Josh Nelson, PistenBully
PistenBully New England branch manager Josh Nelson is taking on a new role as SNOWsat sales manager for North America. Nelson will be relocating to Kässbohrer corporate offices in Reno, Nev., and will report to VP of marketing and sales Dennis McGiboney.

Nelson started with Kässbohrer All Terrain Vehicles in 2004 as the BeachTech product line Manager. Later that year, he moved to New England and took the position of PistenBully sales representative. In June 2015, Nelson took over as New England branch manager, and gained experience in installing and implementing the SNOWsat system.

“I think that there is a lot of room for improvement in the efficiency of mountain operations with our customers, and SNOWsat is the perfect tool to start the improvement process,” said Nelson.

Mike Pratt, ORDA
Lake Placid, N.Y., native Mike Pratt has become president and CEO of the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) after serving in an interim role following the retirement of longtime president and CEO Ted Blazer in December. Previously, Pratt was the general manager at ORDA’s Gore Mountain, a position he had held since 1996.

Pratt brings years of ski area operations experience to ORDA, as well as a record for environmental stewardship. Gore, under his leadership, won several awards from the National Ski Areas Association, including the Golden Eagle Award for outstanding environmental achievement for a medium size ski area.

ORDA markets and manages New York State’s three state-owned ski centers—Whiteface, Gore, and Belleayre—plus several Olympics venues around Lake Placid.

Tracy Harper, Sun Valley
Tracy Harper is the new director of The Spa at Sun Valley, a 20,000-square-foot spa, full service salon, and fitness center that opened in 2015.

Harper has more than a decade of management experience in the spa and wellness industry. Most recently, she was the director of spa and recreation at Horseshoe Bay Resort in Texas, where she managed daily spa, fitness, and overall recreation operations. Prior to that, Harper was director of spa and fitness at Hotel Park City in Park City, Utah.

“Tracy’s wealth of knowledge and experience in the spa industry is invaluable for our guests at The Spa at Sun Valley,” said Tim Silva, Sun Valley Resort’s vice president and general manager. “We are thrilled to welcome her to the team and look forward to seeing her thrive.”

"I am delighted to join the Wood River Valley community and to work alongside such a supportive and passionate team at Sun Valley Resort,” said Harper. “I look forward to creating a one-of-a-kind wellness experience for both locals and guests to ensure they return to The Spa at Sun Valley time and time again.”

Colorado Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame, Class of 2017

Diane Boyer
Diane Boyer has been actively promoting skiing for women and families through her company SKEA Ltd., since she became its president, owner, and designer in 1992. She sat on the SIA board of directors from 1998 to 2009, and served as the first female chair of SIA from 2005 to 2007.

Chris Davenport
For the better part of the last decade, Chris Davenport's primary focus has been on backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering, dramatically contributing to the rise and popularity of the current AT backcountry movement. In 2007, he became the first person to ski all 54 of Colorado's 14,000-foot peaks in one year, adding another 46 13,000-foot peaks to the record in 2015.

As a result, Davenport was named National Geographic's Adventurer of the Year. Most recently, he was named one of ESPN's 10 Greatest American Freeskiers of all time and was inducted into the 2015 class of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame.

Chris Diamond
Chris Diamond began his ski industry career in 1972 at Killington, Vt., serving as the assistant to the president. He rose through the ranks and became president of Mount Snow, Vt., in 1977, a position he held until 1999 when he moved to Steamboat to lead the resort as president and COO. Diamond retired from Steamboat in 2015, and has since published a book that details his career, “Ski Inc.”

He is a past chairman of the National Ski Areas Association, and held a similar role with Colorado Ski Country USA for six years. Diamond was recognized by NSAA for his accomplishments when he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013.

Walt Evans
Walt Evans has been involved in Colorado and U.S. ski racing for 46 years until his retirement from the Aspen Valley Ski Club in 2016. From 1978 to 1983, he served as the first executive director for the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club, then went on to work with the United States Ski Association as Alpine Program Director for the Rocky Mountain Division.

In 1997, he became the USSA National Competition Director and helped engineer the National Development System for rising alpine racers. In 2013, USSA honored Evans with the John J. Clair Jr. Award.

Dave Stapleton
Dave Stapleton had a passion for ski sport that evolved from his time as an athlete, coach and official. Along with three other leaders, Stapleton developed and launched a landmark initiative with the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Association to the International Ski Federation that mandated specific standards for alpine course design.

His work in the area of racer safety helped to form many of the practices that are in place today in the ski industry regarding risk management.

Hervé Maneint, Scott Sports
Scott Sports ski and ski boot senior product manager Hervé Maneint died in a skiing accident in Chamonix, France on April 21. Maneint, born in 1961, was hit by a falling rock when skiing with two mountain guides and one more person; he died instantly. Maneint had worked for Scott Sports since 2000.

Scott CEO Beat Zaugg said, “The passing away of Hervé Maneint is a shock for the entire company. We have lost more than just an enthusiastic employee. Hervé lived his profession with an incredible dedication. To him, his job was not work; it was his passion. Hervé was larger than life. He loved his work, his skis, his boots, the sea and the mountains, his family, his wife and his two sons. And he had such a big heart.”