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Patroller retires after 4 decades on Aspens slopes |
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Tuesday, December 06, 2011 07:38 |
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Gene Clausen takes a break from powder skiing near the patrol shack atop Aspen Mountain. Clausen retired this season after 45 years with the ski patrol, 42 of those on Aspen Mountain. Courtesy of the Aspen Mountain Ski Patrol
By Scott Condon, The Aspen Times
ASPEN — An ironman of the Aspen Mountain Ski Patrol has called it quits.
Nearly every winter morning since 1968-69 — excluding two seasons affected by the aftermath of a strike — Gene Clausen has pulled on the distinctive uniform of the ski patrol and hit the slopes of Aspen Mountain. That's 42 seasons at Ajax, and 45 overall with his three seasons of service in the Buttermilk Ski Patrol starting in 1963.
Clausen, 71, is a humble guy and doesn't make a big deal out of his longevity. Guys like Howie Mayer and Don Hillmuth probably served longer, and Buttermilk Patrol Director Robin Perry will have served longer by the time he retires, Clausen said.
But Clausen is one of the lucky few among the early generations of ski bums who were pulled in by Aspen's gravitational pull and found a way to make a career out of a love of skiing.
Read about how this California kid wound up in Colorado and who told him "Ah, you've got to go to Aspen."
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