Maine Ski Hall of Fame Class of 2007

The Maine Ski Hall of Fame, a Division of the Ski Museum of Maine has announced the class of 2007 to be inducted in October. The fifth class to be inducted since the inception of the hall in 2003 includes a pair of Olympic cross country skiers, a lift pioneer, ski area founders, an outstanding college ski coach, a Nordic official, a cross country coach and official and a ski journalist.
The Ski Hall of Fame was created to recognize those skiers who contributed to Maine's rich traditions in the sport. The state has been represented by skiers in every Olympics since 1948 and has over 30 Maine skiers listed as members of the US Ski Team Alumni. The skiers who built Maine's ski industry into a business that adds over $300 million annually to the Maine economy have been recognized nationally and internationally for their work. By recognizing these skiers and documenting their activities through an annual program book including their biographies, the Hall of Fame is creating a permanent record of Maine skiers and their accomplishments.
The 2007 class will be inducted during the annual banquet at Lost Valley, Friday, October 26. The Maine Ski Hall of Fame is a division of the Ski Museum of Maine, which is located on Church Street in Farmington. The 2007 class includes Jim Miller, Win Robbins, Galen Sayward, Mike Thurston, Tom Upham, Dick Bell, Charles Broomhall, Bob Flynn and Dave Irons.

Maine Ski Hall of Fame - Class of 2007

Standing L to R: Jim Miller, Tom Upham, Charles “Slim” Broomhall, Dave Irons, Winston C. “Win” Robbins (accepted by his son Winston Robbins) Seated L to R: Bob Flynn, Galen Sayward, Richard “Dick” Bell (accepted by his daughter Elizabeth Bell-Folsom), Murray W. “Mike” Thurston.

Jim Miller
Miller was one of a long string of Nordic skiers to come out of the Rumford-Mexico area. After excelling in high school, he made All American at Fort Lewis College and went on the US Nordic Combined team in the 1972 Olympics.
Winston "Win" Robbins
While earning his engineering degrees Robbins skied for the University of Maine and captained the team his final year. After serving with the Army Corps of Engineers he turned his skills to ski lifts building T-bars at Black Mt. NH and Sugarloaf. In 1952 he designed, built and erected a double chair at Cranmore. His company designed and built lifts as well as erecting them for other companies until 1964 and he served on the original task force that developed the American National Standard Safety Code for Aerial Passenger Tramways.
Galen Sayward
From competitor to coach Galen Sayward has been involved in successful skiing programs and he has taken that interest to the highest levels in officiating. He was certified as a FIS Technical Delegate and has served as an official at National and International events around the world. He has been recognized with the Fritz Mittelstadt Award as Outstanding Ski Jumping Official in the US and the Al Merrill Award for Excellence in Nordic Officiating.

Murray "Mike"Thurston
Mike Thurston was the driving force in the building of Sunday River, leading a small group of local businessmen who came up with the idea, located the land, and within two years had the first T-bar running in 1959. During his ten years as President Sunday River grew to three T-bars and 5000-foot chairlift. Thurston was the key to keeping the area operating through the sixties and selecting a mountain with the potential to become one of New England's biggest ski resorts.
Tom Upham
Upham was a four-event skier on four state championship ski teams at Edward Little High School, switching to straight Nordic at the University of Colorado. His success led to the US Nordic Combined Team and the 1968 Olympics. Following his competitive career Upham coached at high school, college and US Team levels.
Richard "Dick"Bell
The name Dick Bell can be easily found at Sugarloaf. The ski patrol operates out of the basement of the Dick Bell Chapel and the Dick Bell Cup is one of the Loaf's biggest races. Bell was among the founders of the Sugarloaf Ski Club that built the ski area in the beginning and served on the board of directors. He also contributed greatly to Titcomb Mountain in Farmington and was a director for the Maine Ski Council and the Eastern Amateur Ski Association.
Charles Broomhall
Another of the Broomhall brothers that have been a key part of skiing in the Maine hotbed of Rumford-Mexico, Broomhall was an outstanding Nordic competitor at the state and national levels, winning the National Four Event Championship at Lake Placid among his many victories. In 1964 he was recognized for his contribution to junior skiing by USEASA with the Russell Wilder trophy.
Bob Flynn
This is Bob Flynn's third Hall of Fame. He is a member of the Lewiston Auburn Sports Hall of Fame and the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame for his record coaching both skiing and baseball at Bates College in Lewiston. He has served on numerous committees for NCAA skiing and in 1976 brought the NCAA Championships to Maine with the alpine vents at Sunday River and the Nordic (Still including jumping) at Black Mountain in Rumford. He worked at Bates College for 42 years and has compiled strong records producing many outstanding athletes.
Dave Irons
Irons is recognized as Maine's most prolific ski journalist having broadcast his first ski report on radio in 1960. Since that time a lifetime devoted to skiing includes achieving the highest levels in ski patrolling and promoting the sport through the printed and spoken word. The writing and broadcasting spans more than 40 years, regular ski columns since the early seventies, radio and TV broadcasts through the eighties and nineties, along with numerous magazine and feature assignments, easily totaling over a 1000 pieces on the sport.