Tyler Hamm had big plans and his whole life in front of him.<\/p>\n
The 20-year-old Charlotte, North Carolina, native had spent the past two years cooking in Aspen during the winter and Alaska in the summer, and had four job offers on the table for next summer, his father, Tracy Hamm, said in a phone interview Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were two in Alaska, one in Banff (Canada) and one in Maine,\u201d he said. \u201cHe was trying to figure out what was next.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those plans, however, came to an end Sunday morning after Tyler attempted the first jump at the Makaha Terrain Park at Snowmass Mountain Resort. He came down on his head and chest, sustained a head injury and \u201cmost likely died instantly,\u201d Tracy Hamm said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf there\u2019s any blessing at all \u2014 we\u2019ve got to think he didn\u2019t suffer,\u201d Tracy said. \u201cHe loved the outdoors. He was doing what he loved. He loved Aspen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tyler wasn\u2019t wearing a helmet at the time of the accident, an Aspen Skiing Co. spokesman has said. He died of multiple blunt force injuries, according to the Pitkin County Coroner\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n
Tracy Hamm was traveling in India for business when Tyler died and didn\u2019t arrive back in North Carolina until Tuesday. One of the first calls he received that wasn\u2019t from the coroner or paramedics came from Mike Kaplan, Skico\u2019s CEO, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt meant the world,\u201d Tracy said. \u201cHe said the same things (the family had already heard) about how the staff was devastated and considered (Tyler) family. You could hear from his voice he was devastated too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tyler worked as a cook at Lynn Britt Cabin, located above the terrain park where he died. His Skico friends and colleagues called him \u201ckind, funny and passionate\u201d and said he was a skilled and reliable member of the restaurant team, according to a statement released earlier this week.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe miss him deeply,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n
Tracy Hamm echoed those comments, saying his son was \u201cvery personable and outgoing\u201d and that he could talk to anyone.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was particularly kind,\u201d he said. \u201cHe was always willing to help. He never batted an eye. If you just ask, he\u2019d help.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tyler\u2019s journey to Aspen began around 2016, when he and his parents and younger brother took a cruise to Alaska. Tyler was about 18 and met a lot of people his age, which opened his eyes to the larger world outside North Carolina, Tracy Hamm said.<\/p>\n
In January 2017, Tyler came downstairs and told his parents he had a job offer for the summer in Alaska.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt surprised us,\u201d Tracy Hamm said. \u201cHe had done a Google search and just applied.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tyler loved being outside and enjoyed hiking and camping in Alaska, his father said. When the summer ended, a sous chef he\u2019d worked with invited him to come to Aspen and work here for the winter, Tracy Hamm said. Tyler accepted, moved to town and worked at the Sundeck on Aspen Mountain for the winter of 2017-18.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were just blown away,\u201d Tracy Hamm said. \u201cWe thought he was coming home, but he had an opportunity to work in Aspen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Father and son drove out from Charlotte to Aspen together that fall, just the two of them, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had the time of our lives,\u201d he said. \u201cHe was an adult. I was taking him on his next adventure.\u201d<\/p>\n
After that first winter in Aspen, when Tyler picked up snowboarding for the first time, he returned to Alaska for the summer and came back to Aspen this winter. He\u2019d been talking about making Colorado his permanent home and was particularly taken with snowboarding, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was finding his groove,\u201d Tracy Hamm said. \u201cHe was just having the time of his life.\u201d<\/p>\n
In fact, Tracy Hamm had suggested another road trip to whatever destination Tyler chose for the upcoming summer season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was kinda hoping that would work out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In addition to his father, Tyler is survived by his mother, Debbie, and his 16-year-old brother, Dylan, who is taking his older brother\u2019s death particularly hard, Tracy Hamm said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were very, very close,\u201d Tracy Hamm said. \u201cThat was his first friend and only brother.\u201d<\/p>\n
The family plans to visit Aspen in the coming weeks to clean out Tyler\u2019s apartment and meet his friends, Tracy Hamm said. In the meantime, they\u2019re trying to adjust to the \u201cnew normal\u201d of life without him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was just very generous and incredibly kind-hearted and good-natured,\u201d Tracy Hamm said. \u201cHe was just one of those good guys.\u201d<\/p>\n