By Scott Condon Klaus Obermeyer celebrated his 99th birthday Monday the way he likes it — with a Bavarian band, apfelstrudel mit schlag and surrounded by scores of friends, family and co-workers.
His annual party was held at the Aspen Business Center headquarters of Sport Obermeyer, the ski-wear company he founded in 1947 in Aspen and continues to oversee.
The Aspen Times caught up with Obermeyer on Friday to ask him how he has aged so gracefully. He was, as usual, in good spirits with his personal life and his company’s performance this year. A strong start to the winter in almost all of the country has spurred strong sales at the retail outlets that sell Obermeyer clothing, he said. His philosophy on life shined through when he was asked what’s new in his life over the past year.
“There’s so much new, it’s a dynamic world that we’re living in and dancing in, which makes it very wonderful,” he said. “It never gets to wondering, ‘Oh, what should we do next?’ There’s always opportunity to make things better.”
Aspen Times: I was hoping to talk to you about your thoughts on how you have lived so long and remained in great shape, if you don’t mind.
Klaus: “The philosophy that I apply in my life and for the company is to create win-win situations, never make a win-lose. That keeps everybody happy. Our suppliers are happy, our dealers are happy and consumers are happy. So whatever it takes to get a win-win, that’s kind of the thing to do.”
AT: Tell me a little bit about your exercise routine.
Klaus: “I swim half a mile every day, very slow, breaststroke and on my back, half of it. And when I’m on my back I see the nice houses on Red Mountain.
“I work out on the machines in the club. I think we get by nature a gift by having a body. If we don’t use it, it goes to hell, so it’s really important to keep using it. Do pushups and whatever you can to keep it going.
“Aikido is a great martial arts that has a wonderfulness to it. In Aikido you don’t hurt your partner, you control your partner. If you hurt him, he may come back two days later and hit you with a two-by-four. Aikido brings about peace. Aikido exists spiritually as well as physically. The older you get, the more you use of the spiritual part and a little less on the mat.”
AT: Anything special diet-wise?
Klaus: “You don’t want to eat more than you burn off. If you eat more than you burn off you have to carry around all kinds of stuff unnecessarily. I think Aspen and Colorado, it has a climate that’s ideal for outdoor exercises, for skiing, for mountain climbing, for tennis, you name it.”
AT: What about the power of positive thinking?
Klaus: “Everybody has that opportunity. It’s our choice of perception. How do we perceive the world around us? We can perceive it negatively and go to hell or we can perceive …read more
Via:: Post Independent