Sandy Shellworth Hildner
Diverse trailblazer extraordinaire, Sandy trained with the University of Colorado (CU) Men’s Ski Team before there was a women’s ski team. Inspiring women athletes, she won National Championships, the Roch Cup in 1967, and raced Olympic downhill in 1968. Sandy was the first woman Olympian from CU. Sandy innovated Lange boots and was one of only two women in the ski hard goods industry in the 1960s. She became the Director of the Lange prototype shop in Broomfield. While there, Sandy served on the U.S. Olympic Committee's Athletes Advisory Committee, representing the sport of skiing, and - representing the Lange Company - on the ski equipment manufacturers' advisory group, set up to govern their sponsorship pool for the U.S. Ski Team. Sandy was the first female coach of the Winter Park Ski Team (1974-1977), embedding world-class skiing techniques and the mental preparation necessary to excel at the highest levels. Sandy was a principal guide for the Copper Mountain’s Over the Hill Gang for 21 seasons (until 2009) and was instrumental in offering women’s clinics. Off the slopes, Sandy helped bring art commissions to fruition, with her friend the renowned sculptor Susan Grant Raymond. The resulting bronze statues, “Uplift” at Lionshead Plaza, Vail and “Military Mountaineers” at Fort Drum, New York pay tribute to skiing and the 10th Mountain Division.