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Two prominent figures in Utah's 2002 Winter Olympic and Paralympic experience have been inducted into the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame.
Earl Holding, who developed Snowbasin ski area into the venue for the Games' high-speed Alpine ski races and also spent $180 million to build Grand America Hotel in downtown Salt Lake City, was honored Saturday along with Muffy Davis, a Park City resident who teamed with Chris Waddell to light the caldron kicking off the Paralympics for athletes with disabilities.
They were among six ski legends inducted into the Hall of Fame in Sun Valley, the Idaho resort also owned by Holding. The ceremony capped a weeklong celebration of the 75th anniversary of Sun Valley's founding as the country's first major ski resort.
A Salt Lake City native and West High School graduate, the 84-year-old Holding was listed last month by Forbes magazine as the 101st richest man in the United States, worth an estimated $3.1 billion.
Holding initially made his fortune in the oil and hotel businesses as the owner of Sinclair Oil and Little America Hotel. He entered the ski industry with his 1977 purchase of Sun Valley, which he revitalized with the installation of seven detachable quad lifts, a massive snow-making system, the construction of new lodges and the planting of 7,000 trees.
He later purchased little Snowbasin resort above Ogden. With the help of a controversial, congressionally orchestrated land exchange with the U.S. Forest Service, Holding transformed Snowbasin into the venue where the men's and women's downhill, combined and Super G races were contested during the 2002 Olympics. All of the Alpine races in the Paralympics took place there, as well.
To play host to the Olympics, Salt Lake City also needed a luxury hotel that would serve as the International Olympic Committee's headquarters during the Games. Holding fulfilled that need with the construction of the Grand America. But after the Olympic bribery scandal compelled the IOC to eschew lavish surroundings and to move its headquarters across Main Street to Holding's Little America Hotel, the Grand America became home to NBC's massive contingent at the 2002 Winter Games.
Davis grew up racing at Sun Valley until a 1989 accident left her paralyzed below the waist. Six years later, she attended an adaptive skiing camp run by Hall of Famer Sarah Will and returned to competitive skiing.
Her honors included a World Championship gold medal in 2000, back-to-back World Cup overall titles in 2000 and 2001, and four Paralympic medals (including three silvers in Salt Lake City).
Since then, Davis also made the first wheelchair ascents of Mount Shasta in California and Pikes Peak in Colorado. She is a development officer at the University of Utah Health Sciences Rehabilitation Center and a motivational speaker.
Also entering the Hall of Fame were former Olympic ski racers Daron Rahlves and Bobby Cochran, ski-film legend Glen Plake and late big-mountain skier Shane McConÂkey.
Snowbasin discount
Snowbasin has reduced lift tickets to $54 for the rest of the season, which ends April 17. Holders of season passes to other Utah resorts can get $12 off if they show pass, I.D.