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Courtesy Fetcher Family Collection/Bill Fetcher
John Fetcher loaded the bull wheels for the ski
area’s first lift onto his farm truck at an angle so
the truck would clear low bypasses along the way.
The Fetcher
family
John Fetcher stands on the slope overlooking Steamboat Springs. Fetcher skied until
he was in his 90s, and maintained his status as a ski patrol member until then too.
here Jim Temple was the visionary, John Fetcher was the engineer, businessman and rancher. A practical man, John went
so far as to haul bull wheels for a chairlift from California on the back of his pickup truck when production problems threatened
to delay their delivery.
John’s wife, Clarissa (Criss) won the Hazie Werner Award of Excellence for her many contributions to the community, from
her passion and promotion of music to her work with the Red Cross and the hospital.
Like his father before him, Jay Fetcher is a rancher and water-rights advocate, while his brother, Bill, is a rancher and
historian. John’s sister-in-law, the late Gertrude Fetcher, was one of the early supporters of The Lowell Whiteman School in
Strawberry Park.
Mountain Developer
By Jean Wren
Born in Winnetka, Ill., in 1912, John Fetcher was educated in this country and France. He graduated from Harvard with
degrees in business and engineering and served in an executive position for the Budd company in Paris and Philadelphia,
first making railroad cars for the French government, then munitions.
In 1948, tired of a high-pressure lifestyle, he came to Routt County with his brother, Stan, and purchased a ranch on Elk
River, near Clark. Having moved his wife and four children from suburbia to ranching, Fetcher learned
to milk a cow and shoe a horse but was soon reaching out for new fields to conquer.
In 1959 he joined the newly formed Storm Mountain Ski Corporation as vice president and
worked with its founder, Jim Temple, to establish a ski area. When funding fell short for the project,
a Denver group was brought in to take over and Mount Werner Inc. was formed, with Fetcher as
president. The first lift was installed in 1963, after Fetcher had driven a ranch truck to California
to pick up bull wheels. He then supervised the construction of the Christie, Thunderhead, Four
Points, Burgess Creek and Headwall lifts. Traveling to Switzerland to negotiate the purchase
of a gondola, he returned to supervise its construction.
As chairman of the Steamboat Springs Jumping Commission, he spearheaded the
rebuilding of the Howelsen Hill jumping complex and installation of snowmaking
equipment. Later he raised money for stabilization for the 90-meter jump and expansion
of the Howelsen Hill lodge. Twice an Olympic jumping referee, he served as president of
the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club in 1973-’74. He joined the National Ski Patrol
45 years ago.
Fetcher was inducted into the Colorado Ski Hall of Fame and was awarded the
Halstead Memorial Award for service to skiing.
Excerpted from the original article, as it appeared in the Winter/Spring 1998
edition of Steamboat Magazine.
Courtesy Fetcher Family Collection/Bill Fetcher
John Fetcher helps to rebuild the jump at
Howelsen Hill after a fire destroyed it.
70 | ONLINE AT WWW.STEAMBOATMAGAZINE.COM
Courtesy Fetcher Family Collection/Bill Fetcher