BY KAREN BOSSICK

One built Sun Valley Resort and another created its ice skating legacy.

One set the world speed record on skis while another built Sun Valley’s backcountry yurt program.

Others coached Sun Valley youth as they learned to negotiate quarter-inch skate blades and four-inch wide skis.

Eight men and women who have contributed to Sun Valley’s rich snow sports heritage will be inducted into the Sun Valley Winter Sports Hall of Fame, recently renamed to encompass sports other than skiing and snowboarding.

This year’s inductees are Graham Anderson, Dick Dorworth, Sonya Dunfield, Averell Harriman, Bob Jonas, Doran Key, Herman Maricich and Jim Savaria.

They will be honored during an induction ceremony at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 24, in the Lecture Hall of Ketchum’s Community Library.

“The accomplishments of this year’s inductees take your breath away!” said Mary Tyson, director of Regional History at the library. “The ceremony is a meaningful way for the community to honor these remarkable individuals.”

• GRAHAM ANDERSON, an insurance executive, not only sold insurance to ski resorts but helped develop safety programs for the ski industry. Inducted into the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame in 1984, he sat on FIS, the governing body of international alpine competition, for 25 years. He also sat on the Alpine Executive Competition Committee during the years the Super G,breakaway poles and the reverse order for the second run was introduced to competition. He also served on the board of the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation.
• DICK DORWORTH set the speed record on skis when he zoomed straight away down a Portillo, Chile, run at 107 miles per hour in 1963. He also has penned many magazine articles about the magic of skiing, eventually compiling them into the book “The Perfect Turn,” which was awarded the Ullr Award during the annual gathering of the International Skiing History Association in 2011.
• SONYA KLOPFER DUNFIELD, a two-time World medalist figure skater and the 1951 U.S. National champion, competed in the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo. She also helped coach figure skating at Sun Valley for many years.

  At 15 she became the youngest to win the U.S. senior ladies championship until Tara Lipinski won it in 1997 at age 14. Named after Sonya Henie, she was inducted into the US. Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2009 and was awarded the Professional Skaters Association’s Shulman Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1982. 

• AVERELL HARRIMAN created Sun Valley Resort as America’s first destination ski resort in 1936 as chairman of the Union Pacific Railroad. A member of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame, he also tasked engineers with designing what was the world’s first ski lift. He initiated ski racing at Sun Valley by starting the Harriman Cup race in 1937.
• BOB JONAS was among the early pioneers in the local backcountry ski industry, establishing five backcountry yurts near Sun Valley in the 1980s and ‘90s. An author of a book on skiing, he also co-founded the Wood River Nordic and Backcountry Skiers Alliance of Idaho in 1998. That organization helped initiate the Winter Snow Pact, which paved the way for collaboration between skiers and snowmobilers in the Sun Valley area and went on to win a Spirit of Idaho Award.
• DORAN KEY, a beloved coach in the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation for more than 30 years, was awarded the SVSEF Jack Simpson Dedicated Coaches Award in 2009. She also has been involved in Kindercup as the Head D Team Coach.
• HERMAN MARICICH not only headed up the Sun Valley Skating School for many years but started the indoor ice rink in 1975 and was instrumental in making Sun Valley a year-round ice skating facility. He also created the Sun Valley on ice shows, which still bring in some of the top names in figure skating every summer.
• JIM SAVARIA not only co-founded the Sun valley Ski Education Foundation but served as a coach with the organization for many years, coaching Olympians and others. He taught kids at Rotarun ski area when the rope tow was installed in the 1950s and he worked to develop safety protocols for the ski patrol.

Thirteen people were nominated for this year’s induction. Those who were not chosen by the library board’s Regional History Committee, will be added to the next nomination list. Inductees were selected based on they way they demonstrated excellence in their sport and gave back to the sport or community in some way.