May 1, 1947—April 17, 2025
Chas passed away peacefully on April 17 with his wife Gail at his side. Chas was born on May 1, 1947, in Springfield, MA. He grew up in Ridgewood, NJ, with his parents Jack and Muriel (Cookie) and his sisters Susan Thomas and Elizabeth Pilot.
As kids, the family traveled to the Jersey shore, skied at Killington and Mt. Snow and made several trips to Ashton, ID, where Chas’s father lived as a boy. On one of those trips, Chas climbed the Grand Teton in 1962. After graduating from high school in 1967 he spent summers at Yellowstone National Park, Bridge Bay, as a fishing guide and winters at Mt. Snow and Aspen busing and working in the ski shop. In Aspen he was Spider Sabich’s busboy.
In 1968 the draft caught up with him and he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps for two years. He spent one year in Vietnam with the 2nd Battalion, 26th Marines in various locations near the DMZ.
Those family ski trips, when he was a boy, ignited a lifelong passion for skiing and travel and these passions drove his career choices for the rest of his life. After he completed his tour of duty Chas chose to attend Paul Smith’s College, Saranac Lake, NY where he studied Hotel and Restaurant Management. Chas chose Smitty’s because of its quarter academic sessions. He could finish the fall quarter in early December and skip the winter term from January to March to ski and then return to college for the spring term.
This was a perfect arrangement because his parents had retired to Island Park, ID and Chas had a base to ski at Targhee and Big Sky. Chas and his father skied at Big Sky in December, 1973, and Chas and his family and friends continued skiing there for years.
After Paul Smith’s, Chas finished his degree at Florida International University and graduated in 1975.
Chas used his college experiences in many ways. He worked as a civilian auditor for the U.S. Navy traveling to several Naval Officer’s Clubs around the U.S. and the world. At one of the O Clubs, Chas solved the mystery of money missing from the gambling machines in the club. He spent the night in the club and caught a club employee breaking into the club, through a hole hidden in the floor, who would steal money from the machines. He was the food and beverage manager at Snowbird during the 1977-1978 season and got to experience one of the legendary Snow Bird “snowed-in” days. The road to Little Cottonwood Canyon was closed and the only people who could ski over 3 feet of Wasatch Cold Smoke were those people trapped in the Canyon.
Chas moved to Odessa, Texas to be the food and beverage manager for the Hilton Hotel there. While in Odessa he and several partners opened “Oliver’s,” a restaurant whose menu theme was food from around the British Empire. All those jobs took him away from his true love, skiing, and he finally sold his share in Oliver’s and moved back to Idaho. By 1982 Chas was a member of the Big Sky community, living his true life as a ski bum at Big Sky.
Chas lived in virtually every condo complex: Hill, Big Horn, Broadwater, Silverbow, Glacier, Hidden Village, and West Fork, often changing residences and moving from one condo to another as the opportunity arose.
To support this lifestyle Chas had many jobs. He was one of the first people that worked for Jackie and Mark Robin at the original Hungry Moose. He worked for Chickenfry at the Orehouse liquor store, Sky Spirits in the Meadow, for Renae and Steve Shumaker at the Conoco, as a bouncer at Scissorbills and as a waiter at the Big EZ Lodge. For years he was the paperboy for the Bozeman Daily Chronicle because it was an afternoon paper and he could never miss a powder day and still get to work on time.
Some of Chas’s favorite memories were of hiking to ski the Big Couloir before the tram, building sun porches on the side of the bowl and finding every skiable tree stash on the mountain. He was part of the crew that installed the Foggy Goggle, the first hut on the Big Sky Mountain. He was also part of the crews that built the Buddha Hut and the Blue Room. Sean’s Shack (named for Sean Blevins) was a favorite hangout. Chas liked to hike the mountain in the summertime and he and Gail and his sister Elizabeth would go to the huts and gather the empty beer cans for proper disposal.
The Dirtbag 8’s and the Underground were the highlight of each ski season. Chas loved the festivities and celebrating the ski bum lifestyle. For years he made breakfast for anyone and he participated in the 8’s into his seventies. In 1992, Spotz didn’t show up at the Ball, so Chas became king and Lisa Whorall was his queen.
In 1999 Chas met Gail while hiking the Big Horn Trail in Yellowstone. In true Chas style, his opening line was, “Did you see the bear by the bridge?” They both knew their lives had changed that day and they were together for over 25 years.
Chas loved to travel. He often joined the spring trip to Mexico with all the “bums.” He finally returned to Asia in 1998 for the first time since his year in Vietnam. Although he never returned to Vietnam, he and Gail traveled to Thailand and Laos for two months every fall from 2000-2015. He also went to Venezuela, Jamaica, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Bali, Japan, and Australia.
In retrospect the Covid pandemic in 2020 signaled the end of his ski career. After avoiding the congestion and crowds at the ski resort, the lack of physical activity allowed the effects of Agent Orange exposure in Vietnam to dominate his health. He never returned to the mountain.
Chas is survived by his wife, Gail, sisters Susan Thomas and Elizabeth Pilot and his nephews Jack Pilot and Justin Hardine (Tracy, and daughter Ellie). He is also survived by Gail’s children Mara Drake and Bryan Duering and their families.
A celebration of all things Chas will be held on December 10. There will be a gathering on the mountain that day (be at the base of Swift Current at noon) and there will be a Big Sky send off at Scissorbills après ski. All who loved Chas are invited.
