RIP Charlie Toups

**Hacksaw** · 08-07-2020, 09:53 AM

https://coloradosun.com/2020/08/07/c...epe7Nolx1_Bau4

**yeahman** · 08-07-2020, 10:10 AM

Interesting story about a hardcore dude. RIP

**Name Redacted** · 08-07-2020, 10:39 AM

Sad to see him go. We crossed paths a lot skiing, biking, and on the road. You could always recognize him from a distance. I’d see him downhilling at Keystone in full pads, riding a clapped out mountain bike all over the county, old beater motorcycle in my neighborhood, or skiiing at the basin in old gear and a huge backpack plowing his way down Pali. Like the article said, he wasn’t what anyone would consider good at any of these endeavors, but he was out there doing it every day and seemed happy. Definitely a strange dude if ya talked to him, but always nice to me.

RIP

**jummo** · 08-07-2020, 01:23 PM

I knew Charlie back in the late 70's early 80's when he lived at Aspen Highlands. The article said it was a beetle, but I recall that he lived in a VW squareback. Either way, it was pretty hardcore, although there were a fair number of others who lived in the parking lot.
We called him "The Condiment King" for his predilection for making tomato soup out of ketchup, hot water and crackers and crackers with mayo and pickles. Others knew him as "Avalanche Charlie".
Even in an era where there were still lots of true ski bums, he was a standout. Years later, when I saw the headline about someone getting in trouble for living in the parking lot at Loveland, I was not surprised to see it was him, still at it.
He knew what he wanted out of life and was living it on his own terms.

jummo

**ma0ccf** · 08-11-2020, 08:18 PM

i nsider there is a person who brings sunshine into your life. that individual may have sufficient to spread around. however in case you clearly have to watch for a person to bring you the sun and give you a great feeling, then you can have to wait a long time.

**bendtheski** · 08-13-2020, 09:43 AM

I first learned about Charlie Toups after accepting a job with the Clear Creek County Sheriff's Office. Charlie was incarcerated in our jail, and I had heard about the free Charlie Toups petition. Charles cut a deal, and I would meet the man in-person the following spring.

Our paths would cross from time to time. Charlie wasn't the greatest skier, but had more passion for the sport than most. He was quirky, but wise, and a rash of interaction on social media recently revealed eloquence and a social conscience, wishing for justice and equality for all, but experienced enough with human nature not to get his hopes to high for meaningful change.

Good to have known you Charlie. Have a peaceful eternity.