Throwback Thursday #2 

The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games, were celebrated in Lillehammer, Norway. Lillehammer’s city centre is a late 19th-century concentration of wooden houses and enjoys a picturesque location overlooking lake Josa and the river Lagen. In 2016, it will host the Winter Youth Olympics. The Lillehammer Olympics are still to this day considered one of the greatest Winter Games ever by sport specialists and Olympic officials.

You may recall that after repeated Olympic frustration since 1988, American speed skater Dan Jansen finally won a gold medal in 1994, setting a world record in the men’s 1000 m. (1:12.43) in his last Winter Olympic race and a fitting tribute to his sister. Also, in a thrilling performance American Tommy Moe won Olympic gold in the downhill; not finished, he went for more, winning a silver medal in the Super-G on his birthday four days later. With this impressive feat, Moe cemented his place in history, becoming the first US Alpine skier to win two medals in the same Olympics. Heat Factory played a small part in the American’s success in Lillehammer by providing warmers and other accessories to the U.S. Ski Team that year.

After the Olympics, Moe decided it was time to hang up his ski boots. Now that he has the time, he plans to explore. An outdoorsman at heart, he says the mountains have always been a big part of his life. Highly skilled at reading the rivers of Alaska, Moe co-owns Class V Whitewater- a rafting and kayaking guide service. And let’s not ignore those prominent peaks in the back-country around Girdwood where he also co-owns Chugach Powder Guides, a heli-skiing operation nestled in the Camelot of the big fat deep.

We hope Heat Factory continues to fit prominently into his future as a guide and outdoorsman. To this day, the photograph above is framed in our office and admired by all of our staff.