Summit County

Two Wasatch Back locals inducted into Intermountain Ski Hall of Fame

KPCW | By Leslie Thatcher

Published August 29, 2023 at 4:41 PM MDT

Ted Ligety (L) and Ruff Patterson (R) were inducted into the Intermountain Ski Hall of Fame class of 2023.

Park City native and alpine champion Ted Ligety and Midway resident Ruff Patterson, who spent most of his career coaching on the east coast, were inducted into the Intermountain Ski Hall of Fame last week.

This was the 21st year for the Intermountain Ski Hall of Fame and Ted Ligety, Russ Patterson and the family of Butch Hoffman were recently honored at the event at the Chateaux at Silver Lake.

Ligety competed in four Olympic Games and won two gold medals. He also won five golds competing in seven Alpine Ski World Championships. He went on to win the World Cup Giant Slalom crystal globe five times and took the overall globe once. Even though he has retired from ski racing, he told KPCW it was an honor to be recognized at this point in his career.

“It's a huge honor for sure. Being only 39 years old, I wasn't thinking that I'd be inducted into a Hall of Fame anytime soon,” Ligety said. “So, thinking of being a 10-year-old kid in Dar’s group on Park City Ski Team and growing up on the Park City Ski Team and not being one of the best and being inducted to the Hall of Fame, it's a true honor. I didn't think these kinds of honors would come for a while but to have it happen so quickly after my career is very, very nice.”

Ligety is the founder ofShred – a goggle and helmet company – which keeps him busy along with raising three children with his wife Mia.

Ted Ligety holding the plaque that will be installed at the Alf Engen Ski Musuem in the Intermountain Ski Hall of Fame.

Ruff Patterson grew up as an alpine skier in Sun Valley, Idaho, but kept getting injured. He turned to cross country and raced in college with the team winning the NCAA championships every year of his undergraduate career (1973 - 1976).

“I ended up going to University of Colorado, was a competitor but never a top end racer, but it became a passion,” Patterson said. “And then somehow, I ended up coaching in Sun Valley. I ended up with the US Ski Team for 10 years. And heaven forbid 27 years at Dartmouth College back east. When I first went there, I'm going, ‘No way I'm going to last,’ because of the bugs and humidity, but grew to love the area.”

Once he retired, he moved to Utah to be close to family.

Ruff Patterson speaks to the crowd upon his induction to the Intermountain Ski Hall of Fame.

Butch Hoffman, the third inductee, etched his place in ski history at Utah’s Snowbasin and Nordic Valley ski areas. He became a coach in 1969 and helped organize the Ogden Valley Winter Sports Foundation in 1983. Hoffman passed away in 2021. His wife, and three children accepted the award on his behalf.

The children of Butch Hoffman accepted the award on their father's behalf.