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Darcy Brown gives a smile while talking about the old days of the skiing company at his home in Aspen in 2004. (Aspen Times file)
ASPEN — Aspen ski industry pioneer D.R.C. “Darcy” Brown Jr., the one-time head of the Aspen Ski Corp. who oversaw the company’s rise from a small resort operator to one of the world’s largest skiing empires, died March 10 in Tucson, Ariz.
Brown, 95, was the son of Aspen pioneer David R.C. Brown and Ruth McNutt, daughter of a prominent San Francisco physician. The elder Brown came to Aspen in 1880, where he purchased several silver mines and established the first water, power and electric companies in Aspen.
Darcy Brown’s multi-faceted career included work in the oil business, service as a U.S. Navy PT boat skipper, ranching in Colorado and Utah, and election as a Colorado state senator in 1952. After his term of office, he took over as CEO of the Aspen Ski Corp. in 1957, having served as a founding member on its board of directors since 1946.
When he took over the helm of the corporation, it operated a small ski area — Aspen Mountain — served by three lifts. When Brown retired 22 years later, the company was operating Aspen Mountain, Buttermilk, Snowmass and Breckenridge, plus two ski areas in Canada and one in Spain. Ruthie’s Run on Aspen Mountain was named after his second wife; he married Ruth Humphreys of Denver in 1947.
Brown also served as president of Colorado Ski Country USA, a statewide organization of ski resorts, and as president of the National Ski Areas Association. He was an inductee into the U.S. National Ski Hall of Fame, the Colorado Ski Hall of Fame and the Aspen Hall of Fame.
For more on Brown’s life and his impact on Aspen, as well as a complete obituary, see Wednesday’s Aspen Times.
Brown, 95, was the son of Aspen pioneer David R.C. Brown and Ruth McNutt, daughter of a prominent San Francisco physician. The elder Brown came to Aspen in 1880, where he purchased several silver mines and established the first water, power and electric companies in Aspen.
Darcy Brown’s multi-faceted career included work in the oil business, service as a U.S. Navy PT boat skipper, ranching in Colorado and Utah, and election as a Colorado state senator in 1952. After his term of office, he took over as CEO of the Aspen Ski Corp. in 1957, having served as a founding member on its board of directors since 1946.
When he took over the helm of the corporation, it operated a small ski area — Aspen Mountain — served by three lifts. When Brown retired 22 years later, the company was operating Aspen Mountain, Buttermilk, Snowmass and Breckenridge, plus two ski areas in Canada and one in Spain. Ruthie’s Run on Aspen Mountain was named after his second wife; he married Ruth Humphreys of Denver in 1947.
Brown also served as president of Colorado Ski Country USA, a statewide organization of ski resorts, and as president of the National Ski Areas Association. He was an inductee into the U.S. National Ski Hall of Fame, the Colorado Ski Hall of Fame and the Aspen Hall of Fame.
For more on Brown’s life and his impact on Aspen, as well as a complete obituary, see Wednesday’s Aspen Times.
