Bill Hudson was raised in Squaw Valley, California. An eight year U.S. Ski Team member, national combined champion, x-games silver medalist, and 1988 Olympic Team Member, skiing is in his blood, as his mother (Sally) was also an Olympian (Oslo, 1952). Hudson graduated from North Tahoe High School and attended Dartmouth College. He qualified for the U.S. Ski Team his freshman year and ultimately graduated from the University of Utah. He has worked in the ski industry from 1995 to present, most recently as Executive Director of the Sugar Bowl Ski Team Foundation – overseeing the ski team and academy (a college prep school for skiers). In addition to the High Fives board, Bill is currently the president of the Excellence in Education Foundation, a member of the Far West Ski Association board, and the Tahoe Forest Hospital Leadership Council. Bill lives in Squaw Valley with his wife Kathrin and children Sophia, Bodie, and McCoy.
Born in Truckee, California in November of 1969. Todd Kelly grew up in Tahoe City an Squaw Valley and was picked up by the US Ski Team in 1986 at the age of 15, beginning his professional ski racing career. Kelly raced for the U.S. Team until 1994 with three years spent on the World Cup and a stint as the number one-ranked Super G skier in the U.S. In 1994 he attended college at Sierra Nevada College in Incline Village, racing on a scholarship on their NCSA college ski team and winning the 1994 National Championship in Giant Slalom.
Todd Kelly is currently the Ski & Snowboard Team Manager at Northstar at Tahoe and spends stays busy in the summer with his boat rental business. "The end of this last summer was my 23rd year on Lake Tahoe and I am looking forward to at least 23 more," says Kelly. He and his wife Alexis now have 3 children that are 9, 7 and 6 years old, known as the Truckee wing of the IRA and can be found terrorizing the mountains in the winter and the lakes in the summer.
Kali moved to San Francisco in 2001 from Massachusetts. That first year in the city she discovered Lake Tahoe and decided to focus on really learning to ski. Before that first winter season ended Kali knew she was moving to the mountains. As a social worked she realized her passion for the local lifestyle and skiing. In 2007 Kali found a way to become a member of the community by opening Uncorked at Squaw and then Soupa in 2008. At Squaw she has developed great friendships, successful businesses and a life-long love for the Sierras.
Ryan Lindquist, an Arizona native and Tahoe transplant has been involved with the ski industry for over 15 years. Naturally, Ryan's passion for winter and skiing eventually led him to become more involved in the sport and events, which has now become his main focus. As a Senior Project Manager at Crux Events, Ryan has been involved in every aspect of event management and production. He specializes in overall event production and logistics, client relationships and brand development and implementation. Ryan has played an integral role in the success of many events and marketing projects for companies such as ESPN, Monster Energy, Red Bull, Jeep, and more. Ryan is fired up to be involved with the opportunity to help grow and build the High Fives Foundation and help fellow athletes in need.
J.P. Grew up Racing in the Colorado region under the watchful eye of some of the best in the snow business. Dan Bean and Tim Petrick, from the Aspen Ski Club, taught him how to make strong turns, and mountaineers Lou Dawson and Michael Kennedy brought him into the backcountry.
A year after high school ended, he found himself living and working in the mountains of Japan. “I ended up spending seven years chasing some of the deepest snow on the planet!” He began snowboarding which allowed him to travel around the world for five years as a member of the K2 international team. During this time, he began spending summers working for the camps on Mt. Hood and Whistler. “I had made a ton of friends from my travels that were looking for a place to train in the summer; I put together the Ski camps at the Camp Of Champions in the fall of 1997. It was perfect timing for a lot of the manufacturers, Mike Douglas had his TenEighty project with Salomon, and Jeff Mechura at K2 had a good start with a solid team as well, -big thanks to all of the brand managers that made the freeride leap”
“By this time, I had been homeless, sleeping on people’s couches for twelve years! I needed to start putting some roots down so I moved to Jackson Hole and lived with the fledgling T.G.R. start-up. It was great to be with such a stoked group of locals.”
J.P. ran the catering kitchen, worked as an explosive mule for the Patrol, and spent numerous years on the summer trail crew. He ended up taking the Terrain Park manager position in the winter of 1999. “I had the most experience with building freestyle terrain from my years of digging at summer camps and building features for contests in Japan.”
The job soon became a way for J.P. to give back to the younger generations by providing a consistent venue for them to learn how to progress. “I grew up right when all of the skate parks were being closed and bull-dozed, I wanted to do my part to make sure the parks on the mountains didn’t end up the same way. Some of the original terrain parks were huge, and there was no way to work your way up, great for the established pros, but not if you were just getting started.”
He moved to Tahoe for an opportunity to take over the parks at Sugar Bowl on Donner summit in 2006. “I am really happy with all of the support I have gotten from the mountain and the local community. We work hard to provide a place where you can come and dial in your riding before going to one of the bigger parks in the area.” “I am proud to be a part of the High Fives Organization; we will do our best to give back to an industry that has given us all so much!
Phil Olsen is a cross-Tahoe swimmer, an erstwhile polyglot, a part-time settlement conference judge, a Nevada foreclosure mediator, and the founder and self-appointed captain of Beard Team USA. He has lived full time at Lake Tahoe since the Ford Administration and attended Burning Man before it was popular.
Patrick Rivelli grew up skiing in New York on skinny boards. He finally wised up,
moved to California, and ditched racing for freeride. After spending 18 years starting and running medical device companies, he currently is CEO of UnofficialSquaw.com. UnofficialSquaw.com provides unbiased snow conditions, as well as news and video from Squaw Valley -- and is expanding into ski film, reality TV, and gear. During the Summer, Patrick is often biking or running the trails, or taking Tahoe's worst photographs.
