Remembering Rett Ertl, longtime steward of Eldora, global scholar, adventurer and cherished family man

Rett Ertl (that was really his full name) was born Aug. 13, 1949, in the small town of Rifle, Colorado, the youngest of five siblings born to parents Theo and Tell Ertl. Throughout the late 50s and early 60s, the family spent time living and traveling abroad, including in Germany and Brazil. While living in Germany, the seven of them spent several months touring Europe in a VW bus. These experiences abroad undoubtedly sparked his love for immersing himself in different cultures (and his lifelong love for and loyalty to VWs!).

The family moved to Boulder when Rett was in sixth grade. He attended Centennial Junior High, then Fairview High School (while still at the current Platt Middle School location). It was at FHS where he began running competitively on track and cross-country teams and where he began studying Russian. He graduated from FHS in 1967 and went on to study Russian language and literature at Stanford University. Upon graduation from Stanford, Rett signed up for a summer camping excursion touring the western Soviet Union, Finland and Eastern Europe by VW bus. It was on this trip that he fell in love with the confident, beautiful tour guide, San Francisco native Tania Chramko. They married on Dec. 24, 1972, in San Francisco.

After graduating from Stanford, Rett and his new wife, Tania, relocated to New York City so he could attend Columbia University, where he earned a master’s degree in Russian studies. He went on to work for IBM in business development with the USSR. Rett began his career with IBM in Stamford, Connecticut, in 1974. It was here that Rett and Tania’s first child, PT (named after Pihtipudas, a town the two had visited in Finland), was born in 1978. In 1979, Rett was transferred to Germany, and in 1980 to France, where in 1981 they had a daughter, Sasha (who wasn’t named after anything). In fall 1981, they returned from Europe to settle once again in Colorado, in their house on the hill in East Boulder.

Rett took over the operations of the family business, Lake Eldora Ski Area, in 1983 and ran it until 1987. Rett’s father, a mining engineer, had helped establish the ski area (and revolutionized Colorado skiing by installing one of the first snowmaking systems in the state) in the 1960s, and the Ertl family owned a large acreage of property off Valmont Road and 95th Street; the family’s roots within the community ran very deep. Rett’s quick ability to make friends and connect with people meant that he was well-liked in and around Boulder, and Eldora was truly his happy place. The Nederland/Eldora community was like family. For Eldora’s 60th anniversary, Rett co-wrote the book “Eldora: Six Decades of Adventure” with former editor-in-chief and publisher of SKI Magazine and former GM of Warren Miller Entertainment Andy Bigford. The pair was awarded the 2023 Skade Award for outstanding work on regional ski history, presented by the International Skiing History Association.

After his time at Eldora, Rett turned once more to education and Russia. He moved the family to New York so that he could once again attend Columbia University and pursue a doctorate in political science. Unfortunately, the coup of 1991 upended those plans, so he never earned the title of Dr. Rett (he graduated with a second master’s degree, this one in political science). His interests shifted from academia to international business. Rett was driven to engage with Russia in a way that would benefit the people and started an east-west trading business.

After moving back to Colorado, Rett developed expertise in consulting in the newly reformed country of Russia. Using connections there, he was able to build his own import-export business that almost certainly only dealt in legal goods such as nesting dolls, Palekh boxes and other Russian artwork. He authored the book “Art of the Russian Matryoshka,” a volume that details the making of nesting dolls from a chunk of wood to an exquisite work of art. As Russia became free, many artists were able to develop their skills, and Rett helped support families through the sales of the dolls. During this time, Rett also spent time hiking with PT and Sasha, including conquering 14ers together, skied during the winter and, in 1996, started an annual tradition of jogging the Bolder Boulder with Sasha.

While spending time in Russia, Rett discovered the -stans. He worked as an international development consultant in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan, in both Kabul and Herat. He loved the people and the cultures of the region and made many deep connections and lifelong friends. As tensions grew in the area, Rett eventually returned to Afghanistan as a representative of USAID, helping to develop schools and infrastructure for communities that were cut off from government funding by the unrest. He lived among the military and had to learn life-saving protocols like defensive driving and evacuating from a helicopter very quickly — the helicopter part wasn’t fun because he was scared of heights.

In all this time, Rett became a grandfather to PT and his wife, Jennelle’s children: Parker (2002), Mia (2006) and Brennen (2013). In 2013, Rett was working in Afghanistan when he received news that his 7-year-old granddaughter, Mia, had been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. He promptly returned to Colorado to be with her and family through the very difficult time of losing her. Her loss grounded Rett in family more than he had ever been.

Rett refocused his path once again by fostering his love for other cultures locally from Boulder. The Boulder area became his happy place, and he was able to do so much of what he loved. He resumed his involvement in the Boulder Dushanbe Sister City group (with whom he and Tania had worked in the 1980s to bring the Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse to Boulder) and quickly stepped up to the helm. He traveled to Tajikistan numerous times, including leading groups of tourists from Boulder to explore the country, helped organize local events promoting the art and culture of Tajikistan and established connections that helped the organization grow. He became a well-loved member of the Tajik community of Colorado.

Rett loved hiking and regularly ventured into the mountains, sometimes just going off on his own and walking up the side of a mountain, path or no path. Throughout the winter, he would ski at Eldora with anyone who would go with him. In the spring, he’d run the Bolder Boulder with Sasha. He would also spend time on family land at the White Rocks in eastern Boulder. In 2021, Rett was blessed with another grandson, Arlo, and in 2024, another granddaughter, Theo, both born to Sasha and her partner, Nick, because PT was too old by then.

After a very full life, Rett died of cancer on Jan. 30, 2026. He will be missed by more than he’ll ever know. He was an adventurer and scholar, a friend, a cherished husband, brother, father and grandpa, and a good man. He is preceded in death by his parents, Theo and Tell; his sister Buff; and his granddaughter Mia, who we imagine met him with her huge, dimpled smile and a tight hug. He is survived by his wife, Tania; son PT (Jennelle); daughter Sasha (Nick Partridge); grandchildren Parker, Brennen, Arlo and Theo; siblings Jann, Jill and Twig; and nieces and nephews.

A celebration of life is planned for Memorial Day weekend at Eldora Ski Area. Join us in closing out the weekend by registering to walk or run the Bolder Boulder in a wave dedicated to Rett (details forthcoming). In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Founders Pledge Rapid Response Fund (https://www.founderspledge.com/programs/rapid-response-fund), which fills in funding gaps created by the loss of USAID, or to the Morgan Adams Foundation (www.morganadamsfoundation.org), which funds research to find a cure for pediatric cancer.