It’s been a guiding principle his entire life, Hank Kaufmann (‘61) explained, “if you see an opportunity, go for it. Don’t sit there and ponder it, don’t consider if it’ll be a success, don’t procrastinate, just go for it.” And that’s exactly how Kaufmann has lived his life, evident in how he found Western, his experience as a student on the Ski Team, his successful business pursuits, and in his multiple charitable gift annuities exceeding $1 million to elevate Western into the future.
It was during his early adult years, while attending a community college on the east coast, after deciding not to move forward as a football athlete, leaving his glory days to his high school career and providing himself the opportunity to pursue his love of skiing.
“It was a fluke, one day in community college I went to the library to look at catalogs of colleges, Western was one of them.”
Kaufmann thought the size and location of the school would suit him and he attended Western without a visit or a second thought. During his first year, he asked Ski Coach Sven Wiik if he could come out and practice with the team a few times. Kaufmann, an experienced but untrained skier, was enamored by slalom skiing and spent his first summer in Gunnison “visualizing the gates”. His visualizing exercises paid off during his second winter in Gunnison when he tried out and walked onto the ski team, lettering in his final 3 years at Western. At the time, Western’s Ski Team found comradery and belonging on Rozman Hill, a local rancher’s property with a rope tow and the only downhill ski slope prior to Crested Butte’s establishment as a ski area.
A diligent student studying business with a minor in economics, his eagerness to learn connected Kaufmann outside of the University when he decided to learn how to fly an airplane. Mentored by Western alum Frank Buffet, who was not only a phenomenal pilot instructor, but life mentor to Kaufmann.
With education, skiing, a pilot’s license and life lessons in tow, Kaufmann started out his career after graduation by joining the ski industry, opening his own business, Ski Rack Sports in Washington state. A ski-shop cross with a cross country course in the winter and soccer field camp in the summer, Kaufmann thoroughly enjoyed continuing his passion for skiing through his business, with the company of 29 other Western graduates that he regularly connected with at ski industry trade shows. A career shift then led him to Utah, where Kaufmann found success in commercial property operations for over 20 years.
“My four years at Western were so special, what an incredible experience I had there. So many people don’t go for it.” Kaufmann recalled, “Attending Western, making the Ski Team, becoming a pilot, my business endeavors… Western gave me the tools to go for it, all along I was learning, and so much of that led to my success. Recently, I came to appreciate the profound impact that time had on me. Now through a 5th charitable annuity, Western will receive lasting benefits.”
