American expat from Germany attracted to study ski area operations
By Lori Meurs
Leadville – Colorado Mountain College Timberline Campus is benefitting from worldwide appeal again this fall with the continued studies of international student Tae Ho Park, who comes from South Korea. This fall, Owen Darrow joined the student community from Heidelberg, Germany. Both students are enrolled in the college’s ski area operations (SAO) degree program.
Darrow learned to ski about the same time he learned to walk. Skiing and winter sports are his passion. He began his life in Washington state, moving to Montana as he entered elementary school. Lost Trail Powder Mountain was his second home. He would get up at 5:00 a.m. to ride with the resort owner as he groomed the trails. Then the young Darrow would take his dad on a guided ski tour of the trails where he and the resort owner had just worked.
The Darrow family moved to Heidelberg, Germany, where Owen began junior high school. His father, Jeff Darrow, is a U.S. Department of Defense civilian working with the U.S. Army Garrison Grafenwoehr as a staff architect and chief of operations and maintenance. Owen’s mother, Dawn, is a second-grade teacher and reading specialist at the Department of Defense School in Mannheim, Germany. The family also includes Owen’s younger sister, Olivia. Living in Europe gave the family the opportunity to ski the Alps in Austria, Switzerland and France.
As Darrow prepared for his senior year in high school, his thoughts turned to college. “Looking for the right college with Owen entailed finding a hands-on platform focused on the outdoor arena,” said his father. “We knew a traditional university environment wouldn’t be a good fit. Initially an Internet inquiry brought Colorado Mountain College onto our radar screen. It looked like a good fit. Our initial interest in the college was solidified by an article in the National Ski Patrol membership publication which features the CMC experience and the various paths that graduates had carved.”
Owen and his dad visited Leadville in August 2008, to check out the community and the college. They were both impressed. They visited again in December 2008 and were left with the same positive impression. Owen said, “I decided to go to Leadville because I like the small size and it has all the classes that I wanted to take for SAO. Not a bad place to live with so many mountains everywhere to ski and hike, like a dream.” After graduation, he plans to get a job at a ski resort and go from there.
Darrow also expressed his perceptions after being in Leadville for a few weeks. “The staff [at CMC] are super nice and willing to help me out and give me personal attention, which was one of the main reasons I came to Timberline. The students are friendly and are always out doing something like climbing or hiking. In the first couple of weeks I’ve been here I’ve hiked Massive and Elbert at 3 a.m. to watch the sunrise. Hiking Mt. Elbert after class can’t be done anywhere but here!”