Thom Weisel of San Francisco, CA is one of eight star-studded skiing athletes and sports supporters to be inducted into this year’s US Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame’s Class of 2017. The induction will take place in April 2018 in Olympic Valley, CA, where the 1960 Olympic Games took place.

Thom Weisel’s passionate support in both fundraising and leadership for over four decades helped the US Ski Team bring home more than 200 Olympic and World Championship medals. Weisel is also a longtime supporter of the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation, of which his son Kipling Weisel is an alumnus. Kipling is also a current member of the US Alpine Ski Team.

A native of Milwaukee, WI, Weisel has been passionate about skiing since his days as a rising business star in San Francisco. In addition to his longtime support of the US Ski Team, Weisel is also a pioneer financier in Silicon Valley.

In 1977, Weisel became a key supporter of the new US Ski Educational Foundation. Since then, he has provided both financial and leadership support for hundreds of Olympic skiers and snowboarders.

From 1983-84, Weisel was the Ski Team Foundation’s chairman. He helped raise tens of millions of dollars to support both the team and US Ski and Snowboard Association programs.

In 1988, Weisel was instrumental in the consolidation of the US Ski Team’s Foundation and the US Ski Association to create a centralized organization to manage ski sport in the US. He has been involved with the USSA for 35 years and was recognized with the USSA’s highest honor, the Julius Blegen Award, in 1999.

In 2011, the US Olympic Committee honored Weisel with the George Steinbrenner Award.

As one of the most influential leaders in the USSA, Weisel has also had a huge impact via the accumulation of a network of supporters from the highest levels of US business. Weisel’s work resulted in the recruitment of over 100 trustees.

Weisel himself is also an athlete. He was a five-time national skating champion in the 1950s. He was a bronze medalist in alpine skiing at the US Masters. In the realm of his other passion, cycling, Weisel was a three-time world champion in Master’s cycling and a five-time national Master’s cycling champion.

“Thom Weisel’s unwavering passion for athletics has directly benefitted our athletes for nearly four decades,” said former US Ski and Snowboard Association CEO and President Bill Marolt. “His vision, as well as an amazing ability to draw focus and persevere to achieve a goal, has been a key component in our athletes’ ability to become best in the world in their sport.”

According to Olympic alpine skiing champion Phil Mahre, “Thom Weisel has a passion for the sport of skiing and has always been a huge supporter of the US Ski Team. During my career, every World Cup race that Thom attended, I was victorious.”

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