May 19, 2010 (Jackson, N.H.) – Thom Perkins, Jackson, N.H., was honored by the New Hampshire ski industry at its annual spring meeting at Attitash on May 18.  Perkins received the Al Merrill Award for outstanding contributions to cross country skiing in the State of New Hampshire.  In receiving the Al Merrill Award, which is named after a revered Dartmouth cross country ski coach – the dean of cross-country skiing at Dartmouth College – who in many ways shaped the cross country ski industry in New Hampshire, Perkins commented, “I am both honored and overwhelmed to receive this award.  Al was a good friend both to me and to cross country skiing.  I am pleased to accept this award from my peers in the industry.”

Perkins, the executive director of the Jackson Ski Touring Foundation since 1976, has shepherded the touring center from the “crunchy era” of wool knickers and wooden skis into its current position as a world-class competitive venue grafted onto a lifestyle destination resort community that is situated in an authentic ski town, or as Perkins terms it, “a village that is all about cross country skiing.”

Jackson quickly became one of North America’s top cross country ski destinations due to a fortunate combination of snow, trails and enthusiastic restaurant and lodging entrepreneurs, and Perkins has worked tirelessly for more than three decades with landowners, the U.S. Forest Service,  local businesses and a dedicated staff to maintain Jackson’s eminent position as a resource for local residents and a magnet for x-c vacationers on a regional, national, and, increasingly, international level.  By continuing to expand and improve upon the trails, snow grooming and developing an extraordinary candid and respectful rapport with the touring center’s clientele, Perkins has kept Jackson “fresh” and vibrant.

An early adopter of the internet, Perkins corresponds with thousands of club members and potential skiers each week via his useful and truthfully enthusiastic email notes. Not afraid to mix the virtual marketing with some “old school” marketing, Perkins also personally conducts a weekly ski waxing clinics, entitled “Thom’s Amazing Wax Clinics,” in which the “amazement” factor is the de-mystifying of ski waxing into some basic pointers that work for virtually all snow conditions.

Perkins invites interested skiers and ski industry professionals to visit Jackson and immerse themselves in the Nordic-centric village experience during the winter months. “There is an inescapable energy in Jackson that just makes Nordic skiing feel like the thing one wants to do,”  Perkins said, “In every direction there is a ski trail that invites you onto the snow, into the woods, across a meadow. Once people have experienced skiing here, they want to come back with their family, their friends, and it makes our circle bigger each year.”