Aspen’s Original Ski Bum
As he approaches his 95th birthday, ski legend and winter gear pioneer Klaus Obermeyer doesn’t believe in slowing down—or giving up the sport he loves
BY IRENE R AWL I NGS
Always ready with a smile or a yodel, Klaus Obermeyer has been schussing down the slopes of Aspen since the late 1940s. He was one of Aspen’s first ski instructors and made the world’s first down parka. He also made the first plastic ski boots, the first mirrored sunglasses and the first double-lens ski goggles. He founded the Sport Obermeyer company in 1947, and he soon noticed that classic skiwear wasn’t the only thing people stood in line for at the store. “They were waiting in line to hear me yodel,” says Obermeyer with a smile. “I don’t think they’d ever heard anyone yodel before.” Today, Sport Obermeyer sells between $30 and $40 million annually worldwide, and China is a hot new market. It all started with a single down parka, and Obermeyer enjoys telling the story. “I was a young ski instructor and got paid $10 per day per student,” he says. “I could start the week with 10 students and, by the end, I’d maybe have one or two left.” People were wearing wool suits and leather boots to ski and, Obermeyer says, they just got too cold. He pulled the goose-down comforter off his bed, cut it up and made a jacket—entirely by hand. The actor Gary Cooper, one of his students, insisted on buying it. “He paid $250, which was a lot of money back in the day when a new Buick cost $1,200.”
( above ) Klaus Obermeyer celebrating the wonder and magic of snow. He says he’s continually amazed that one of the planet’s greatest resources, water, freezes and becomes snow, something we can all enjoy sliding around on. ( left ) One of Obermeyer’s favorite pastimes, cruising fast. “To escape the pull of gravity is like leaving the earth without having to be an astronaut.” Obermeyer running a downhill in G ermany, 1942.
“He pulled the goose-down comforter off his bed, cut it up and made a jacket— entirely by hand. Gary Cooper, one of his students, insisted on buying it.”
(top) Obermeyer’s company moves into the stylish fashions of the ‘60s, introducing the first elastic-collared ski turtleneck in the U.S. (above) Obermeyer wearing his first creation in 1950: the ski industry’s first down parka, crafted out of a quilt his mother gave to him for traveling to the United States.
Some of his other celebrity clients—including Ingrid Bergman and Katharine Hepburn—wanted jackets too. Exhausted by the long hours of hand sewing (in the attic of his home), Obermeyer asked a friend who had a pillow factory to help out by making a few jackets. “Almost 70 years later we’re still family-owned, and business is good,” he says.
Obermeyer’s interest in skiing started when he was just five. He recalls seeing a few skiers on a small hill in Oberstaufen, the Bavarian alpine village where he was born. “They side-stepped up the hill…then just flew down, and I was hooked,” he says. An innovator even back then, he nailed his galoshes onto some wooden staves to make skis. His parents were understanding, and even commissioned a pair of proper skis from Marius Eriksen (Stein Eriksen’s father) for Christmas. “It was the best Christmas ever, to wake up and see those skis standing next to my bed.”
He still skis every day there’s snow and, in fact, even in his later years he has been clocked coming down Ajax Mountain at speeds in excess of 82 miles per hour. “I skied 82 when I was 82 but have decided to back it down a little now that I’m nearly 95,” he says. When he’s not skiing, he swims (a mile every day) and plays tennis. He rides his mountain bike at his farm and his road bike in Aspen. Summers, he windsurfs on Aspen’s Ruedi Reservoir or in Maui. He still enjoys speed, however, and is learning to kite surf “because it is simpler than windsurfing and a lot faster.”
Footnotes
How would you describe your style? My style is casual and comfortable—just fleece and down. [My ex-wife] Nome [Obermeyer] is the one with style. Yes, we are divorced but we are best friends. She worked with the company as a model in the 1960s and works as a designer now, and her high level of taste is reflected in our skiwear.
What do you collect? I don’t collect anything. I think it would be too easy for me to become a victim of my possessions. I did have three Jaguars XKEs—not at the same time—and they were very fast. But I don’t think you could call this a collection.
You are famous for your yodel. Why do you yodel? I yodel because I’m happy. And sometimes I yodel because people ask me to yodel and that seems to make them happy. When I’m skiing and overcome with the beauty of everything, I just have to yodel. But I started yodeling when I was about 13 or 14 and seriously rock climbing in the Alps. You could yodel all the way across the valley to communicate with your friends.
What is your idea of relaxing? Hmmm. What do you mean…relaxing? I swim a mile every day—in summer in the solarheated pool at Obermeyer headquarters, in winter in a salt-water pool in town. So, by my calculations, one year I swim all the way to Denver and the next year I swim all the way back. This is relaxing.
“He still skis every day there’s snow and, in fact, even in his later years he has been clocked coming down Ajax Mountain at speeds in excess of 82 miles per hour.”
Tell us about your farm. I have a little ranch about 20 minutes down valley from Aspen. I keep horses and cows and, in my garden, I grow peas, beans and tomatoes, all organically. And my apple trees were planted by farmers who settled this valley more than 180 years ago. They brought tiny seedlings from Valle d’Aosta in the Italian Alps. Those old farmers had the right idea. They planted apple varieties that ripen in sequence so every month another tree has ripe apples from August until the end of November.
What is the secret to your longevity? I think it is attitude. Keeping life in balance, working out every day—mentally as well as physically—and to enjoy nature even if it is raining.
Your company has been in business for nearly 70 years. What is the secret of
your business success? Again, I think it is attitude. We play as hard as we work. And every time it snows more than six inches overnight, everyone is required to spend the morning on the slopes and not come in until after lunch. Some people come to work here for a season or two while they ski Aspen, and 20 or 30 years later, they are still here.
What advice would you give young people just starting out? Try to make a living at whatever you have the most talent for, so that whatever your work, it will always be a pleasure.
Where did you ski last year? Aspen and Snowmass, of course. But I also skied in Switzerland, Bavaria and Austria. The Alps have bigger vertical drops, sometimes as much as 6,000 feet. In Colorado, the drops are more like 3,000 or 3,500 feet. But the skiing here is more pleasant and the snow is more consistently powder-dry and, in a word: perfect.
Obermeyer turns 95 on December 2. He will celebrate with friends, family and employees by enjoying Wiener Rostbraten and apple strudel with whipped cream. Then, if the snow is good, he’ll ski down Ajax at speeds approaching his age.
(left) Obermeyer skiing Aspen’s Bell Mountain, 1958. As one of Aspen’s early pioneers, he helped promote Aspen to become a world-class ski resort. (below) Ski sweaters were imported to the U.S. from Europe in the early 1960s; soon after, Obermeyer began making and marketing his own sweaters, using Aspen local models and his own Jaguar in his advertising.
Slope Style
FORTHE LATESTlooks from the 2014-2015 Obermeyer winter collections for men, women, teens and kids, plus a newsy blog and a clever Outfit Builder tool, visit obermeyer.com
Porthole Infusion Vessel
Martin Kastner
High Style
Spring is the time for new furniture introductions, and this year’s collections show that bold, sassy and over-the-top glamorous are the trends of the season
Limited Edition Diamond Sideboard by Boca do Lobo $32,220 DeMorais International, (646) 583-0849, demoraisinternational.com
5 1 4 3 2
1. Ole Jenson Colander for Room Copenhagen $40, Dwell Store, store.dwell.com
2 NativeStone Farmhouse Sink in Ash by Native Trails $1,650, DSKB Denver Design District, (303) 744-9189, dskb.com
3. Naturally Cooling Ceramic Carafe by Simon Stevens for Magisso $54.95, Memoji, memoji.com
4. BIOBU {by EKOBO] Gusto Bamboo Tableware Collection from $39, Amara, (866) 8963804, us.amara.com
5. Royal Palm Tiles by Allison Eden Studios $209 per square foot, Decorative Materials, Denver Design District, (303) 722-1333, decorativematerials.com
Visit us at Art Denver where we are proud to present the Art of Living, a collection of luxurious living spaces designed by industry experts from across the state. For information on exhibiting, please contact Megan Bennett, mbennett@coloradohomesmag.com
November 14-16
Colorado Convention Center
