Angus Graham to be remembered at Aspen Mountain opening day Thursday

Angus Graham, a beloved artist and ski instructor who made waiting in line on opening day at Aspen Mountain a little more fun, will be remembered Thursday at the gondola while skiers wait for first chair.

Graham, 35, died in a car crash in Oregon in August while he was there to watch the solar eclipse. The Aspen Skiing Co. instructor was known the past few opening days for wearing a costume and cooking on a quick stove while waiting in line. He proudly served his mother’s “eggs in a basket” recipe to his fellow skiers.

His sister, Kate, and her husband and daughter are coming in from California and will host a “Live Like Angus” celebration at the Silver Queen Gondola before first chair. It will start at 7 a.m. and skiers are encouraged to wear a costume and share stories.

“There’s been such an outpouring of love and support (from Aspen) and we’ve been hanging onto that,” Kate Graham said Wednesday while en route to Aspen. “Hopefully there will be a lot of people out there with their stoves.”

Angus Graham, who grew up in Maine, started working as an instructor in December 2008 and became “one of the school’s highly regarded trainers and mentors,” ski and snowboard school manager Andy Docken said after Graham’s death.

Graham was a potter and an artist in residence at the Studio for Arts and Works in Carbondale. He died when his car went off a dirt road near Glendale, Oregon, and rolled down a steep embankment.