.
Trygve Myhren, chairman of DU’s Board of Trustees, will be inducted into the Colorado Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame at the 34th annual induction gala on Nov. 6.
Each year, roughly 25 individuals are nominated, and five or six of those nominees are voted into the hall by a panel of Hall of Fame members, leaders of Colorado ski areas, resorts and members of the board of the Colorado Ski and Snowboard Museum in Vail, Colo.
“The nominees, and those selected, make up a ‘who’s who’ of individuals who have excelled and contributed to Colorado’s reaching world class status as a place to ski,” says Dean Ericson, a former president of the International Skiing History Association who nominated Myhren for the honor.
Nominees fall in three categories — athlete, sport builder, and inspirational leader. Myhren is being recognized as a sport builder.
Myhren was selected for induction because of his work with disabled skiers and the U.S. Paralympic program.
“I have been involved in skiing all of my life,” says Myhren, who raced on his college ski team and moved to Colorado for “the best skiing in the country.”
Myhren started working with what was then called the U.S. Disabled Ski Team, now called the U.S. Adaptive Ski Team, 16 years ago. Myhren also helped create SkiTAM in 1995, which is an annual cable television industry fundraiser that has raised more than $5 million for disabled athlete training expenses.
“I became very intellectually and emotionally involved with the athletes,” Myhren says. “They are extremely courageous and have great perseverance.”
Myhren also helped form an arrangement between the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) and the United States Ski & Snowboard Association that provided training to the U.S. Paralympic ski team. For his efforts, Myhren was selected to serve as Chef de Mission for the U.S. delegation to the 2006 Paralympic Games in Torino, Italy.
“His contributions to the U.S. Paralympic team — many members of which live and train in Colorado — significantly enhances Colorado’s stellar reputation as a place where disabled skiers can enjoy the sport and the mountains,” Ericson says.
Ericson says the inspiration for nominating Myhren came from seeing firsthand the “game-changing” impact of Myhren’s leadership in starting and supporting SkiTAM; his heartfelt commitment to the athletes, his deep friendships with many of the team members and the fact that many of the Paralympic athletes have won gold, silver and bronze medals in competition.
“They are quite remarkable athletes,” Myhren says. “When it comes down to it, I was asked years ago to help out with young adaptive skiers and in the end, we got terrific results. I feel I got more out of it then I put in.”
Last year, Otto Tschudi (BSBA ’75) — also a board of trustee member — was inducted into the hall of fame.