Press Release presented by the New England Ski Museum

Each season the New England Ski Museum presents this award to the most promising male and female junior alpine racers in the Eastern US. The awards will be presented at a reception held at the New England Ski Museum at New Hampshire’s Cannon Mountain, Friday, June 7th, from 5 to 7pm.

Annika Hunt

This is Annika’s second Golden Ski Award. The Park City, Utah native led the Eastern women’s group in SkillsQuest Fitness Testing, posting one of the highest scores in the nation. Early in the season, Annika was selected to Team USA for the Youth Olympic Games in South Korea.

In preparation, she began the racing season at Nor-Ams in Colorado, with a string of top-10 finishes in DH, SG, and GS, and multiple top-15 finishes in SL. These performances qualified her for the World Junior Championships, a huge accomplishment for an U18 skier. Unfortunately, a crash at the Youth Olympic Games, prevented her from competing at the World Junior Championships.

After recovery, in February, she added top-15 Nor-Am results, then won two FIS events back-to-back. At the US Alpine National Championships, she achieved an 8th place in SG and 11th place in SL – Quite an  accomplishment, especially for an U18 competitor. Annika qualified objectively for a spot with the National Development Group, missing a nomination to the US Ski Team by the narrowest of margins. She’ll continue competing next season with Burke Mountain Academy.

Harper Sargent

Harper had a breakout season in 2024, starting when he joined the National Development Group at several projects. As a result, he became one of the best junior ski racers in the entire country. Harper passed SkillsQuest Fitness in the fall with flying colors. He opened the racing season with career-best FIS point scores at regional races at Sugarloaf, Maine.

After more training, he went to Europe with the NDG to participate alongside the men’s D-Team in some upper level FIS events. While there, he finished multiple times in the top-10 as the top American finisher, and scored career-best FIS points – something we don’t often see with our athletes competing in Europe.

Following that, he arrived at the U18 National Championships in Jackson Hole and led the East with a 2nd place in GS and 5th place in SL. Harper’s excellent results has qualified him for a full time spot with the National Development Group for the 2025 season.

The Eastern Ski Writers Golden Ski Award

The Golden Ski Award has been presented to the top junior male and female alpine skiers in the East since 1969, the year after the modern World Cup circuit started. Many of the Golden Ski winners have gone on to World Cup and Olympic gold as well. In 1975, the Golden Ski was “lost.” In 2007, the New England Ski Museum was given some artifacts, and in that donation was the original Golden Ski. ESWA revitalized the honor.

“The Golden Ski Award is the oldest honor given to junior alpine ski racers that exists today,” says Jim Gregory, Chair, of the New England Ski Museum’s Golden Ski Award Committee.

He continued, “We are proud this year to honor Annika Hunt for the second time, and Harper Sargent, two extraordinary athletes. We look forward to watching them pursue their goals and set the bar even higher in the sport we all love so much.”

Previous Golden Ski Award Winners

1969: Tyler Palmer, Karen Middleton

1970: Charles Bent, Karen Middleton

1971: Rod Taylor, Judy McNealus

1972: Laurent Gaudin, Jody Palmer 

1973: Jerry McNealus, No female winner

1974: No award

1975: Scott Light, Holly Flanders

1976-2007: Award Lost

2008: Bump Heldman, Julia Ford

2009: Nolan Kasper, Julia Ford

2010: Ryan Cochran-Siegle, Julia Ford

2011: Ryan Cochran-Siegle, Mikaela Shiffrin

2012: Ryan Cochran-Siegle, Mikaela Shiffrin

2013: Kieffer Christianson, Mikaela Shiffrin

2014: Sam Morse, Alice Merryweather

2015: Drew Duffy, Nina O’Brien

2016: Ben Ritchie, Cecily Decker

2017: George Steffey, Patricia Mangan

2018: Jimmy Krupka, Abigail Jewett

2019: Ben Ritchie, Claire Thomas

2020: Ben Ritchie, Zoe Zimmermann

2021: Ben Ritchie, Ava Sunshine Jemison

2022: John Kerbaugh, Ava Sunshine Jemison

2023: Jay Poulter, Annika Hunt