A cross country skier whose body was found in a mountain valley west of Berthoud Pass was identified Wednesday as John T. “J.T.” Fielder III by his father, renowned Colorado nature photographer and author John Fielder, who said his son’s death was a suicide.
The eldest of three children born to John Fielder II and his late wife, Virginia “Gigi” Yonkers Fielder, he went by J.T. to avoid being confused with his father, whose works include “Colorado Then and Now” and dozens of calendars, guidebooks and posters.
Gigi Fielder died Sept. 11 at age 58 after a seven-year struggle with Alzheimer’s disease.
“The loss of his mother was, I think, a big part of his decision to do what he did,” John Fielder said Wednesday, “to do what he thought was right.”
In December, J.T. Fielder was hospitalized after taking a hard fall while skiing. Doctors diagnosed thoracic outlet syndrome, a painful vascular condition that required surgically removing a rib.
In February, the 26-year-old buckled back into his skis.
On Tuesday at 2:31 p.m., the Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office received a missing-person report, prompted by evidence that something was wrong with J.T. Fielder. An expert backcountry skier, he left at 7:30 a.m. on one of his favorite routes.
A search-and-rescue team found Fielder’s body about six hours later, above treeline in the Butler Gulch area near Empire, said Bill Barwick of the Alpine Rescue Team.
Clear Creek County Coroner Don Allen is expected to announce autopsy results today.
John Fielder is blaming himself.
“I was so focused for seven years on giving Gigi the best quality of life that I was not able to focus on my three kids as much as I might have,” he said.
Helping care for Gigi Fielder profoundly affected J.T. Fielder, said longtime friend Summer Fitzpatrick.
“He said it was hard on his dad and sisters, a tough situation,” Fitzpatrick said. “But J.T. was a good sport. He really felt he had to keep things together for his sisters. I wondered how he did it, really, dealing with such a horrible disease.”
Tall and robust, J.T. Fielder possessed a wry, sometimes edgy sense of humor.
He began skiing at age 2, under his father’s tutelage.
“By age 16, he was passing me on the slopes, to my consternation,” John Fielder said.
“He helped me with my career as one of my sherpas. He was one of the people who helped me make the photographs I make. Without J.T. and his friends, my photography never would have been possible.”
At age 10, J.T. Fielder accompanied his father on an arduous week-long, 40-mile trek on the Colorado Trail, the boy’s backpacking debut.
Each day, John Fielder watched his young son wrestle with blisters and ambivalence, yet every evening as they set up camp, J.T. told him how good it felt to plumb his own unsuspected strength.
J.T. Fielder graduated from Cherry Creek High School and attended Colorado State University before graduating from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2002.
On March 6, he began a marketing job at the Fortune 500 company TransMontaigne, easily establishing friendships with his new colleagues.
J.T. Fielder was described as his father’s pride and joy and was said to be as passionate about the mountains as his famous father.
Services will be private. The family suggests memorial contributions be made to the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Alzhei mer’s Association, 455 Sherman St., No. 500, Denver, CO 80203.
Staff writer Steve Lipsher can be reached at 970-513-9495 or slipsher@denverpost.com.
Staff writer Claire Martin can be reached at 303-820-1477 or cmartin@denverpost.com.
