The 2015 Hall of Fame Inductees
Craig Burt (1882-1965)
Craig O. Burt was the majority owner and CEO of the C.E. and F.O. Burt Company and Burt Forests, Inc., located in Stowe, Vermont. He was also a major landowner, forester, and early proponent of skiing in Stowe. He developed Ranch Camp,helped to form the Mount Mansfield Ski Club, which included the first ski patrol in the US, organized Stowe’s first Winter Carnivals (which continue today) and, in 1934, successfully formed the plan for a Stowe-Mansfield Association, which was the precursor of the Stowe Area Association.
In the winter of 1918, Burt and other Stowe businessmen were looking for ways to revitalize the nearly dormant winter economy of Stowe. They started a Winter Carnival that included ski jumping and numerous other activities and events. In the 1930s, Burt and his sons fixed up a primitive lumber camp tucked behind Mt. Mansfield in the Ranch Valley, and began welcoming skiers from near and far. For several years, Ranch Camp as it became known, was the center of skiing activity in Stowe. He was one of the first to see the economic benefits skiing could bring to Vermont. He also had a native Vermonter's appreciation for the wild beauty of the Ranch Valley and that of the Lamoille Valley.
Radio Announcer Lowell Thomas, who did much to popularize skiing in the 1930s and 40s, called Craig Burt "The Maharajah of Stowe." It was a nickname that always embarrassed the otherwise modest Burt. His greatest gift to Vermont came after his death when some 10,000 acres of land was sold to the Nature Conservancy--area that is now preserved for all to enjoy.
Trina Hosmer
Trina B. Hosmer came to the University of Vermont for her Masters program in 1966. At that time very few women were cross country skiing. She first skied in Putney in 1966, and from that first time on snow, she has strived to perfect her kick and glide. She learned quickly, driven by her natural athleticism and drive to succeed. She was also a nationally caliber 1,500 meter runner, and an avid cyclist.
Trina was selected for the First International Women’s US Ski Team, competing in the Nordic World Championships in Vysocke Tatry, Czechoslovakia, in 1970. Trina competed for the United States in the 1972 Sapporo Winter Olympics, the first with women’s cross country events.
While a full time mother and statistical software consultant at UMASS, she continued to race and to share her love of skiing with other women. Trina has won countless medals at Master's Nationals, Master's World Championships. Still a force on the World Master’s race circuit, Trina works closely with the New England Nordic Ski Association (NENSA) to foster cross county programs, and invests herself locally to build a stronger base of women skiers; she is a tireless advocate for Nordic skiing.
Dr. Edgar Holmes
Edgar Holmes III, MD, orthopedic surgeon and principal founder of the Vermont Orthopedic Clinic in Rutland, Vermont, pioneered new techniques in managing ski specific injuries including: ACL reconstruction from open to arthroscopic technique, progressive ski specific rehab and performance training in early post op period after ACL surgery in athletes, and total joint replacement for ski athletes allowing them to return to snow sports.
A competitive athlete himself – an all-military and masters hammer champion, National senior marathon single pro boat canoe champion, and an accomplished downhill and nordic skier, he traveled with US Ski Team as one of the first pool physicians (1976-2007). His also served as team physician for Killington Mountain School, Burke Mountain Academy, Stratton Mountain School, and Green Mountain Valley School and as a US Ski Team doctor at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics.
He graduated from Bates College, served in the army, and got a Masters degree in Geology from Boston University before attending their medical school and coming to the University of Vermont for his residency. He collaborated in forming the iSPORT training center at Killington Medical Clinic in 2001, and he continues to mentor visiting sports medicine doctors in the diagnosis and management of snow sport injuries.
Charlie Lord (1902-1997)
Charles Lord was a native Vermonter, having grown up and going to school in Stowe. During the height of the depression, in 1933, he came to Stowe after leaving the Vermont Highway Department as a civil engineer. He joined the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) as a trail engineer, and by 1938 he was working on designing and building ski trails and recreation facilities throughout northern Vermont. These included what is now the Lord Trail, named in honor of him, at Stowe Mountain Resort on Mt. Mansfield.
Charlie Lord stayed in Stowe through World War II as manager of the Mansfield Chairlift Company, and worked on the mountain for four decades, until 1974. He also worked on mountains across the Green Mountains of Vermont with the CCC, engineering numerous now-famous trails and world class New England ski areas.
Charlie Lord was a civil engineer who studied the mountains of Stowe on foot, and maybe airplane; he laid out and hand drafted topo maps of all the original ski trails, well before anything was computer or mechanically reproduced, (other than actual blueprints). He was an integral part of the small circle of history-making skiers and engineers back in the early forties that transformed Vermont into a winter recreation region.”
He was also an avid and capable skier, holding National Ski Patrol appointment number 61.