Under a movie screen-sized photo of a well-muscled, blue-eyed man on a beach, a mourning legion sat weeping.
The man, Aspen-based 27-year-old extreme skier John Nicoletta, died Friday afternoon in an accident at the U.S. World Freeskiing Championships in Alyeska, Alaska.
Monday evening, his friends, fans and fellow skiers filled a conference room at the Aspen Square Hotel, the young crowd spilling over into the hotel courtyard.
A film presentation and slide show showcased Nicoletta charging through waist-deep powder and leaping from snowbound cliffs, painting a vivid picture of a passionate and gifted athlete. Reminiscences from friends at the memorial portrayed Nicoletta as not only an elite skier but an inspiring friend and a smart aleck with a quick smile.
“Johnny’s passing leaves a hole in all of us and in Aspen, I believe,” said Aspen Square General Manager Warren Klug, who emceed the memorial. Klug’s daughter attended Colby College with Nicoletta.
His teammates, who are still in Alaska, sent along a written message, which was read by fellow freeskier Ted Davenport. They related a story of a giddy Nicoletta leading them to the top of a backcountry peak, under blue Alaskan skies last week, after the rest of them had decided it was too steep to climb. “Excitement and enthusiasm permeated everything he did,” they wrote. “This week was unquestionably the happiest we’d ever seen Johnny.”
Nicoletta, who worked nights at Campo di Fiori restaurant, was finishing a prize-winning ski season in which he placed second at the freeskiing championships in Telluride.
“Johnny was having a kick-ass season,” Davenport said. “He was there (in Alaska) to win.”
Nicoletta’s girlfriend, Kate Olson, read an entry from his journal, in which he wrote, “Life is rarely about what happened. It’s about what we think happened.” She then reimagined Nicoletta’s fatal run as the best line he’d ever slayed.
“I know that Johnny, he’s gone now,” she said. “But he’s here in every snowflake. In every breath of fresh air.”
His college roommate, Mike Shea, remembered Nicoletta as an erratic sleeper with a stupefying energy level. “I don’t remember him ever letting you down,” Shea said. “He made me just in awe. And he touched every person here, which might be the greatest thing he did.”
Among the video footage of Nicoletta was a scene of him flying over a rock face, landing in a magnificent splash of powder, tumbling head over heals, losing a ski — and then hopping up without missing a beat, twirling a ski pole over his head and taking a dramatic and self-effacing bow.
Nicoletta’s legendary mountain theatrics and buoyant personality shined through the tears last night. And everyone agreed on Nicoletta’s version of heaven. As Warren Klug put it, “Perhaps it’s a place with great cliffs and powder.”
Nicoletta will be buried in his home state of Massachusetts on Friday. He was honored previously with on-mountain ski-alongs on Aspen Mountain and at the competition in Alaska.
andrew@aspendailynews.com
