Chris Klug

Chris Klug just might be Aspen's closest to thing a real-life superhero. A native to Colorado, Klug was raised with the mountains in his blood. In1983, he entered the Burton Backhill event in Bend, Oregon and immediately became hooked on competitive snowboarding. The '90s brought World Cup victories in Alpine snowboarding as well as an upsetting diagnosis—sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), a rare degenerative liver disease. Never letting his disease get the best of him, Klug kept his focus on his sport and was a member of the first-ever Olympic snowboard team in Nagano, Japan. In 2000, Klug received a life-saving liver transplant and two years later was awarded the Olympic bronze medal in Salt Lake City for men's parallel giant slalom—a victory that solidified his superhero stature. In addition to snowboarding, Klug has made it a life pursuit to give back to the the community he now calls home by starting the Aspen Klug Snowboard Camp, which he hosts at Buttermilk each spring. When Klug isn't helping young snowboarders hone their skills, he spends his time touring the country lecturing on the importance of organ donation.