USANS Story Project 19-DEC-2015 TOM WEST

TOM WEST President/CEO US Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame

Negaunee, MI

It was a delight to see some notes from Gene Kotlarek who was a great ski jumper back in the 1960’s and was eventually inducted into the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame in 1983.

It must have been very special for him because he was following his father, George Kotlarek who is also a national hall of famer.  George, who encouraged and coached Gene in the early part of his career, had started ski jumping in his hometown of Duluth, Minnesota as a child and by the time he was eleven was able to beat many of the jumpers in his club’s senior class.  He would eventually hold five different National Ski Association titles starting with winning the Boys title in Denver in 1927, the Class “C” and “B” titles and the Class “A” title in Red Wing, Minnesota ten years later.  Following the Second World War he won three national Senior titles concluding his jumping career in 1954.  He was regarded as one of the “greats of American skiing” in his day.  He then went on to guide his son Gene to the Class “A” and Olympic level status.  George was inducted in 1968.

Gene of course went on to encourage skiing and to be involved in the ski industry for years.  He helped start a national ski jumpers reunion every fall at the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame in Ishpeming, Michigan.  The Kotlarek family is special in the history of our sport.