Charles Eaton Baraw Sr., 79, died Friday, March 3, 2023, at the McClure Miller Respite House. Chuck was born Aug. 23, 1943, in Providence, R.I., to Stuart Winfield and Beatrice Collins Baraw.

Whether you knew him as an original ski bum, forward-thinking business leader, Stowe Legend, or generous and loving friend, Chuck never failed to make an impression. A skier on Mt. Mansfield since the 1950s and full-time resident since 1970, Chuck also left his mark on Stowe. For over 50 years, he guided the development of the Stoweflake Resort, served the town and business community, excelled as a citizen ski-racer and made Stowe a center of hot air-balloonin

At UVM, Chuck competed on the ski team in all three winter carnival events and met his first wife, Barbara Anderson. They had a son and a daughter, Charles Jr., and Sheri. In the summer of 1963, Chuck and Barbara helped Stu Sr., Bea, Stu Jr., and Stu Jr.’s wife Marion with construction of the original Stoweflake Inn and Lodge. After graduation, Chuck left Vermont with his young family to work in the cryogenic gas industry in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Buffalo.

Then, in 1969, the expansion of the Stoweflake gave Chuck the opportunity to return to Stowe and join the family business. He spent the next four decades growing the original Stoweflake Inn and Motel into a hundred-room luxury resort. It was run by three generations of the Baraw family for nearly 60 years.

Chuck’s innovations at the Stoweflake, where he developed one of the first conference centers and first full-service spas in Vermont, extended beyond the family business to sharing his vision of Stowe as a four-season resort with the wider community. He took an active role in leading the town and the Vermont hospitality industry toward this goal, serving as president of the Stowe Area Association in the early 1980s and again in 2013, and serving as a board member for 40 years.

He held prominent statewide positions, including president and director of the Vermont Lodging and Restaurant Association and director and president of the Vermont Chamber of Commerce. Chuck’s contributions to the industry were frequently recognized by his peers. He was awarded the Borden E. Avery Innkeeper of the Year Award in 1986, the Stowe Area Association Businessman of the Year in 2004 and the Vermont Travel Person of the Year in 2007.

He was particularly proud when Sheri Baraw Smith won the Avery Innkeeper of the Year Award in 2008, making Chuck and Sheri the only father-daughter pair to win the award.

Chuck also served the town as longtime member and chair of the Stowe Planning Commission, where he advocated for responsible growth and preservation of Stowe’s unique heritage. As a persistent advocate of what came to be called, “Chuck’s Sidewalk,” he helped make the historic West Branch Village more friendly to pedestrians.

Chuck approached everything in life with gusto, playing as hard as he worked, and working hard at his favorite sports, especially ski racing. Though he had no formal race-training as a youth, Chuck made up for it in adulthood, often running gates with Mt. Mansfield Ski Club junior racers, and competing every week in the Stowe Ski Bum races. He was one of the top three bum racers in the 1970s and led the Stoweflake team for decades.

An ardent individual competitor, Chuck was a NASTAR regional finalist and won his age group in 1987. He also loved team racing and won the Equitable Family Ski Challenge national championship in the father-son category with Chuck Jr. in 1978 and the regional championship in the father-daughter category with Sheri in 1980.

Chuck was an original member of the MMSC “A Team” that won the Grand Marnier and Jeep Challenge championships a half dozen times between 1979 and 1989. Chuck completed his citizen-racing career by competing in the giant slalom at the U.S. Alpine Masters nationals.

In the off-season, Chuck embraced many ways to stay active and enjoy Stowe, including tennis, rollerblading, windsurfing and road-biking. He was a founding member of the Stowe Squash Club and played regularly for years. But his favorite off-slope activity was hot air ballooning. He could often be seen overhead, piloting a balloon above the hills and valleys of Stowe.

Chuck took up ballooning in the 1970s with a group of friends who started the Stowe Balloon Company, flying a balloon called, The Spirit of Stowe. Later, Chuck and Stu took over the company and the balloon became The Spirit of Stoweflake.

They started the Stoweflake Balloon Festival soon after, an event that attracted thousands of visitors and balloonists to Stowe for more than 30 years. Chuck’s many balloon adventures include the first hot air balloon flight over Mt. Mansfield, a spectacular take-off from Foxboro stadium for a New England Patriots half-time show and a balloon tether in New York City’s Bryant Park for a segment on “Good Morning America.”

Though no scratch golfer, Chuck also loved golf. He was a longtime participant in the Joe Kirkwood Memorial golf tournament — winning his flight once when he had an outstanding partner — and he became a founding member of the Country Club of Vermont in Waterbury Center. In recent years, Chuck enjoyed driving his vintage Porsche to the club with the top down, surrounded by the mountains he loved.

Chuck is survived by his wife, Amy; his son, Chuck Jr. (Kimberly Benson); daughter, Sheri Smith (Eric); grandchildren, Rachel and Chesley Smith, and Elijah and Henry Baraw; brother, Stu (Marion); sister Donna Wheeler; his first wife, Barbara Baraw; nieces and nephew and their spouses, Sonja Raymond (Tim), Scot Baraw (MaryLou), Tracey Wheeler and Jennifer Wheeler (Ovi Stoica); and several grand nieces and nephews.

A memorial at the Stowe Community Church, followed by a celebration of Chuck’s life at the Country Club of Vermont, will be held on Saturday, May 20, 2023.