RIP Weems Westfeldt
Wharton “Weems” Westfeldt passed away at the age of 78 surrounded by his sons and family. Weems was a career ski instructor and gravitational field of joy. He was born January 20, 1946 in Denver, CO to Elizabeth Weems Westfeldt and Patrick McCloskey Westfeldt. Weems is survived by his sons Dylan Gandalf Westfeldt, Benjamin Weems Westfeldt, and Patrick Bogle Westfeldt; previous wives Hollace (Holli) Daytz Westfeldt, Renee Dougherty, and Nancy Bogle Westfeldt; brothers Patrick McCloskey Westfeldt and Wallace Carrington Westfeldt; and his grandchildren, Sidney, Eloise, and Zoe. He is predeceased by his son Wallace Briggs Westfeldt, and wife Beatrice Shreck.
Besides excelling at skiing, Weems was an accomplished classical guitar player, polyglot and writer. He turned one of his many articles into the critically acclaimed book Brilliant Skiing, Every Day.
Weems’ skills at teaching skiing earned him lifelong clients/friendships who have joyous stories to tell about the man and their adventures with him on and off the slopes.
Weems started skiing as a child in Boulder; he attended Baseline Junior High, then off to Switzerland to the prestigious Le Rosey school, skiing and hobnobbing with Princes and movie stars. After high school, he did a semester each at the University of Tubingen and the University of Madrid before enrolling at Dartmouth where he met his first wife Hollace.
By the way, after Le Rosey, Weems returned to America wearing tight fitting “continental” suits, smoking Gauloises lit with a Zippo embossed with a royal coat of arms and cradling a bottle of Courvoisier, which his brothers enjoyed placing carefully in the toilet.
Working the Weems Rice Farm in Texas and joining the true “Animal House” fraternity Zeta Psi (at Dartmouth), completed his transition back to America.
Weems started his teaching career at Sugarloaf, Maine. After moving to Steamboat Springs, Hollace and Weems’ son, Dylan was born. Weems taught with the likes of Loris and Buddy Werner, Moose Barrows, and Billy Kidd.
Weems moved to Taos, New Mexico for the steep and deep. While living in Taos and traveling to various ski areas as a ski school examiner, he met and married Nancy Bogle. Weems and Nancy spent several endless winters of teaching at Taos and Coronet Peak (where Weems was the director of the ski school), New Zealand. After Nancy gave birth to triplet sons, Ben, Wallace, and Patrick, they moved to Aspen. The triplet boys, Patrick, Wallace, and Ben were the delight of their neighborhood, schools, and slopes. These were the salad days for Weems; along with Nancy and the boys, skiing became an artform influencing the trajectory of the ski schools of Aspen. Along with the grace of that time came hardship as well; Wallace died tragically in a backcountry snowboarding accident in 2008.
Weems’ Aspen ski career was storied and influential. From 1999-2005, he was the Director of Operations for the entire ski school across the four mountains; the Highlands ski school manager from 2012-2017, and in between all of that, he was one of the lead Aspen Ski School trainers and created the diamond pro and sports training program. He was a mentor to many in Aspen’s schools in skiing and teaching. He was also on the PSIA National demonstration team during the 1974-1975 ski season.
In his later years, Weems reconnected with high school friend, Beatrice, from France. He followed her over there and they were married in October of 2019. After one more winter teaching skiing in Aspen, Weems moved to France full time just before the pandemic lockdown. However, after a year living in the French countryside Beatrice passed away in 2021. The last five years of Weems’ life were beset by terrifying and humiliating challenges as he suffered from Progressive Dementia. Although difficult, Weems met these struggles with a good deal of courage. Thankfully, Weems’ eldest son Dylan, his wife Stephanie, their children Sidney and Eloise, and friend Rachel who live in Ferney-Voltaire, were there to manage his affairs, care, and support him through this stage. To cope with these challenges Dylan and his dad identified four battles during this time which gave Weems comfort; knowing and naming them: 1. Lifelong and untreated ADD 2. Massive hearing loss (Zeta Psi side effect) 3. Living in a language and culture that was not native to him. 4. Progressive Dementia. It’s inconceivable how Weems could have managed this last chapter without their sacrifices, compassion and love. For this effort and kindness, the family is eternally grateful.
Services or celebrations for Weems are unplanned at this time. As Weems once said, we want to “… follow the practice of Excellence, Sustainability, Passion, and Humanity--and through our capacity for balancing these Guiding Principles with the concept of not taking ourselves too seriously.” In lieu of flowers the family requests that you make a donation in Weems’ name to, Protect Our Winters (protectourwinters.org)
