Howard Peterson Inducted into the Ski Hall of Fame

A skier enjoying the legacy Peterson created. Photo: Courtesy of Oliver Schweizer

PARK CITY, Utah. — Howard Peterson recently became the one of the latest inductees into the Intermountain Ski Hall of Fame in the Alf Engen Ski Museum at the Utah Olympic Park.

Connie Nelson, museum executive director since its inception decades ago, wrote, “Peterson was an outspoken and influential contributor to the winter sports landscape of the Intermountain Area. Thousands of athletes and Utah’s Olympic legacy are the better for it. In 1986 he moved the headquarters of the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team to Utah, putting athletes close to major training and competitive venues.”

In addition, he helped heighten the profile of Park City’s America’s Opening World Cup racing extravaganzas during the 1980s. Those events put international race officials on notice that Utah could stage world-class competitions, an important criteria in Salt Lake City being selected to stage the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games of 2002.

“His penchant for encouraging the development of sustainable completion sites led to Soldier Hollow Nordic Center near Heber City, Utah being selected as the biathlon and cross-country venue for the games. Today Soldier Hollow stands as a showpiece Olympic Games legacy, serving as a world-class training facility as well as being popular among recreational skiers and winter and summer tourists. The venue’s sustainability was assured when Peterson established the Soldier Hollow Legacy Foundation and Soldier Hollow Charter School,” Nelson posted on Facebook.

Before retiring as director of the foundation in 2014, Peterson raised $1 million for a skiers’ day lodge to further solidify the venue’s long-term use.

Even in retirement, Peterson kept working for the benefit of athletes, serving in a leadership role with the International Ski Federation (FIS Alpine World Cup Tour) helping the organization nurture the then-fledging Olympic sport of competitive snowboarding.

The accomplishments of Howard Peterson are numerous. So are the legacy venues and winter athletes he helped develop.

Peterson passed away in 2020, leaving a beloved lasting legacy.

Watch a video about how Peterson changed Utah’s ski landscape.