Established in 1965, Team Duluth, formerly known as the Duluth Alpine Club (DAC), is celebrating 60 years dedicated to introducing alpine skiing as a life-long sport. During the 2025-26 season, Team Duluth will showcase some of the club members who’ve left a lasting impact on Team Duluth.

Dean Keller began skiing when he was three-years old. He joined the Duluth Alpine Club in the late 1960s while it was still based at Mont du Lac, and raced with DAC for nearly ten-years. Keller noted his coaches, specifically Scott “Race” Ransom and George Hovland, and friend, Lee Hovland, as highlights with the DAC.

Keller’s list of alpine racing highlights is long and impressive; it includes skiing the World Cup, Europa Cup, being a bronze medalist at the World University Games, NCAA Slalom Champion, and winning multiple Junior Olympic medals.

Keller left Superior, Wisc., to race with the Ski Club Vail for two years before he attended Burke Mountain Academy in East Burke, Vt. Graduating from BMA in 1983, Keller was then a member of the U.S. Ski Team’s Development Team and C Team from 1982-1986.

Keller attended the University of Vermont from 1986-1989. During this time, the four-time first-team All-American, won an individual national title in the slalom in 1988 and helped Vermont earn the NCAA title in 1989.  As a senior at UVM, he was named first-team Academic All-District and second-team Academic All-American by GTE and CoSIDA.

When asked if there is an accomplishment Keller was most proud of from this time, he said “during his NCAA career he finished every NCAA Championship event and was in the top five in seven out of eight championship races, and in the other, he placed sixth.”

As a result of his efforts, Keller was also awarded an NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship which he used to attend the University of Pennsylvania Law School in Philadelphia. In 1999, Keller was inducted into the University of Vermont Athletic Hall of Fame.

Keller is a life-long supporter of individual racers seeking World Cup opportunities. He currently splits his time between New York City and Iron River, Wisc.