In 1964, Jerry Simon met Harry Leonard and joined Ski Shows as director of executive sales and attendance promoter. The “Harry and Jerry” snow sports builders’ alliance was born. Simon met Barbara Alley in 1968 and started her career in ski fashion shows and promotions. He then married her in 1970 on the peak of Jackson Hole Ski Resort.

In the early 1970’s, Simon recognized the need for mechanical training for ski shop technicians and developed a multi-city touring program called the “Skiing Mechanics’ and Managers’ Workshop”, with the best of inventive gurus as faculty. It was a major contribution to skiing safety, teaching binding adjustment, ski tuning, boot fitting and more. The program continues to this day according to the Snowsports Industry Association.

In 1974, Simon created the International Ski Film Festival, a brilliant solution to showcase only the best ski movies while heightening media interest and to attract sponsorship for the Ski Shows theatre as well as for the festival. In 1994, a glass skier statuette was created to award to the winners. It was named the “Jerry” and to ski & snowboard film makers it was there Oscar.

In 1976, Simon started a springtime tour of ski travel trade shows called SkiGroup, a forum which soon proved to be an enormous revenue builder for ski resorts, as the shows joined resort marketing directors with ski clubs, travel agents and meeting planners to book the coming season. The one night shows started in eight cities and soon expanded to become a 30 city selling blitz. SkiGroup thrived for 25 years.

Simon was awarded the Order of the Tyrolean Eagle by the Austrian National Tourist Office for the creation of SkiGroup, which played a vital role in marketing the entire palette of ski programs in Austria’s Tyrol to American Skiers.

Throughout the 1980’s, Simon and his wife created a ski fashion show titled “What’s New in SkiWear.” It toured morning talk shows and made national appearances on the Merv Griffen and Today Show. In 1989, Simon came up with the idea of Skiwear Design Awards for Snow Country magazine.

Career Highlights:

1988: Order of the Tyrolean Eagle by the Austrian National Tourist Office for SkiGroup
1990-91: Bill Mackey Award by the Far West Ski Association for SkiGroup assistance
1994: One of 16 Founders of Skiing/USA awarded to both Simon and Harry Leonard
2004: BEWI Award from Bernie Weichsel for Outstanding Contribution to the Sport of Skiing
2005: Carson White Golden Quill Award to both Simon and Leonard form the North American Snowsports Journalist Association for “Outstanding Contributions to the Advancement of Snowsports” for Ski Shows/ Expo Winter.
2008: Snowsports Builder Award to both Simon and Leonard from the Far West Ski Association for Ski Shows
2011: The new SK and Snowboard Film Institute, under the umbrella of the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame, named its Snow 100 Filmmaker awards the “Jerry” in honor of Simon