George Hovland

George Hovland, Jr. (June 10, 1926 – May 9, 2021) was an American cross-country skier who had been competing since the 1950s. He represented the United States at the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo. Hovland was a four-time Central USSA four-event champion (jumping, cross-country, slalom, and downhill) and completed every American Birkebeiner, with the exception of the first one, until 2012, completing his 33rd at age 85.^[1] He was the age group winner approximately twelve times. He was the age group champion for National Alpine NASTAR seven times and was the first non-European to complete the Swedish 90 kilometer Vasaloppet. Hovland was first came up with the idea for the Spirit Mountain Ski Area;^[2] he was also involved with Snowflake Nordic Ski Center in Duluth, Minnesota, and the Northshore Inline Marathon. He also owned the Ski Kenwood (Duluth) and Mont du Lac (Wisconsin) ski areas.