From Sunlight to super-G: McKennis Duran named member of Colorado Snowsports Hall of Fame class
Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times
Skiing has taken Glenwood Springs native — via New Castle — Alice McKennis Duran global.
Her unwavering dedication to the sport has unlocked countless doors, including representing the United States as both an Olympian and World Cup competitor. On Sept. 27, Duran will add to her resume.
The Colorado Snowsports Museum and Hall of Fame on Tuesday announced their 2025 Hall of Fame class, with Duran among the inductees.
Duran learned to ski at Sunlight Mountain Ski Resort. After quickly finding how much love and joy the simple sport of skiing can provide, she was instantly hooked and proved to not let anything stand in between her and her dreams.
“Duran is a former World Cup alpine ski racer who specialized in the speed events of downhill and super-G,” a Colorado Snowsports Museum news release states. “She represented the United States in two Olympics, placing fifth in downhill in 2018. She also won a World Cup downhill race in 2013. After retiring from competitive skiing in 2021, she has served as a coach and mentor at Ski & Snowboard Club Vail. She continues to be a positive role model for young skiers.”
Duran is one of five people to be honored with the selection in 2025, an accomplishment only 200 people through 50 years can claim.
The Colorado Snowsports Museum and Hall of Fame set out to exemplify those who were instrumental in the continuing story of the Colorado Snowsports industry — no matter if it’s an athlete, a pioneer, a builder, or a symbol, the museum’s website states.
“On behalf of the Colorado Snowsports Hall of Fame, we are very pleased to announce the Class of 2025, featuring three remarkable and diverse Colorado athletes and two extraordinary sport builders,” Bill Tomcich, board member of the Colorado Snowsports Museum and Chairman of the Hall of Fame Committee, said in the release. “Each person comes from a unique area of Colorado and illustrates the fact that Colorado as a whole leads the way in snowsports.”
The induction ceremony will be held on Sept. 27 at the Vilar Performing Arts Center in Vail. For more information about the 2025 class, or to purchase tickets to the induction ceremony, visit snowsportsmuseum.org/hall-of-fame.
New COVID variant presence unknown in Pitkin County as cases rise
It is unknown whether the newest COVID-19 variant NB.1.8.1, also known by the nickname “razor throat” for one of its defining symptoms, is present in Pitkin County as local summer cases increase.
Nearly 500,000 pounds of concrete dropped by helicopter for new Snowmass lift
Helicopters shouldn’t fly. That would be the takeaway if one was faced with a multi-ton Black Hawk — known by its owners as “The Lorax” — hovering overhead with 4,000 pounds of concrete in its grasp, its blades kicking up 35-mile-per hour winds and turning an otherwise pleasant summer morning into a violent, stick-ensued dust bowl.
