MEEKER I Larry Modlin, a Meeker High School alumnus and son of Nettie Faye and the late Lon Modlin, is retiring after 47 years of running his own businesses. At 67 he looks forward to skiing with his twin grandsons who also live in Greeley.
Modlin grew up in Meeker and lived at the top of Seventh Street when he began skiing in the second grade. He went down the Ryan’s Hill on wooden planks and progressed to vacation time in British Columbia helicopter skiing. He ran an outdoor equipment store in Greeley and was the longtime owner of the Alpine Haus. He taught himself to snowboard as the sport became more popular and would not sell snowboards until he knew the sport.
Modlin’s long time customers are concerned about what they will do now as Modlin is “one of northern Colorado’s leaders of recreation,” stated a friend in a January 2013 article in the Greeley Tribune. Modlin ran a service six times a year to the resorts near Greeley.
As a youngster, Modlin rode the ski bus from Meeker started by Frank Cooley. He remembered how the older kids would take care of the younger ones, usually, but there were no parents along.
“You were on your own, really. There wasn’t any thought of, you know, liability,” he said.
The Meeker Recreation District is starting up a new ski bus for young kids with the same idea: to get kids skiing and lower the cost by taking several skiers. The last trip had 17 kids and they are planning another trip on Feb. 18.
Modlin came from a background of skiing. His father, Lon Modlin, was in the 10th Mountain Division, and the soldiers trained in mountaineering to give the U.S. an edge in World War II. Modlin pursued his undergraduate degree at what is now the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley and began a ski shop in Fort Collins on a grant for an economics study at Colorado State University. He opened the Alpine Haus in Greeley and decided to leave his post at his shop in Fort Collins. His shop was in an old church, soon the store had to move and in 1978 he bought the business, taking advantage of Greeley’s push west. As the town grew, the shop moved again to its current location in 1999.
He worked six days a week and when he would visit Meeker to see his mom or for Christmas, his time was short. His daughter, Marcy Sanger, who works as a counselor at Eaton High School said, “It was time consuming but it was always something he loved. He always managed to find time to ski with his two daughters and enjoy their high school sports.
“My dad breathes this. He’s so passionate about it,” Sanger said. They know he will miss the business but he will find time now to enjoy the sport he loves with his grandkids.
Modlin’s mother, Nettie Faye, said, “He called me up on New Year’s this year and asked what my new year’s resolution was.” She told him she stopped making them as she never keeps them. He said, “I have one that I am going to keep.” Then he told her he was retiring.
Nettie Faye is proud of her son and the job he has done. “He worked when he was in college so he hired college kids to work in his shops.”
She deeply appreciates Frank Cooley’s role in getting kids involved in skiing, and all the time he put in. Modlin has truly “paid it forward” and achieved his goal of introducing kids to his favorite sport, as well as paying tribute to his father’s military service.
Congratulations to Larry Modlin and his family for a tremendous career in the ski and snowboard business.
