The 2012 Hall of Fame Inductees

Jake Burton Carpenter

Snowboarding has changed a lot in the past year, let alone in the past 35 years since Jake founded Burton Snowboards. One thing has stayed constant during all that time: Jake still leads the day-to-day workings of the world's most successful snowboard company, testing nearly every product Burton makes and taking rider feedback to heart. He is still relentless when it comes to listening to riders—whether it's feedback from the team, a customer email, or a kid who happens to sit with him in the gondola. He still walks Burton's halls almost every day, saying hi to the dogs along the way and seeing what's up with his co-workers. He still has team riders over to his house for a four-day roundtable to give the final word on the entire product line. He still scrutinizes the catalog before it goes to print and leaves product managers note cards with feedback on zippers, waterproofing, fits, flexes, colors, and feel. He still can be found at Stowe almost every day it's open (and plenty of days it's not) hiking for early and late season turns. And he still makes many of the company's biggest decisions from a chairlift, not a desk.

Donna Carpenter

Donna Carpenter and her husband Jake Burton Carpenter are the sole owners of Burton Snowboards, the world's leading snowboard company. Donna and Jake also own Burton's family of boardsports brands, which includes Channel Islands Surfboards, ANON Optics, RED, The Program, Analog Clothing and Gravis Footwear.

Since 1982, Donna has held a multitude of roles at Burton, which originally operated out of her Vermont barn and now has offices in Vermont, Japan, Austria, California and Australia. During the past three decades, she has built snowboards, answered phones, expanded Burton's market to Europe and held the CFO position.

Now, Donna has taken on even more responsibilities as the President of Burton, assuming leadership of the company's international business as well as its global human resources. Donna is also heading up the non-profit Chill Foundation, which she and Jake founded back in 1995 to bring snowboarding to youth who otherwise wouldn't have the opportunity. In addition, Donna continues to oversee all efforts to ensure that Burton is an employer and brand of choice for women. Through Donna's leadership, Burton established new women's marketing, product and creative initiatives to drive the women's business and created internal programs that focus on retaining and promoting women.

On top of all this, Donna snowboards and spends time with her three sons and Jake as much as possible.

Charles Minot "Minnie" Dole (1899-1976)

Dole originally from Massachusetts, learned to ski with the Boy Scouts. Dole broke his ankle in 1936 while skiing in the rain on Stowe's Toll Road; his friends found a piece of corrugated tin, large enough for his leg, so he could push himself down the mountain. Two months after Dole's accident, Frank Edson was killed in a ski accident. On March 7, 1938, Dole met National Ski Association president Roger Langley again in Stowe where Dole had come to help the Mount Mansfield Ski Club patrollers prepare for the National Races. Langley and Dole discussed a national ski patrol association, and Dole agreed to chair the National Ski Patrol Committee of the National Ski Association. Dole founded the Patrol on knowledge and incentive – pressing people to keep up with first aid and rescue work. After getting the NSP running, Dole proposed the 10th Mountain Division, an elite Army division trained in mountain warfare and survival that fought in World War II. Dole continued as head of the National Ski Patrol System until 1950 at which point there were 4,000 members serving 300 ski patrols. In 1941-42, he reported 89 local patrols and 1500 registered patrolmen. Today, the organization is made up of more than 27,000 members serving over 600 patrols, including alpine, Nordic, and auxiliary patrollers. NSP still adheres to the creed of "Service and Safety" established by Dole and his advisors and is still dedicated to serving the public and outdoor recreation industry by providing education and accreditation to emergency care and safety service providers.