Ducky Derby winner Jeff Olson was hiking to Cathedral Lake, when his duck won the 2016 Ducky Derby. When he came back into cell range, his phone lit up with text messages from his wife, Kathy. "Call me","Call Me","Call Me." Kathy was out of town on vacation with their son. "Oh no," Jeff thought. "I hope nothing is wrong."
Kathy, a 20-year employee at the Aspen Skiing company had the the pleasure of telling her husband nothing was wrong; he had won the Ducky Derby! August 13 also happens to be the birthday of their son. Olson also saw his first moose on his way back from Cathedral Lake. "Overall I had a pretty good day last Saturday," Olson commented.
Olson, a Snowmass Village resident, bought 3 ducks from AVSC ski racer, Reese Chapdelaine, 10, also of Snowmass. In a wonderful synchronicity, Reese set up a table to sell ducks in front of the Snowmass Village location of this year's title sponsor, Clark's Market.
These were not the only ducks that Olson adopted this year. He said he bought several other batches, always from youngsters. "I've been buying ducks for at least 20 years," Olson quipped. "I figure I've just about broken even."
Olson is a Marketing Associate for Nobel Sysco Food Services and is well-known in Aspen and Snowmass. He says he plans to use part of his winnings for his "first-ever" pair of unused ski boots!
Lucky duck salesperson Reese Chapdelaine, 10 years old, sold "about 100 ducks," and she is using the money to help pay for this year's training with AVSC. Reese is a freestyle mogul competitor. When asked how it feels to have sold the #1 duck, Chapdelaine replied "Amazing!"
