Duffy & O'Brien Win Golden Ski Award

PARK CITY, UT (April 20, 2015) – After impressive season-ending results at U.S. Alpine Championships, Nina O’Brien (Edwards, CO – National Training Group; Burke Mountain Academy) and Drew Duffy (Warren, VT – Green Mountain Valley School), an U.S. Ski Team invitee, have been selected by the North American Snowsports Journalists Association-East Region (NASJA-East) as this year’s winners of the Don A. Metivier Golden Ski Award. This annual award is given to the most promising male and female junior alpine racers in the east. O’Brien and Duffy will be presented with their awards at the New England Ski Museum’s annual spring reception on Friday, June 12 from 5 to 7 p.m. in Franconia, N.H.

O'Brien skis to first place at the 2015 Nature Valley U.S. Alpine Championships at Sugarloaf, ME.

The 2014-15 ski season was a stellar one for O’Brien as consistency was the name of her game. She started out strong with wins at Passo Rolle, Italy in early January, and took the slalom title at the U18 National Junior Championships at Copper Mountain in February. Her successful season culminated in late March by winning the U.S. Alpine Championship giant slalom title at Sugarloaf. She followed that up in April with impressive second-place finishes in both GS and slalom at FIS races in Vail.

Duffy had a rockier start to the 2014-15 season, recording a number of DNFs, as skiing on the edge can do. He finished ninth in a December NorAm super G in Panorama, B.C. and 16th in the FIS World Junior Championships super G at Hafjell, Norway. Then things started to come together for him. He won the U.S. Alpine National Championship super G title in March at Sugarloaf—shocking the crowd from starting position 30—and followed that up in April with a fifth in the super G at Sunday River FIS races. He then placed first in the super G and second in downhill at end-of-the-season FIS races in Aspen.

The Golden Ski Award has been presented to the top junior male and female skiers in the east since 1969—the year after the modern World Cup circuit scoring system started. Many of the Golden Ski winners have gone on to World Cup and Olympic fame, including Tyler Palmer and Mikaela Shiffrin. In 1975, the actual Golden Ski trophy was “lost,” but in 2007, the New England Ski Museum was donated some artifacts, and in that donation was the original Golden Ski Award. ESWA revitalized the honor and named it in memory of long-time snowsports journalist Don A. Metivier, former editor of Ski Racing.

“The Golden Ski Award is the oldest honor given to junior alpine ski racers that exists today,” says Jim Gregory, Chair of the NASJA-East Golden Ski Award Committee. “We are proud this year to honor Nina O’Brien and Drew Duffy, two extraordinary athletes, and we look forward to watching them pursue their goals and set the bar even higher in the sport we all love so much.” The Golden Ski Award is underwritten by the generous support of Doyle & Doyle Communications and K2 Skis.

PREVIOUS GOLDEN SKI AWARD WINNERS

1969         Tyler Palmer, Karen Middleton
1970         Charles Bent, Karen Middleton
1971         Rod Taylor, Judy McNealus
1972         Laurent Gaudin, Jody Palmer
1973         Jerry McNealus, No female winner
1974         No award
1975         Scott Light, Holly Flanders
1976-2007 Award Lost
2008         Bump Heldman, Julia Ford
2009         Nolan Kasper, Julia Ford
2010         Ryan Cochran-Siegle, Julia Ford
2011         Ryan Cochran-Siegle, Mikaela Shiffrin
2012         Ryan Cochran-Siegle, Mikaela Shiffrin
2013         Kieffer Christianson, Mikaela Shiffrin
2014         Sam Morse, Alice Merryweather