DENVER -- Last summer during his class on Colorado history, William Kane noticed something missing.

Absent from Colorado's long list of official symbols, was no mention -- none whatsoever-- of the state sport.

Alaska has mushing, Hawaii has surfing, and Massachusetts has basketball.

But in Colorado, a state known for its outdoor adventures, there was no official state sport to set it apart from the rest of the union.

So Kane did what any 9-year-old should do. He got an idea and called his state representative.

"I told him to gather some petition signatures to make sure there was support for the idea," said State Rep. Gwyn Green, D-Golden.

"A few weeks later he reported back to me that he had 70 signatures. I thought, wow, that is pretty good," Green said.

Monday, Kane's dream reached the state Capitol when he, his family and their entire fourth-grade class from Dennison Elementary School in Lakewood visited the Capitol to watch the vote on the resolution to make skiing and snowboarding the official winter sports of Colorado.

"Skiing and snowboarding are synonymous with Colorado," said Green, a former skier herself. "The sports are a large part of our tourism economy."

Colorado has a long history associated with skiing, which began when the 10th Mountain Division used Camp Hale outside of Leadville as their training grounds in preparation for fighting in the Alps during World War II.

"Skiers and snowboarders alike, usually passionate partisans, supported the House resolution overwhelmingly," said spokeswoman Emily Arell in a news release.

The resolution will be voted on in the Senate in the near future.