Summer – 1974?

Our summer breaks from school and college were filled with work and time to get outside and play.  This meant jeeping, hiking, camping, flying and playing golf to name a few of the many activities.  Did I mention golf?

In the 1960’s and 70’s the public golf course was home to a “Pro Shop,” hotel and a pretty decent restaurant.  My friends and I would often spend our days off hanging around the golf course, hitting buckets of balls, snacking in the restaurant and being general nuisances to the golf pros.  We even worked stints as caddies or sales associates in the pro shop.  The golf course manager back then was Yvonne Tache’.  He was a strict individual who ran things his way and did a good job at it.  We always knew where we stood with him and it was not always a good thing.

Yvonne always watched out for us and if a foursome came available he would let us know.  Looking back, I think he tried to get us out of his hair for awhile by sending us out for a round.  On this particular day I do not remember who I was playing golf with.  I have a good idea, but they will remain nameless just in case I am wrong. 

The beauty of playing golf in Aspen is that you are at a higher altitude to begin with so your drives go further and fly higher.  It is a real ego boost for a substandard player such as me.   The golf course has been redesigned many times since the 1970’s but back then Fairway Seven was along the back of the course just off of Cemetery Lane and Bonita Drive.  It was a long hole with relatively few hazards, except on this day.

The four of us had just teed off and were headed in the direction of our respective golf balls.  Just after leaving the Tee Box a golfer from behind us yelled, “Heads!”  As we turned to see what was up a glider flew about 12 feet over our heads and landed in the middle of the fairway.   We started to run in the direction of the downed plane as the occupants exited the aircraft.  They were fine and the glider sustained no visible damage.

In no time the fairway filled up with Police SAABs, fire trucks and Deiter Bibbig’s jeep (he owned the Glider).  We picked up our golf balls and headed for the next hole.  Later that day, the landing was the talk of the town.  As suspected, the glider had encountered a downdraft that prevented it from making it safely back to the airport.