The Far West Ski Association (FWSA) is honored to announce that the recipient of the 2026 Western Ski Heritage Award is Seth Masia, President of the International Skiing History Association. The award will be presented at the annual Awards Banquet on June 13, as part of SkiCon 2026, at the San Diego Marriott Mission Valley, California. This award recognizes the best effort to find, preserve, document and share the history of skiing in the west. Seth Masia has a 58-year career as a ski writer and historian, ski instructor and environmentalist. His lifetime efforts in preserving shared snowsports history has reached beyond the west, to a worldwide audience.
Seth’s lifelong dedication to skiing began in the summer of 1968 when he was hitchhiking around in Europe and went to Chamonix to do some climbing. He rented some old wooden skis and leather boots, went up to the glacier, and got hooked on skiing. After receiving a BA Degree in 1970 from the University of Chicago, Masia moved to Colorado and got a job at a start-up ski area called Stagecoach.
Arriving in New York several years later, he was invited to join the staff of Ski Magazine. He was a key editor and writer, covering equipment, racing, travel and environmental issues. His work was published regularly in Outside, Backpacker and The New York Times. He was also the managing editor of Cross Country Ski Magazine.
His work took him around the world to ski, where he could see glaciers melting, so he started writing about climate change in 1989. He received a Master’s Degree in Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado/Boulder, and went to work for the American Solar Energy Society and editor of the magazine, Solar Today. It led to a parallel career documenting and promoting the rise of renewable energy. He later served as executive director of ASES.
In 1994 he returned to Ski as general manager/online products and pioneered online ski journalism, as manager of the award-winning website “SkiNet.” He was recruited as a website producer by Microsoft Corporation, then worked at Intrawest as Director of Internet Strategy. Seth has managed ISHA’s website since shortly after it was launched by Mort Lund, and in 2004 he received the ISHA Cyber Award for this work.
Seth has taught skiing since 1984, at Squaw Valley, Vail and Snowmass, and has served on the board of