Rocky Mountain High: Is John Denver headed for Colorado Ski & Snowboard Museum Hall of Fame?

Queue up "Rocky Mountain High" for the 2011 Colorado Ski & Snowboard Museum Hall of Fame awards: John Denver (who is on a roll here -- he's also about to be inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame) is among this year's candidates. As his friend and fellow musician...

By Colin Bane

March 15, 2011

[
        {
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size",
          "component": "12017618",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "17242653",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18838239",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17261320",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18838239",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17261321",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        }
      ]

Queue up "Rocky Mountain High" for the 2011 Colorado Ski & Snowboard Museum Hall of Fame awards: John Denver (who is on a roll here -- he's also about to be inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame) is among this year's candidates. As his friend and fellow musician Jim Salestrom notes in his nomination letter, the singer/songwriter was an accomplished skier and helped promote skiing in Colorado through songs like "Downhill Stuff," "I Guess He'd Rather Be In Colorado," and, yes, "Rocky Mountain High" (the 1972 stoner anthem was adopted as a state song of Colorado in 2007). He also helped promote the sport through ABC's Celebrity Professional Skiing Events in Aspen, as seen on Wide World of Sports.

The 140 members of the Colorado Ski & Snowboard Museum's voting panel begin elections today through April 15 to induct four new members into the Hall of Fame. Other candidates include Wolf Creek Ski Patrol founder Charles Elliott, Colorado Mountain College professor Curtis W. Bender, United States Ski & Snowboard Association race official Esther Delli-Quadri, Summit County Nordic Ski coach Gary Giberson, U.S. Adaptive team coach Jon Kreamelmeyer, former Vail ski instructor Thomas Jacobson, Jr., and Tom Jankovsky, general manager at Sunlight Mountain (near Glenwood Springs) for the last 25 years.

In his letter Salestrom notes an obvious Colorado Ski & Snowboard Museum gift shop angle to giving John Denver the award:

"I can guarantee we could add John's musical CDs to sell and maybe even add some video of him skiing to one of your presentations... John's love of skiing and all the parts of a mountain living in Colorado relate to our state's most memorable skiers."

Follow us on Twitter!

KEEP WESTWORD FREE... Since we started Westword, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Denver, and we'd like to keep it that way. Your membership allows us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls. You can support us by joining as a member for as little as $1.