Obituary: Chris Kastner

A graduate of Montana State University with a construction engineering degree, Chris decided to follow his passions in the ski industry. He started as a race coach at Mt. Hood Meadows and was quickly recruited to teach in the Ski School as well. Chris excelled at teaching skiing and in PSIA, "Professional Ski Instructors of America." This gained him the opportunity to work at many different resorts such as Aspen, Schweitzer as the ski school manager, Crystal Mountain as the ski and snowboard school director, and eventually back to Mt. Hood Meadows where he finished his career as the director of resort services.

Chris also served two four-year terms as a PSIA Alpine Team member, a group that is considered to be the top ski instructors in the nation. He held various other roles with PSIA including tech team member, and certification vice president of PSIA-NW. During his summers off, Chris coached ski race camps at Timberline, where he met Noburo Matsumoto, a coach from Japan. Together they started a race camp for Japanese ski racers, which they ran together for almost 30 years. Through his work in coaching and the leadership positions he held, Chris was able to share his passion for the sport he loved with many others, helping grow their skills and careers, and also celebrating their successes. He loved every minute of it.

Chris married his best friend and playmate, Debbie Fuller, when they were living up in Seattle and Greenwater. Theirs has been an amazing relationship full of incredible adventures on the snow, on the water, on beaches, and in each other's arms. They were the yin to each other's yang and made a happy home in Hood River together.

Ashley, Chris’ only daughter, made him extremely proud. As soon as she could stand, he had her on skis. Throughout life, they shared a love for skiing, mountain biking, kiting, and dogs. They got to spend the last few years working together at Meadows in jobs they loved. Chris was able to hear and celebrate the news of Ashley’s recent engagement to Joe. The news gave him great joy.

Chris leaves behind his loving wife, Debbie Fuller; his daughter Ashley Kastner (Joe); his mother Nancy Kastner; brother Brad Kastner (Kellie); mother-in-law Gloria Staniforth; sister-in-law Wendy Lewrew (Jay); and nieces Allie Kastner and Niki Reaux, and nephew Jake Kastner. He is preceded in death by his father David and his brother Jeff.

There is a community of many amazing friends that will miss him greatly. He wanted his friends to know how much he appreciated all of the help and support over the last 11 months for him and Debbie.

A gathering of friends and family is planned for Chris on Nov. 28 from 5:30-8ish p.m. in the Columbia Room at the Best Western Plus Hood River Inn. If you have pictures to share for the event, please upload them at bit.ly/ckastner. If you would like to make a donation in his name, two recommended options would be the Snowboard Outreach Society (sosoutreach.org), one of many organizations Chris worked with to introduce skiing and snowboarding to those who had been historically excluded from the sport, or the PNSIA Education Foundation (psia-nw.org/membership/scholarships/), which is used to provide scholarships to northwest instructors pursuing further education with PSIA. In addition, the original GoFundMe (gofundme.com/chris-kastners-journey-back) is still open for donations to help cover current expenses and help Debbie’s future without Chris.

Thank you to Providence Hospice and the amazing care he received from the caregivers from Bobbi’s Way.

Through any adversity that came his way, Chris spent every day loving life and helping others to do the same. There is no doubt that instead of grief he would want those that cared about him to focus on living their lives to their fullest and celebrating all the fun times that were shared together.

Arrangements are under the direction of Anderson's Tribute Center, 1401 Belmont Ave., Hood River, Ore. Visit www.AndersonsTributeCenter.com to leave a note of condolence for the family.