Hannah Kearney among New Englanders named to U.S. Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame

Hannah Kearney (Norwich, Vt.), the 2010 Olympic gold medalist in moguls, was named to the Hall of Fame. (Getty Images)

Four individuals with New England ties are among 10 named to the newest class of the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame in Lake Placid, N.Y.

Those from New England include:

• Seven-time Paralympic gold medalist Sarah Billmeier of Yarmouth, Maine
• 2010 Olympic women’s moguls gold medalist Hannah Kearney of Norwich, Vermont
• Longtime Alpine Shop owners Chuck and Jann Perkins of Burlington, Vermont

Billmeier competed in four Paralympics (Albertville, Lillehammer, Nagano, Salt Lake City) and won 13 alpine skiing medals (7 gold, 5 silver, 1 bronze), including at least one gold and one silver from each venue. Of her seven gold medals, three came in the downhill (1992, 1994, 1998), two in the super-G (1994, 2002) and one in the giant slalom (1992) and slalom (1998).

She competed in the LW2 category for those athletes with a single leg amputation, which she had done to her left leg at 5 years old because of cancer.

Billmeier is currently a surgeon at Dartmouth-Hancock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire.

Kearney competed in three Olympics (2006, 2010, 2014) in women’s moguls, winning gold in Vancouver and bronze in Sochi. She won 46 World Cup events from 2003-15 and claimed the overall freestyle title four times (2011, 2012, 2014, 2015) and moguls titles six times (2009, 2011-15). Kearney also eight medals from the Freestyle World Championships, including gold medals in the moguls in 2005 and 2013 and dual moguls in 2015.

She currently lives in Park City, Utah, got married on skis at Jay Peak in April 2022 and gave birth to a daughter in July 2023.

The Perkins duo will be inducted into the Ishpeming, Mich., building that is already named after them following a $1 million donation to the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame Museum. They ran the Alpine Shop on Williston Road in South Burlington from 1963 until 1993 when they passed it on to the next generation.

They have been key contributors to the Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum since its founding in 1988 and its move to Stowe in 2000 and to its current location at the Meeting House in 2002.

Approximately 70 individuals were on the ballot, which was voted on by more than 300 industry advocates during the summer, with athletes needing to be on at least 33 percent of submitted ballots while nonathletes had to be on at least 25 percent to be selected for enshrinement.

The induction ceremony for the Class of 2024 will be held March 29, 2025, in Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid.

The other members of the Class of 2024 include:

• Snowboarder Barrett Christy Cummins of Vail, Colo., who won 11 X Games medals between 1997-2002
  Brothers Denny and Chris Hanson of Midland, Mich., founders of Hanson Ski Boots brought the rear-entry boot to market in 1970.
• Middlebury College alum Greg Lewis of Vail, Color., a ski broadcaster who won a pair of Sports Emmy Awards.
• Freeskiing and skicross pioneer Jimbo Morgan of Truckee, Calif., was also a speed skier at the Albertville Olympic Games.
• Park Smalley of Steamboat Springs, Colo., was the first coach of the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team, and those under his tutelage earned 114 World Cup victories.

Snowboarder Jeff Brushie of Burlington, Vt., was part of last year’s induction class, but was unable to attend the induction ceremony in Park City. He will be included with the incoming class.