Saying goodbye to Chip Webster

Colorado-based sales representative Chip Webster died Dec. 29, 2006, of unknown causes in the driveway of his home located in the mountains west of Boulder, Colo.

Greg Hine and George Knaggs penned the following tribute to Webster:

Born in Nashville, Tenn., on April 29, 1949, Chip moved to Colorado in the ’60s to attend and graduate from Denver University. He started in the outdoor, cycling and water sports industries on the sales floor of Ross Hardware (Denver, Colo.) in the early ’70s, selling skis and kayaks. Soon he moved over to working with Leroy Gonzales at Telemark Ski Shop (Denver, Colo.) before becoming an independent sales representative. Starting in the mid-70s, Chip represented lines as diverse as Hine/Snowbridge and Karrimor backpacks, Kirtland and Pearl Izumi cycling gear, Thule and Yakima racks, Climb High, Filson, MSR, Nike (ACG), and Phoenix, Prjion and Hobie kayaks, along with many other lines too numerous to list. In the mid-90s, Chip formed a sales agency, Peak Sports Inc., representing Thule, Nike ACG, Sugoi, Clif Bar, and Hobie and Prjion Kayaks. In 2005, Chip dissolved Peak Sports to have more time to enjoy life and focus on the paddle sports products he was so passionate about.

Most recently, Chip had accepted a position with Hobie kayaks to represent their products in the southeast. Chip was very excited about moving to Florida where he could pursue his love for boating on a year-round basis.Chip loved the outdoors, living in the mountains, hiking, skiing, kayaking the rivers of North America, and sailing in the Caribbean and the South Pacific. He was committed to the outdoors in his personal as well as his professional life. A memorial service will be held Jan. 4, 2007, at 4 p.m. in the Unity Church, at the corner of Folsom and Valmont Streets in Boulder, Colo. For donations to an education fund for Chip’s two daughters, please contact their mother at: audreyrep@aol.com.

We thank you, Chip, for traveling life’s path with us.