Freestylers McIntyre, Carmichael lead 2008 National Ski Hall of Fame class

The U.S. Ski Team's Liz McIntyre, Nelson Carmichael, and Cary Adgate, along with a man who set the precedent in American ski mountaineering, Bill Briggs, will be inducted to the 2008 U.S. National Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame of fame in April, according to Hall of Fame President Tom West.
ISHPEMING, Mich. – The U.S. Ski Team's Liz McIntyre, Nelson Carmichael, and Cary Adgate, along with a man who set the precedent in American ski mountaineering, Bill Briggs, will be inducted to the 2008 U.S. National Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame of fame in April, according to Hall of Fame President Tom West.
    Both Olympic medalists, McIntyre and Carmichael will be recognized alongside Adgate, an Olympian who was named 2005 Masters Racer of the Year, and Briggs, who has a collection of famous first descents to his name.
    McIntyre's career spanned 20 years with the U.S. Ski Team, first as an athlete on the freestyle moguls squad from 1986-98, then as the moguls technical coach from 1999-2006.
    As an athlete, the culmination of McIntyre's career came during the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer where she led the qualifying round and went on to take the silver medal. McIntyre also stood on top of the World Cup podium four times (all in Tignes, France) and earned 18 other World Cup top 10s. After taking time off during the 1990 season, she came back with her eye on the Olympics, making the team three times in 1992, '94 and '98.
    Her contributions as the U.S. Ski Team moguls technical coach are outstanding. She coached Olympic medalists Shannon Bahrke, Toby Dawson, and Travis Mayer. In 2003, her athletes Bahrke and Travis Cabral swept the World Cup titles. She helped lead athletes into a new era in the sport when inverted maneuvers were approved for competition after 2002.
    Carmichael, a Steamboat Springs native, jumped into a spot on the U.S. Ski Team straight out of high school in 1984. He struggled during his first couple of seasons, but by 1988 found his mojo and won the World Cup mogul championship. In 1989 he repeated his World Cup championship and then set his sights on the 1992 Olympics in Albertville, France, where he won bronze when freestyle debuted as a sport in the Olympics. During his career with the U.S. Ski Team, he also won six U.S. Championships and 12 World Cup events.
    After the Olympics, Carmichael continued his successful ski career, winning several professional tours and, after retiring from competition, established himself with Steamboat Ski Resort.
    Adgate was a Midwesterner who made his first race turns on Boyne Mountain in Michigan. In 1971 he won the U.S. Junior National Championship at age 17. He joined the U.S. Ski Team in 1973 and in that year won the Can-Am Overall Championship, the Can-Am GS championship and the Roch Cup downhill/overall championship. He earned the U.S. Alpine Championship title in slalom or combined six times, and was a member of the U.S. Olympic team in 1976 and '80.
    Adgate turned to professional skiing in 1981, competing in Bob Beattie's World Pro Skiing Tour. He became the only skier to win back-to-back races in his pro debut, going on to win 25 professional victories and the 1984 U.S. Pro Championships.
    In 2005 he won three U.S. Masters Championship events and was named Ski Racing Magazine's 2005 Masters Racer of the Year. He currently is Boyne USA Resorts' Snowsports Ambassador and mentors several racing programs.
    Briggs was a pioneer first-descent skier and is considered a leader of American ski mountaineering. He started his professional ski career as a fully certified instructor in 1955 and founded the Bill Brigg's Ski School at Suicide Six Ski Area near Woodstock, Vermont in 1958.
    With three companions, he made the first 100-mile traverse from the Bugaboos to Rogers Pass, BC in 1958. He made a series of first-ski-descents from Mount Rainer in 1961, Middle and South Teton in 1967, Mount Moran in 1968 and, most famously, the Grand Teton in 1971.
    He founded the Great American Ski School, which models his own ski teaching ideology and technique. His system established the Certainty Training Method (CTM) for ski instructors and he still holds the position of director at the Snow King Ski School in Jackson, Wyoming.
    The U.S. National Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame's Class of 2008 was selected by an independent selection committee of ski professionals, historians, and writers chaired by Paul Bousquet and voted on by a national panel.
    The official induction of the four members of the class of 2008 will take place in Park City in April 2009, with an enshrinement in Ispheming in September 2009.
    The U.S. National Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame and Museum is dedicated to honoring America's skiing and snowboarding professionals, pioneers and athletes. The museum houses one of the largest collections of skis and snow sport related memorabilia in the United States.