The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame announced its newest class of inductees today, and among them are three Paralympians: Chris Waddell, Sarah Will, and Jack Benedick. They are the first three adaptive skiers to enter the Hall of Fame since the late Diana Golden was honored in 1997.

"Chris Waddell and Sarah Will were model athletes,” said USSA president and CEO Bill Marolt. “Not only did they have the perseverance and drive to accomplish great athletic goals, but both have given back to their sport their entire careers. It was an honor to work with them as members of the U.S. Adaptive Ski Team."

"Jack Benedick was an amazing pioneer and really singlehandedly helped build the adaptive skiing program,” added Marolt. “His early efforts were a big part of the strength of the Paralympics today."

Joining Waddell, Will, and Benedick is legendary ski writer, U.S. Ski Team press officer, and “man in the Scottish tam” Paul Robbins, who died suddenly on February 23, 2008, while covering that weekend's ski races.

"Paul Robbins left a lasting impact on ski racing,” said Marolt. “His wit, charm and beret were Paul's trademark. But his vast knowledge and tireless work ethic were instrumental in telling our story for three decades."

Rounding out the Hall of Fame Class of 2009 are writer and instructor Stu Campbell, extreme skier Doug Coombs, the “father of southern skiing” Sepp Kober, and ski jumper Ansten Samuelstuen.

Chris Waddell, 41, was a ski racer at Middlebury College when a skiing accident in 1988 left him paralyzed from the waist down. He took up adaptive skiing and over the course of his 11-year tenure with the U.S. Adaptive Ski Team, won 12 medals at four Paralympic Games, including sweeping the gold medals at the Lillihammer 1994 Paralympics.

“It’s a great time to be humble,” said Waddell, noting that the honor came “out of the blue.”

“To think of all the great skiers and all the people whom I’ve looked up to as heroes,” he added, “and to think that in some way, I might be that person for somebody else, it’s an acknowledgement of something that almost feels out-of-body for me and almost feels about somebody else.”

Waddell also competed in three Paralympic Summer Games, winning a silver medal in Sydney in 2000 in the 200-meter wheelchair event.

The Park City, Utah, resident has been a charismatic promoter for adaptive skiing and was a prominent ambassador for the Salt Lake City Games in 2002. Most recently, Waddell made headlines for his successful climb of Mount Kilimanjaro in September 2009. It was a first for a paraplegic. He has over 200 hours of video footage and is currently trying to raise funds to produce a documentary film of the climb.

Sarah Will, 44, was also paralyzed in a skiing accident in 1988. Shortly after her accident, she read Hall of Famer Hal O’Leary’s book

 on adaptive skiing and started to train at Winter Park. Within three years, she won gold medals in the downhill and super G at the Albertville 1992 Paralympic Games. Over the next decade, she added 12 more Paralympic gold medals to her collection, and like Chris Waddell, she too swept the gold medals at the Paralympics, this time at the Salt Lake City 2002 Paralympics.

She once said: "It's not a disability, it's an ability. You can go out and do anything you want to do, but you have to be the one that makes that decision. You can learn a lot from other people, but you just have to go out there and do it yourself."

With Waddell she started an adaptive skiing program at Vail and was recently named to the United States Olympic Hall of Fame. In 2004, Will was also inducted into the Colorado Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame. Will lives near Vail in Edwards, Colorado.

Jack Benedick, 66, a double leg amputee from the Vietnam War, took up adaptive skiing when the sport was still in its infancy. He was named to the loosely organized U.S. Adaptive Ski Team in 1979 and competed in the 1980 Paralympics, where he scored three top-five finishes. At the 1984 Paralympics in Innsbruck, he capped his competitive career with a silver medal in combined.

After retiring as an athlete, Benedick worked to raise the prominence of adaptive skiing and the Paralympics. He worked hard with the USSA to create a U.S. Adaptive Ski Team and lobbied the FIS to accept adaptive skiing.

In 2006, the International Paralympic Committee recognized him with presentation of the Paralympic Order. Benedick lives in Golden, Colorado.

The Class of 2009 brings the total number of Hall of Fame honorees to 368. They will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in Colorado on April 9, 2010. They will also be honored in September by ceremonies in Ishpeming, Michigan, home to the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame.