Remembering Al Colby, builder of ski lifts and friendships

If you’ve ever ridden a ski lift at Vail or Beaver Creek, Al Colby touched your life. If you’ve ever fished a stream in this valley, snowmobiled across the Flat Tops, or four-wheeled over the backroads, Colby was likely there before you.

Lifelong Eagle resident Alfred B. “Al” Colby, 72, died March 26 at his home on Brush Creek when his big, kind heart suddenly stopped working. Tall, quiet, and capable, Colby was a natural mechanic who started his career with Vail Associates in 1971 as a parking lot attendant and retired 43 years later as lift maintenance supervisor. He was an outdoorsman who loved fishing and hunting and a family man devoted to his wife, children and grandkids.

Friends, family, and coworkers cannot remember ever seeing the hard-working Colby get upset.

“He was an all-right guy,” said Hoot Gibson, a former ski lift mechanic who is among the many who consider Al Colby a best friend … and a fishing buddy.

Eagle native

Born Aug. 16, 1951, at a military hospital in Glenwood Springs (now the Hot Springs Lodge and Pool), Colby was something of a miracle baby. His father, Fred Colby, was the town marshall in Eagle, which involved not only law enforcement, but also park maintenance, trash collection, and anything else the Town Board deemed necessary. His mother, Chloe, was a school cook. The Colbys had been married for 18 years with no children until Al came along.

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Eagle was a very small town in those days, and Colby, an only child, grew up with tolerant older parents and a pack of friends who remain close to this day. There was enough mischief, including a not-well-thought-out “skunk patrol,” to earn tall, blonde Al the local nickname “Dennis the Menace.” Colby’s strong work ethic likely started when his dad put him to work mowing the town park lawn.

Childhood friend Rich Parker remembers riding bikes up Brush Creek with Colby and Rich McCain, then fishing their way back down to town, not necessarily seeking permission from property owners. They all grew up to love hunting and fishing. When interviewed for the Vail Resorts company newsletter on his 35th year with the company, Colby listed “growing up in Eagle” as his fondest memory.

He graduated from Eagle Valley High School in 1969 and worked briefly as a butcher at the local grocery store before starting with Vail Associates, which became Vail Resorts after going public in 1997. In 1974, Colby married Eagle local Anna Marie (Annie) Hoza, whose parents owned the pharmacy and had 11 kids. He was happily absorbed into a huge family. Daughter, Stacia, and son, Shawn, soon joined the Colby family.

Working on the mountain

Gibson met Colby on his first day in Vail and then worked alongside him for 26 years.

“Al was exceptionally talented,” Gibson said. “He was a heck of a carpenter and a heck of a mechanic.”  

In the year-and-a-half before Beaver Creek opened, Colby and his crew installed nine lifts. They poured tons of concrete for the lift bases and stamped the concrete with the Vail Associates logo. Colby was particularly skilled with rigging and splicing ropes. One summer, his crew moved a lift from Beaver Creek to Vail (No. 5).

Gibson says Colby became such an expert in installing Dopplemayer ski lifts that the company sometimes borrowed him for installations at other resorts. One memorable summer, Colby and his crew were sent to Beartooth Pass near Red Lodge, Montana, to build a lift on rugged terrain for year-round training use by Olympic athletes. The crew dug holes by hand and poured concrete bases as helicopters placed the towers. The modest Colby probably never considered that he was drafted for that task because he was one of the foremost lift builders in the country.

Vail Resorts sent Colby to Switzerland to pick out the gondola that now carries skiers at Lionshead.

He preferred working with his crew to moving up into higher-level administrative jobs. Vail Resorts had an intern program, recruiting kids just out of high school, putting them to work, and paying for their education. Those youngsters often landed on Colby’s crew.

“He mentored people. He was very patient,” said Ted Carvill, another former ski company employee who worked with Colby.

“I’m sure they learned a lot from him. Heck, I learned a lot from him about the mechanics of lifts,” said Gibson.

Family and home

Colby developed into a competent carpenter, building several houses for his family, including the most recent one, a handsome log home on his beloved Brush Creek. He was a perfectionist, recalls son Shawn, who would go up and down a ladder 10 times and ruin a half-dozen boards until he got a project just right.

“He was just a master of whatever he wanted to do,” said Parker, Colby’s childhood friend. Colby helped Parker paint a pickup. Together they rebuilt motors, restored cars, and constructed incredible dog houses. Colby noticed that something at a friend’s house was a little out of whack.

“He never criticized anything. He’d just show up with his tools and say, ‘That trim has been bugging me,’ and he would fix it,” Parker said.

Colby did his share of skiing while working on the mountain, but he particularly loved roaming the local mountains, fishing, big game hunting, and later in his life, bird hunting. His coworkers, childhood friends, and family were his hunting and fishing buddies, and he always handled the worms for his daughter, Stacia.

“He loved sharing the things he loved. He never fished alone,” said Shawn. Colby and his friends pioneered many backcountry roads with their four-wheel drive vehicles. Shawn notes that his dad was a gearhead, who at one time raced ice jeeps professionally, and was quite competent on a snowmobile.

Family was Colby’s top priority. He always fetched Annie’s car out of the garage and left it warming at the door when she was headed out. Al and Annie attended all of their children’s and grandchildren’s school sports and academic events. The tightly-knit family all live in Eagle, and Al and Annie always went out on their front porch to wave as the grandkids were headed down the creek to school.

 “His dedication to his family was unprecedented,” said daughter Stacia. 

“He was just a nice, gentle giant of a man. If more people were like Al Colby, this would be a much better place to live,” said Parker.

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Al Colby is survived by his wife, Annie, daughter Stacia (Chad) Brasington and son Shawn (Marci) Colby; and grandchildren Kylan, Colby and Tenley Brasington and Wyatt and Chloe Colby. A celebration of life will take place on May 18 at Double O Ranch on Bruce Creek Road in Eagle. The gathering will begin at 1 p.m. and celebration and sharing are slated for 2 p.m. Lunch will be provided and bib overall attire is encouraged. The family suggests that memorial donations be directed to the Rocky Mountain Oyster Feed (scholarships for 4-H members), P.O. Box 606, Eagle, Co. 81631; or the Eagle County Historical Society, P.O. Box 192, Eagle, Co. 81631.