Taking into account a unique situation, the Committee decided to treat identical twin trick skiers Britt and Tawn Larsen as a single entry as had been done for the U.S. Hall of Fame in 2007. The selection rules limit the number of places to be filled in the hall every two years to five, and for the first time since the award?s inception in 1989 all of the inductees were elected as Skiers. In all previous ceremonies the categories of Officials and Pioneers were represented by at least one individual.
The inductees for 2009 are as follows:
Andrea (Bubu) Alessi, Italy, skied in nine World Championships winning seven medals including three in overall and the gold medal in jumping in 1993.
Tory Baggiano, U.S.A., skied in five World Championships in the trick event, winning it in 1993 and placing third in 1987. He set World trick records in 1990 and 1991.
Susi Graham (McCormick), Canada, skied in nine World Championships earning four medals, all in the slalom event. She set four World slalom records and held the record continuously from 1993-1996.
Britt Larsen (Kovak) and Tawn Larsen (Hahn), U.S.A. Between them the Larsen twins skied in seven World Championships in the trick event winning six gold, three silver, and two bronze medals, effectively dominating the event for a dozen years. Tawn held the World trick record from 1988-1999.
Kaye Thurlow (Faulkner), Australia, skied in five World Championships from 1967 to 1975 earning a total of eight medals, three in tricks, three in jumping and two in overall.
All of the skiers have been contacted, and five have stated that they will be attending the ceremonies in Calgary to accept their awards. Kaye Thurlow is still hoping to make arrangements to attend but is unconfirmed at this time.