Pacific Northwest Ski Association rebrands with new logo

Earlier this year, the Pacific Northwest Ski Association and the Pacific Northwest Ski Education Foundation (the fundraising arm of the Division) assigned a team to rebrand their respective logos to ensure their identity was unifying, clear, and aspiring.

The team’s goal was to retire the indigenous “totem” mark to ensure the divisional logo was not viewed as disparaging out of respect and consideration to Native Americans.

“Having one brand mark for all of our teams that also aligns with U.S. Ski and Snowboard will enable us to create an exciting visual platform for our ski racing community in the Pacific Northwest,” said Karl Wardrop, President of the Pacific Northwest Ski Association.

Aligning on a single iconic mark for the alpine, Nordic and master’s skiers, while uniting the Pacific Northwest Ski Education Foundation within the framework of the Pacific Northwest Ski Association logo, allows for one voice across all respective platforms.

Nordic coach and past Pacific Northwest Foundation board member Vicki Longhini and current president of the Pacific Northwest Ski Education Foundation Kerry Godfrey Scroggins led the rebranding workstream while leveraging input from a variety of Pacific Northwest expert stakeholders to provide insight and perspective into crafting the mark. Team members included Scott Macartney, former U.S. Ski Team member, coaches Zach Hill and Justin Rackley, former Pacific Northwest Ski Association President Curtis Hammond, former Pacific Northwest Ski Education Foundation President Debbie Kray, and Claudia Yamamoto, executive director of the Pacific Northwest Ski Association. Jennifer Simon-Becker, proprietor of Mountain Flower Studios in Belgrade, Montana — a design and consulting firm — developed a variety of iterations before zeroing in on the uniquely crafted “PNW” mark with the unique coniferous tree design.   

On the division’s new logo, Scott Macartney said, “While I grew up racing in the Pacific Northwest where the totem mark represented our PNW Division, I’m really proud of the evolution of our new Divisional mark and this next chapter for our ski racing community.”

The brand guideline debuts the new logo for the Pacific Northwest Ski Association that unites multiple entities within the community, ultimately helping to elevate the division’s presence and impact for the athletes, coaches and fans across North Idaho, Washington, and Oregon.

“Harmonizing the divisional mark across the organization, especially for the Pacific Northwest Ski Education Foundation, will enable our community to better understand the tightly knit affiliation the foundation has in financially supporting athletes and coaches and venues in the Pacific Northwest Ski Association,” Godfrey Scroggins says.

The division asks for patience as it makes the transition to this new logo.

Release courtesy of Pacific Northwest Ski Association.