Cover photo - Gold Peak Ski and Snowboard School

[Tricia]

Gold Peak posted this cool shot of Bergie for their cover photo. Just a cool shot of a cool ski instructor and friend of some of our esteemed members. @Weems Westfeldt I bet this made you smile.

Cheers to Bergie!

 

[Bob Barnes]

Hey--I took that picture! It's from video, on Juarez, at Taos, New Mexico during a PSIA-Rocky Mountain Level 3 Certification exam.

Bergie was one of the best, and I miss his friendship, his mentorship, his brilliant skiing, his powerful motivation, his wry sense of humor, and his intelligence and willingness to look and question from many perspectives. He was an inspiration to me and many others. He had high expectations of everyone, and he could become the necessary burr under the saddle of anyone who wasn't performing as well he thought they could.

That picture was taken the day after we had announced the runs where we would hold the skiing tasks of the challenging Level 3 "Full Certification" exam at Taos, and it reminds me of one of my favorite Bergie stories. Juarez was to be the venue for our performance off-piste crud run ("Variable Terrain and Conditions"). It is a spectacular, signature run at Taos that involves a reasonably short but breathtakingly beautiful hike up to Highline Ridge. From the middle of the room, a candidate stood up and complained. "I don't think it's appropriate to have to hike in an exam. I'm over 40, and I don't hike, and this is not fair...."

He went on for a bit, and then Bergie stopped him and said, "Hey, no problem! We have something just for you. Level Two." The guy sat back down and said no more. The next day--the day of that picture--we hiked up and skied Juarez, and the guy who had complained actually had a great run and passed the exam. After the results came out that evening, he came up to Bergie and me and apologized. He thanked Bergie for pushing him to a level he hadn't even realized he had in him, and said that he had just learned a whole lot about what that gold pin really means. It was amazing.

That was Jerry Berg. He could piss people off, but it was always meant to prod them out of complacency to perform at the level that he knew they could rise to. Sometimes people didn't get what he'd done for them until later, but almost everyone discovered new levels of achievement because of Bergie's "tough love."

Bergie died in a bicycle accident near Vail a few years ago. A memorial "celebration of life" event was held for him, and the venue changed several times as it became clear how many people would show up. There must have been a thousand people there, still too many to fit inside the large room of the event, as people spilled out the doorways and strained to hear the tributes and stories from outside.

Bergie, I miss ya, man.
Bob

 

[Tricia]

@Bob Barnes I'm not surprised that you took that shot. Thanks for sharing the story.