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Brady Meier died Friday after construction site accident

Brent Boyer
Police investigate the scene of a construction accident Friday morning next to Slopeside Grill in Steamboat Springs. Hayden resident Brady Meier died in the accident.
Matt Stensland

— A 29-year-old Hayden man died late Friday morning after a construction site accident at the base of Mount Werner.

Brady Meier was pronounced dead at 11:45 a.m. at Yampa Valley Medical Center, Routt County Coroner Rob Ryg said. The cause of his death has not been determined, but Ryg and investigating officers said they think Meier was struck with a fitting from a pressurized water line.

Ryg said an autopsy would be performed in Jefferson County to determine the exact cause of death.



Emergency responders were paged to the Steamboat Ski Area base at about 10 a.m. Friday for a report of a man who had been electrocuted.

The accident occurred at the site of the Urban Renewal Authority’s public improvement project on the north side of the base area next to Slopeside Grill. Duckels Construction has been contracted to replace a sewer line and prepare for the installation of a Burgess Creek diversion structure.



Duckels Construction owner Fred Duckels arrived at the site after the accident and helped police with the investigation. Duckels said Meier was trying to turn on a water valve inside a utility vault when a compression cap on another water line blew off and hit him. Duckels said the fitting recently had been tested.

“You can take care of the safety, but that was kind of a freak thing,” Duckels said.

Duckels said Meier had worked for him for about two years and recently had built a house in Hayden. His wife, Jenny, survives him.

Steamboat Springs Police Sgt. Dale Coyner said there’s nothing to indicate foul play was involved. Ryg said it appeared that Meier’s death was an accident.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigators were expected to arrive in Steamboat late Friday.

Brady and Jenny Meier loved to dance, and shared their love of swing dancing with the community. A Nov. 2, 2007, article in the Steamboat Today featured Meier and Jenny as they prepared to host Lindy Hop swing dancing workshops in Steamboat Springs. According to that article, the Meiers started dancing when they were students at the University of Wyoming. Brady Meier started a club called the Swing Pokes – a play on the university’s “Pokes” nickname – that performed at basketball games and social functions.

After graduating, the couple moved to New York City and danced with a professional group called Varsity Swing. They moved back West and recognized a need to encourage swing dancing locally.

“You get to know swing dancing, and you just fall in love with it,” Brady Meier told the Steamboat Today.

A phone number for Jenny Meier could not be located Friday afternoon.

The couple hosted more Lindy Hop dance workshops as recently as August’s inaugural Steamboat All Arts Festival.

Brady Meier also talked in late August about his and Jenny’s desire to build their lives in Steamboat Springs. Meier addressed the City Council during an Aug. 25 meeting about Steamboat 700.

“Steamboat is what we participate in. It’s where we want to participate in, yet we can’t afford to live here,” he told council members at the meeting. “All we want is a reasonable house with a small yard for our dog that’s big enough for two kids when the time comes and a spare bedroom for grandma and grandpa to come visit. : (Steamboat 700) needs to be annexed because we feel like this is our last chance to move back.”

On Friday evening, Fred Duckels called Brady Meier a model employee with a bright future. Meier was a construction superintendent for the 53-year-old company, and he was overseeing the base area construction project, Duckels said.

“I see people passing, and everyone says they were the best,” Duckels said. “I don’t know about that, but I know Brady was.”


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