‘As long as I’m favored with good health, it’s my job to use it well’

Coy Bretthorst didn’t have much confidence when he was diagnosed with leukemia in 2018.

The longtime Garfield County resident recalled traveling across the Western United States searching for a doctor who would tell him he could beat the blood cancer.

“I thought I was dying,” Coy said. “We went to three different doctors in Colorado, who all told me I wouldn’t beat it. We went to California for experimental treatment, and I was told they could slow it, but we couldn’t beat it.”

He defied the odds, though, beating his second bout with cancer in late 2020. More than five years later, he is still going strong. Just five days after his 80th birthday in August, he and his son, Ty, summited Mount Sopris in tribute to a late friend.

“It was very special, and it was very emotional for me,” Coy said. “I simply wouldn’t have made it without my son, Ty. He literally and figuratively carried the water for me through the climb.”

Ty said the accomplishment was deeply meaningful to both of them.

“He never thought he would be able to do something like this,” he said. “For him to beat cancer, and to not only be alive on his 80th birthday but healthy and vibrant enough to still do something like this, is amazing — not only to us but to him as well.”

Turning back, then returning

The pair first attempted the summit on Aug. 2, two days before Coy’s birthday. Friends and family gathered to celebrate and join the climb, but stormy weather forced the group to turn back after passing treeline.

Instead of giving up, father and son returned to the trailhead a week later. This time, they reached the top of the 12,965-foot mountain that towers over the Roaring Fork Valley.

“It was very emotional for me and still feels incredible when I think back on it,” Coy said. “It’s a challenging hike. There are 14ers that feel like a walk in the park compared to Sopris. When I look at Sopris now, it holds no sway over me. I’ve conquered it at 80, and I know I don’t need to do that ball-buster again.”

Ty, who had watched his father train and prepare for months, said he felt proud to share the moment.

“Probably,” he admitted when asked if it was more special that only the two of them made it to the summit. “I’m sure he would have loved to have had his grandson there, but I knew he was fit enough for the climb, and I didn’t want bad weather to be the reason he didn’t get it done.”

Coy almost didn’t go through with the second attempt. A few days earlier, he had fallen from a peach tree and injured his foot.

“It’s still swollen,” he said with a laugh. “I just figured out that if I laced up my boot tight enough and took enough Advil, I could go.”

A lifetime of comebacks

It took years for Coy to rebuild his strength after leukemia. He lost nearly 50 pounds during treatment but has since regained about 20, staying active with bike rides and hikes on the VIX and Talbott trails in New Castle and Glenwood Springs.

It was his third time climbing Sopris and the second major physical feat he has accomplished since overcoming cancer. In 2003, while fighting bladder cancer, he promised Ty he would run the BOLDERBoulder 10K with him if he survived.

“I had never run six miles in my life,” Coy said, laughing. “It wasn’t pretty, but I ran those six miles. It was pretty pathetic — I got passed by a power walker.”

He said during his cancer fight, he stayed focused on small goals — like tending to his garden — but always kept bigger dreams on the horizon.

“When you’re 14 months into fighting and you think you’re dying, you need something to look forward to,” he said.

Inspired by a friend

Coy said his inspiration to climb Sopris at 80 came from his late friend Adolf Deimoz, who reached the summit for his own 80th birthday in the 1990s.

Coy and his wife, Mary, moved to the Roaring Fork Valley in the early 1970s after meeting at the University of Nebraska. They settled in Peach Valley, where they still live on land with sheep, horses, and more than 40 fruit trees.

“I just wanted to get back here and grow my garden,” he said. “But when we won and I got to live, we came back, and I grew my garden. Ever since Adolf climbed Sopris at 80, I thought, ‘If I ever get to be 80 years old, I want to climb Mount Sopris.'”

Gratitude in old age

Coy said coming so close to death has given him a renewed sense of joy. Now, his greatest satisfaction comes from simple days with his wife of 50 years and his annual hunting trip to the same pine tree he has camped under since 1982.

“As long as I’m favored with good health, it’s my job to use it well,” he said. “Neither of my parents made it to 60, so I feel like a kid in a candy store. I’m really enjoying getting old and being able to share old age with my wife. We’re both so fortunate to be here and to be with each other.”