Dear Fans of Willi,    Please contact Jesse Grierson, Willi's nephew,  jessejamesgrierson@gmail.com,  who will regroup to give Willi's earned and deserved recognition, for any information, stories, photos, artifacts... you may have to support Willi.  It is very important that Willi's friends, peers, colleagues, customers, suppliers, admirers,  give Will this support now.   Time is getting shorter for all of us.  Thank you.    

Enjoy:    Will video

Response on July 11, 2024, from 

The Canadian Ski Hall of Fame
Temple de la renommeé du ski canadien

Celine Szoges Schwartz Box 5411 Park Lane Thornbury, Ontario N0H 2P0

Sent via email.  

Dear Celine,

I’m writing to inform you that your nomination of Wilhelm Winkels for the Canadian Ski Hall of Fame did not go forward for consideration this year.

At the beginning of the selection process each year, our committee does an initial assessment to screen nominations before they proceed to a thorough evaluation and voting. Due to the absence of any new information, the committee unanimously agreed that your nomination was unlikely to result in a different outcome from last year.

Accordingly, I am writing this letter, hoping it will help you pursue the information needed for us to conduct a fair and thorough evaluation for the Class of 2025. Next spring’s intake period will be the third and final chance for Wilhelm to be considered a carry forward nominee.

The Selection Committee has a rigorous process to review candidate accomplishments and contributions supporting the growth and development of snow sports in Canada. In doing so, we seek to verify and corroborate the claims made in each nomination to confirm that the information is factual and meets the criteria for selection.

Your nomination of Wilhelm focuses a great deal on skateboarding. There is a considerable amount of information available on the internet, along with named sources in the links you have provided, that would be very favourable toward any award or recognition in skateboarding.

However, the information concerning Wilhelm’s contributions specifically to snowboarding is more limited, anecdotal, and very regional to the Collingwood area. 

This is where we need you to provide more information. Letters of support and/or other sources that would verify Wilhelm’s influence on the development of snowboarding and his impact as being of national or international significance would be very helpful.

For example, the Tom Sims references are great, but we need others close to Tom and Wilhelm to fill in the story of their relationship and collaboration and how this may have been pivotal in the growth and development of Sims snowboards.

Other information supporting Wilhelm’s contributions to the development of snowboard bindings and pioneering snowboard instruction could also be relevant to his legacy on a broader scale.

The intake period for Class of 2025 new nominations or additional information for carry forward nominations will be open in the early spring of next year. So, there is time to do the necessary research.

We love Willy’s story, but we need you to address the specific criteria as outlined in the Nominations Information on the website. I suggest you review that once again. I am also available to answer questions if you would like to discuss.

Again, I hope this helps. Best regards,

Chris Robinson
Chair, Selection Committee Canadian Ski Hall of Fame

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 www.skimuseum.ca