Colorado
Ski And Snowboard Hall of Fame


Hart Axley - 1931
 Inducted into the  Colorado Ski Hall of Fame 1993

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Starting in Madison, Wisconsin at age three on single toe-strap skis, Hart has been involved for more than a half-century with almost all facets of skiing.  A Class A Racer for the University of Wisconsin Hoofers Ski Club in all four events, he was honored by the CUSSA for leadership as Intercollegiate Ski Chairman.  For his leadership of the Badger Ski Patrol, NSPS appointed him National Ski Patrolman #1413.

Moving to Colorado in 1956, Hart patrolled Arapahoe Basin for twenty-nine years, and was a member of three Outstanding Ski Patrols:  Denver Metropolitan Ski Patrol (1959), Olympic Ski Patrol (1960) and Arapahoe Basin Ski Patrol (1977).  Hart and Kenneth Wright were awarded the NSPS Purple Star and ARC Award of Merit for saving a human life. 

As NSPS Front Range Director, Hart was responsible for formation of Ski Patrols at Breckenridge, Squaw Pass, Ski Idlewild, Lake Eldora, Hidden Valley, Loveland Valley, Fun Valley, Indianhead (Geneva Basin) and Vail.  The only six-year Director of the Rocky Mountain Division of NSPS, he instituted Senior Testing and Life Evacuation Training in Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming, and supervised the formation of Ski Patrols at Purgatory, Sunlight and Sierra Blanca.

Hart served as a Director of RMD-USSA nine years, NSPS six years, Mile High ARC First Aid Committee twenty-three years, and was a founding and fifteen-year member of Colorado Search and Rescue Board.  As Assistant National Director of NSPS, he helped start Advanced Ski Patrol Technique Clinics, the Certified Ski Patroller Program, the NSAA-NSPS-USFS Lift Evacuation Committee (he authored the first Lift Evacuation Technical Manual in 1975) and was coach of the Ski Patrol Demonstration Team at the 8th InterSki in Aspen.  Hart crusaded for Colorado skiing and safe skiing, addressing Ski Clubs throughout the midwest and appearing weekly on the Channel 2 Ski Show.  At the 50th Anniversary Celebration of NSPS in 1988, Hart was honored as the 13th recipient of the Minnie Dole Award.


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