Otto Werlin’s name may not be familiar to every skier in Colorado, but his presence at Loveland Ski Area is remembered by many.
Werlin, who died Nov. 28 at age 82, had one of the longest tenures of any ski area manager in Colorado — 28 years.
A memorial to him is planned at noon Friday at the Easter Seals Handicamp east of Georgetown.
The ski area went through its biggest growth during his tenure, which started in 1964.
Loveland was one of the first slopes to make artificial snow, in 1967, and it catered to “locals,” he said in a Denver Post interview years ago. “Our customers are not the big-spender tourists,” he said in the interview. So Werlin always tried to hold back on raising prices for skiing and food.
It was during his tenure that Loveland opened a smaller slope down the hill, Loveland Valley, and many major learn-to-ski programs were begun by Werlin.
The original professional ski races started at Loveland in the early days of his management.
Friends describe the 6-foot-7 Werlin as an outgoing, funny, generous man who loved to see people having fun skiing and always told them to “ski peacefully.”
Once, in 1977, a Japanese couple arrived by bus at Loveland with only $7 and unable to speak English, according to the Denver Post story.
Werlin made them guests of the place and used the public address system to locate some Japanese speakers on the slopes. The two people who came forward helped the couple and even gave them a ride back to Denver.
One day a skier from Louisiana called Loveland and at the end of the conversation Werlin joked, “Don’t forget the gumbo,” recalled Mary Gmuender of Gardnerville, Nev.
Two weeks later the family “struggled into the office with a huge vat of gumbo,” she said. The staff immediately got bowls and everyone around began eating, said Gmuender, who was skier services manager at Loveland.
“Otto was a rare and special person,” said Dana Dunbar, formerly of Georgetown and now of Edwards.
“Very few names stick out in the memory of Georgetown like Otto and Polly Werlin,” she said. “They were unique citizens.”
Both the Werlins were active in community issues.
Besides skiing, Werlin’s other passions were vintage cars and speeding.
Sometimes he avoided a ticket because the patrolman who had stopped him would get so fascinated with Werlin’s car he’d ignore ticketing him.
Otto Werlin was born in Denver on Nov. 14, 1926, and graduated from the University of Colorado. He worked in the oil and gas industry, doing sales and marketing, said his wife, Polly.
When his company wanted to transfer him to Houston, he took up an offer to manage Loveland. He hardly skied — the first two times out he broke his leg — but he got much better and skied until he was in his 70s. By then he was on oxygen and the portable tank was an impediment to skiing.
He married Polly Briscoe on July 15, 1957. In addition to his wife, he is survived by a daughter, Lis Werlin McGonigle of Louisville; three sons: William Werlin of Yokohama, Japan, Otto Werlin Jr. of Vallejo, Calif., and Peter Werlin of Georgetown; nine grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
Virginia Culver: 303-954-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com
