August 18, 1951 – December 20, 2025
With heavy hearts and deep shock, we confirm Jeff Handwerk was the skier involved in the accident on Aspen Mountain on Dec. 19, 2025. He passed away from his catastrophic injuries the following day in Grand Junction.
Jeff was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1951 to Glenn E. and Helen T. Handwerk; his sister Jill joined the family in 1955. The family settled in Lakewood, Colorado. His love of skiing began at 5 years old, ignited by his dad, a 10th Mountain Division veteran. Jeff graduated from Alameda High School and earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees in chemical and petroleum-refining engineering from the Colorado School of Mines.
He began his refining career with Sunoco in Wilmington, Delaware, but after two years, realized East Coast skiing wasn’t for him. He transferred to the Amoco refinery in Casper, Wyoming in 1979. There he began his ski coaching “side gig” at Hogadon Basin Ski Area and also discovered his passion for cycling, participating in road biking, time trials and the occasional mountain bike race. The cycling soon replaced his days of being a marathon runner.
While visiting his sister in Fort Collins, he met his wife, Susan (nee Fender). They married in Basalt in 1981 and welcomed their son, Derek, in 1984. In 1989, when the Casper refinery was slated to close, Jeff and his family moved to Dyer, Indiana, where he worked at Amoco’s Whiting refinery. He continued his real passions of cycling and skiing, driving to Wilmot Mountain in Wyoming twice weekly to teach.
Still, the Rockies continued to call, and in 1999, a third career move took the family to Salt Lake City, Utah. In addition to his full-time position as a process safety manager, he added the title of “coach” at the Solitude Mountain Junior Development Racing program. He held that position for 21 years, nurturing and encouraging many young racers to reach their own dreams on the slopes. He retired from the refinery in Salt Lake City in 2013, allowing him full-time enjoyment of skiing and cycling which he pursued avidly, winning many awards and medals.
In the fall of 2018, Jeff and Susan moved back to her roots in the Roaring Fork Valley. He quickly discovered new routes for cycling and new runs for skiing. He joined the Aspen Cycling Club and was a top competitor in the “old” group! He was a member of the BOOTech Race team in Aspen, where he fully embraced the Town Series races and enjoyed setting courses for his fellow racing buddies. He also participated in the NASTAR race courses.
Jeff was preceded in death by both parents and various other family members. He is survived by his wife, Susan; son, Derek (Alyssa) of Fort Collins; sister, Jill Handwerk of Fort Collins; nieces, Emily Weber of Denver and Lauren (Ty) Burtard of Woody Creek; in addition to nephew, Elliot (Sarah) Weber of Minneapolis, Minnesota. He will be greatly missed by his family, friends and competitors. We wish him smooth roads full of big climbs and steep descents and deep powder runs. A celebration of life honoring Jeff will be held at a later date in 2026.