2015 Ski Hall of Fame

Sigi Klein was born in 1935 in the Black Forest of Germany where he started skiing at age four. By age 20, he was competing in cross-country and ski jumping events. He decided to see what life was like in North America and moved to Canada in 1956 to be a ski instructor. After spending winters teaching in Canada, California and Colorado, Sigi was enticed to come to instruct at the fledgling Red River Ski Area in 1963. He was one of 3 full-time instructors that first winter and intended to leave in the spring. His plans changed when J. B. Veale, the ski area’s owner at the time, discovered that Sigi had carpentry skills and asked him to stay and build the first Ski Tip restaurant over the summer. Sigi was instrumental in starting the first junior race program in 1963 and was the Red River Ski Area’s ski school director from 1965 to 1970. He met his wife Martha early on, and they were married in 1965 and had three children, Melanie, Katherine and Sigi. In 1970, he moved to Denver to start a construction company commuting back and forth to Red River. He built structures in Aspen and Denver all through the 1970s and ‘80s when there was not much growth in Red River. Returning to home in the ‘90s, Sigi started building speculative houses and other buildings in Red River. Klein has been a major influence in the development of the Red River Ski School, as well as developing the teaching progression used in the United States. Sigi has taught people of all ages to ski and enjoy the winter sport over his 6o plus years of teaching and was named Ski New Mexico’s “Ski Instructor of the Year” for the 2012-2013 ski season and has maintained his certification with the Professional Ski Instructors of America for over 50 years.