CMC has been extremely lucky to have a faculty member with the expertise in ski area operations that Curt Bender has. Since 1981 students have learned from the master in snowmaking, grooming, lift maintenance, heavy equipment operations and ski area planning.
Curt is an avid fly fisherman and has taught several courses and was instrumental in getting the fly fishing certificate program started at Timberline.
In addition to getting more fishing in, Curt looks forward to more golfing, too. He will continue to work at Copper Mountain grooming in the ski season.
The Benders have no plans to leave Leadville, at least not until Aubrey is out of high school which isn't until 2013.
The Ski Area Operations program started around 1970 and Curt has been instrumental in keeping the program in line with the industry's progression over the years. "As the ski areas developed and modernized we worked hard to develop and modernize our curriculum and equipment," said Curt.
"When I started in 1981 we had a vintage 1969 snowcat and no snowmaking equipment," said Curt.
CMC now has state-of-the art equipment including a brand new snowcat. "Administration has been constantly supportive in keeping the program modern," said Curt.
While there are many things Curt will miss he said "I'll mostly miss seeing the growth and development of individual students as they have gone through the program and following them in their careers."
Over his 28 years there were many unforgettable events that occurred. When asked, Curt said that the most memorable is probable when he got stranded in a crane truck 30 feet up after knocking the remote control unit out of the basket while working on the lift tower here on campus. Eventually an Outdoor Studies student came by on his mountain bike. "I started yelling to him and he kept looking all around trying to figure out where the voice was coming from," said Curt.
As a credit to his teaching skills, Curt taught the student from 30 feet up how to operate the hand controls and bring him down.
Curt will continue to teach as an adjunct instructor - so we'll still see him around, "especially on tator tot day in the lunch room," added Curt.
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