LAKEWOOD, Colo., May 11, 2001 - On Thursday, May 10, the National Ski
Areas Association (NSAA) presented the Sherman Adams Award to Herman Dupre,
whose family owns Seven Springs Mountain Resort in Champion, Pennsylvania.
| The presentation occurred at the
National Ski Areas Association's national convention and trade show that
is being held at the La Quinta Resort in Palm Desert, California.
The Sherman Adams Award was established 25 years ago and is named after
the former governor of New Hampshire and Loon Mountain founder who was
an avid supporter of the ski industry. The award is presented |
Herman Dupre
|
annually to an individual from the eastern United States who has significantly
influenced and contributed to the ski industry. Herman Dupre served
as chief executive officer of Seven Springs Mountain Resort for 40 years,
prior to his retirement in 1992.
| The 5,500-acre resort is situated
in the Laurel Highlands of southwestern Pennsylvania, about an hour's drive
from Pittsburgh. Under Dupre's ownership and management, the resort
has installed three quad-chairs, seven triple chairs, two and six rope-tows
for a maximum lift capacity of 23,400 skiers/snowboarders per hour.
Night skiing can be enjoyed on 80 percent of its slopes and trails.
The mountain hosted nearly a half million - skiers / snowboarder days this
season. In addition, the property offers a year-round convention
center and lodging in its 10-story, high-rise hotel, chalets, condominiums,
cabins and other accommodations. Facilities and activities at the
resort include an 18-hole mountaintop golf course, a dozen tennis courts,
an alpine slide, mini-golf, bowling lanes, swimming pools, horseback riding
and a variety of recreational activities and programs for kids.
The story of Seven Springs dates back to the early 1930s when Adolph
Dupre, Herman's father who arrived in the United States from Bavaria, Germany,
several years earlier, worked as a groundskeeper on a Pittsburgh businessman's |
|
Past Sherman Adams Award Recipients
2001 Herman Dupre � Seven Springs Mountain Resort, Pennsylvania
2000 Tim and Diane Mueller � Owners of Okemo Mountain
Resort, Vermont
1999 David L. Cleary - Cleary Shahi Associates, Rutland,
Vermont
1998 Leslie B. Otten - American Skiing Company, Bethel,
Maine
1997 Phillip C. Camp - New England Ski Areas Council
(NESAC)
1996 Channing Murdock - Butternut Basin, Mass.
1995 Irvin Naylor - Snow Time, Inc. (Ski Liberty, Pa.,
Ski Roundtop, Pa.,Ski Windham, N.Y.)
1994 Alan Fletcher - Nashoba Valley Ski Area, Mass.
1993 Phil Gravink - Attitash Ski Resort, Bartlett, N.H.
1992 Jim Branch - Sno.engineering, Littleton, N.H.
1991 Award not presented
1990 Cal Conniff - National Ski Areas Association
1989 Sel Hannah - Franconia, N.H.
1988 Tom Corcoran - Waterville Valley, N.H.
1987 Bob Paron - Whiteface, N.Y.
1986 Victor Hall - Hall Ski Lift Company, N.Y.
1985 Preston Smith - Killington, Vt.
1984 Emo Heinrich - Stratton Mountain, Vt.
1983 Jack Murphy - Sugarbush, Vt.
1982 Izzy and Orville Slutzky - Hunter Mountain, N.Y.
1981 Ruth Brown - Snow Basin, Mass.
1980 Sepp Ruschp - Mt. Mansfield/Stowe, Vt.
1979 Amos Winter - Sugarloaf Mountain, Maine
1978 Walt Schoenknecht - Mount Snow, Vt. and Mohawk Mountain,Conn.
1977 Bill Norton - Cannon Mountain, N.H.
1976 Dave Judson - Otis Ridge, Mass.
1975 Sherman Adams � Loon Mountain, N.H. |
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estate. Adolph purchased 2.5 acres of land for $13, which was their
entire savings. Years later, Adolph's wife, Helen, convinced Adolph
to build a mechanical rope tow, powered by an old Packard automobile engine
that was held stationary on wooden blocks. It was the first rope
tow outside
Vermont and by 1935, winter enthusiasts with wooden plank skis and leather
bindings traversed the Seven Springs slopes.
In 1955, Adolph Dupre died and Herman Dupre, a lieutenant aboard
a U.S. Coast Guard Cutter in Alaska, was called home. At age 22,
he inherited the presidency of Seven Springs and its two rope tows.
A year later, he bought a Poma lift and added floodlights and music for
night skiing.
Herman Dupre is also known as the "father of snowmaking," according
to his industry peers. He holds 34 U.S. patents, many of which relate
to the HKD snowmaking system. He is the chief engineer for Snow Economics,
Inc., and his system is now sold worldwide. His new Backyard Blizzard
home system based on the HKD concept became available in the winter of
2000 and sales are booming. Seven Springs Mountain Resort boasts
of having one of the largest snowmaking systems in the world.
Dupre resides at Seven Springs year-round with his wife, Sis, and they
have nine grown daughters.
The National Ski Areas Association serves as the trade association
for the ski area owners and operators. The association began in 1962
and is located in Lakewood, Colorado. |
