My Friend Weems by Victor Gerdin

My Friend Weems – A Skier

 

I had heard, read and known about Weems since the early ‘70’s. His “take” on skiing, and life, somehow had always intrigued me. It wasn’t until 1987, when I was hired as Ski School Director at Buttermilk Mountain, that our paths would finally cross.

 

Weems and Nancy had moved to Aspen a few years before, and when I met Weems, he handed me his business card. On it was a black and white picture of he and Nancy skiing, with the words “Real Good Ski Instructors” and their phone number – I liked his style from the beginning!

 

When D.D. and I arrived in Aspen, I wasn’t sure what to expect. This was especially true because the two people who hired me (the Buttermilk Mountain Mountain Manager and ASC’s President/CEO) were “let go” from Aspen Skiing Company within 3 months and 6 months, respectively after we moved here! Needless to say, Aspen Skiing Company, and the ski industry, were in transition:

 

• The infamous era of Curt Chase, k.a. “Papa Bear”, as ski school director, was in transition with Curt’s retirement, (Curt was one of the 7 founding father’s of PSIA in 1961)
• The Silver Queen Gondola’s installation on Aspen Mountain became the longest single stage gondola in the country, while Snowmass received some the first detachable chairlifts in Colorado,
• And ASC ownership was changing as the Crown Family became co-owners of what used to be Aspen Ski Corporation with the MKDG conglomerate, and its ties to 20th Century

 

This was also the time when Snowmass General Manager, Curt Stewart, promoted then Snowmass SS Director, Doug Mackenzie to the Snowmass Mountain Manager position. Weems and I were Stewart’s finalists for succeeding Dougie as the SS Director. Curt saw the value that Weems’ creativity and communication skills could bring to the school, but I think Curt was somewhat “nervous” about his financial skills and perceived that Weems could possibility “sink this ship” financially, without knowing it!? I guess somehow that made me the better choice!?

 

During this 5-or-so years of working closely together (literally AND figuratively meaning we shared a 150 square-foot office), Weems and I had a lot of fun working from the same mindset of making the Snowmass Ski School the best it could be … and, along the way, became good friends.

 

But also during that time, the world of skiing, and therefore ski instruction, was ripe for change with the shaped ski tsunami rapidly changing the way anyone thought about the sport. At that point, Weems was WAY ahead of the curve, innovating and directing the path of that giant wave for the Snowmass School and PSIA-RM. As Squatty references in Weems’ book, “… we don’t teach people how to ski, we turn them into skiers!” Weems was a skier that was also a prolific writer, and writing was the tool he used to become the great communicator. His life’s ambition, in addition to being the best dad and husband he could be, was his book “Brilliant Skiing, Every Day”. And the basic premise he immortalized on the pages of that book, was how he lived his life when he said – “I can’t make the best turns everyday, buy if I maintain my attitude, feeling, sense of humor and will to shine … I can be brilliant every day!”

 

But there was a day in April of 2008, that tested every fiber of Weems’ being. The day Wallace (a.k.a. Waddy), their son, died, every person that new him was crying their eyes out and saddened beyond belief! The unimaginable sadness a parent must feel in losing a child is hard to comprehend. But during the hours, days and weeks that followed, Weems seemed to draw on the inner-strength that helped him manage other difficult times in his life. And he used that strength to help the rest of us move past our grief and honor Waddy as the very special person he was.

 

Brilliant was a word Weems used regularly and also was a theme he used for his life. We all make mistakes in life, some more than others, and Weems used his brilliance to absolutely learn from each one. Around 1995 is when different goals would lead to different paths:

 

• Four individual schools would merge to become the Ski and Snowboard schools of Aspen. Weems was a big player in making this
• Jim Crown and Mike Kaplan would lead ASC to become the “family” it is Weems was effective in guiding some of that transition as well.

 

At Weems’ Memorial celebration on top of Aspen Mountain this past June, his family presented stories of what their husband, brother and Dad meant to them. His oldest son, Dylan, told a heart-wrenching tale about the difficulties he had growing up, but shared the touching conversations he had with his dad during his last days. Afterwards Dylan, Packy, Ben and Nancy cast Weems’ ashes into the wind, just a few ridges down from where they cast Waddy’s ashes 16 years before, to reunite them.

 

Weems has touched thousands of students and pros, throughout his lifetime, to be the best they can be. He used his wit, humor, irreverence, compassion, listening skills and spontaneity to help us all become Real Good Ski Instructors! And there is one spontaneously irreverent poster of Weems that prompted one of his grandchildren to tell him … “Hey Grandpa, pull your pants up!?”

 

Let’s raise a toast to Weems Westfeldt, a good friend … and one of the most brilliant skiers and teachers of all time!