Hilaree Nelson was among the most accomplished ski mountaineers and alpinists on the planet. She is well-known for her “firsts” such as summiting and skiing 8,000-meter peaks around the world, notably becoming the first woman to summit two 8,000-meter peaks (Everest and Lhotse) in a 24-hour period. In 2018, Hilaree and her partner Jim Morrison became the first mountaineers to descend the 27,940-foot Lhotse on skis. Hilaree leveraged her platform to bring attention to pertinent issues such as climate change and to empower young girls and women. In 2018, she was a panelist with former Vice President, Al Gore, and international climate change leader and author, Christiana Figueres, at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. She passionately advocated for the protection of wild places and sensible climate policy through work with Protect Our Winters. In 2019, she joined other athletes to testify in front of the Democrats’ Special Committee in Washington, DC urging Congress to act on climate change. She subconsciously and consciously opened doors and changed the rules of equity and access for the next generation. Hilaree was named one of "The Most 25 Adventurous Women of the Past 25 Years" by Men's Journal and one of National Geographic's 2018 “Adventurers of the Year.” Hilaree resided in Telluride. Her two boys Quinn and Grayden were her biggest accomplishment and what she was most proud of in life.
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During John Norton’s career in Crested Butte and Aspen, he made the Colorado ski resorts and communities better. His contributions to marketing programs, special events, terrain expansion, community alliance-building, and the guest experience encouraged other resort leaders to seek out other opportunities and programs to keep pace. John pioneered the opening of extreme terrain in the state, first with the North Face, Phoenix Bowl, and Headwall at Crested Butte and later the Highland Bowl at Aspen Highlands. Among his many accomplishments are pioneering non-stop airline programs, founding the adaptive program at Crested Butte, introducing “ski-free” programs to attract new customers, and convincing Aspen Skiing Company to lift the snowboard ban to develop a four-mountain experience to accommodate all demographics, abilities, and lifestyles. In addition to making snow sports more inclusive and lifting the snowboard ban, John ensured that ESPN’s X Games would stay in the state and be held in Aspen, where they are still held to this day. Skiers and snowboarders in both Crested Butte and Aspen are well-served today because of the long-lived contributions and durable not-for-profit organizations that John helped build. During John’s Aspen tenure, he served on the board of Colorado Ski Country USA and on the Executive Committee of the National Ski Areas Association.
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