THE PROLIFIC WORDSMITH GARY BLACK

He gained global respect for his insightful sport coverage, focus on athletes and his role with the International Ski Federation, using his editorial voice to push for positive change in the sport.

Black was born in 1941 into a newspaper family, and followed his father’s footsteps at the Baltimore Sun before a financial career in San Francisco. As a young man he traveled the world, hopscotching countries, including a stint on the ski patrol in Portillo, Chile.

His passion for skiing came from his mother, Catherine, an avid outdoorswoman. Black never took to racing, but spent weekends on the slopes teaching skiing at Maryland’s Oregon Ridge during college.

industry to notice that there was, indeed, a need for women’s-specific equipment.

Basich and Dunn also designed the Prom and Tuesday outerwear brands, bringing technical women’s apparel to the snowboard world.

Her most memorable career moment was at the 1998 Winter X Games where she shocked the snowboarding scene by landing the first 720 backside rotation, which opened a new era of progression.

After breaking her leg in 1999, she downshifted her competitive career and focused on riding powder. She pioneered big mountain riding, making first descents in Alaska and leading film crews to the biggest lines any snowboarder was doing at the time.

In 2003 HarperCollins published her autobiography, "Pretty Good for a Girl," telling her story of perseverance and the challenges of rising in a male-dominated sport.

From feature stories to cover shots, in media around the globe, she told the story of snowboarding from a woman’s perspective. She appeared on national television from MTV to NBC, and even the silver screen. Her all-girls action sports show GKA on Fuel ran 40 episodes.

Over the nearly four decades since she first strapped into a snowboard, Basich has remained a relevant and vital pioneer in snowboarding.

COURTESY OF U.S. SKI & SNOWBOARD HALL OF FAME

A lifelong adventurer and newspaperman, Gary Black’s more than three-decade stewardship of Ski Racing International magazine began in 1984 and played a pivotal role in the growth of the sport of ski racing internationally.

He brought that love of skiing to his own family, taking the kids every weekend to Wisp where he was easily the strongest skier on the ski patrol. During school holidays, the family packed the car for drives up to Sugarbush in Vermont, which would later become his home.

In 1984, he followed his love for ski racing and acquired Ski Racing International. His passion for the sport, combined with his vast knowledge on media publishing, helped enrich the magazine. In its heyday, Ski Racing published 20 editions each year including the annual Redbook, a yearbook on the sport.

Growing up a journalist, Black saw the need to establish global credibility for his new acquisition. He focused on building relationships with the global sport community, forging alliances with World Cup founder Serge Lang and the Association of International Ski Journalists. He established a formidable presence with Ski Racing at the 1985 FIS Alpine Ski World Championships in Italy to build the magazine’s brand.

What most drove him, though, were the people in the sport. An affable and friendly character with a distinctive laugh that often echoed through press centers, he became a friend to all.

He served a key role as a trustee of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team Foundation. He eventually made Sun Valley his home, serving on the board of the Sun Valley Ski Education foundation and was instrumental in starting the Sun Valley Ski Academy. But the affiliation with which he took special pride was his more than 50 years as a member of Austria’s Ski Club Arlberg.

U.S. Ski & Snowboard recognized Black in 2003 with its John Clair Award for his support of the U.S. Ski Team. In 2005, he was acknowledged with the Russell Wilder Award for contribution to youth. In 2008, he received the Julius Blegen Award, the highest honor for service to sport. In 2017 he received lifetime achievement awards from the AIJS international journalists’ association and the International Skiing History Association.