Several long-time and former residents of Redstone remember well an exceptionally fit, avid outdoorsman who built a home out of stones from the Crystal River, never drove a car, fought in three different armies and spoke English that was usually peppered with profanity.

Lucas A. Kovats was born in Hungary in 1919. At the beginning of the Second World War, he fought against the Germans as a resistance fighter but was captured and conscripted into the German army. He served in Hitler’s Jaegerspritz Division, participated as a ski trooper in the Siege of Leningrad and as a commander of a mortar company on the Russian front, he was said to have never lost a man.

After immigrating to America, Lucas joined the U.S. Army and served 4 tours during the Korean War in the tank division. He also trained mountain troops in Colorado Springs. Later in Redstone he would sometimes reminisce about some of his war experiences to people he worked for. 

Redstone resident, Bill Jochems, recalled Lucas’ descriptions of fighting in WWII. “Everything I’ve read about the German experience on the Russian front was that it was horrible, they were freezing and starving. But Lucas had good memories of it.” Says Bill. “It’s really remarkable that here’s a man that fought with, in effect, three different armies, you’d have to look far and wide to find anyone who’s done that. He was one tough guy.”

In 1959, Lucas moved to the Crystal River Valley to work for Frank Kistler who had recently purchased the Redstone Castle, Redstone Inn and much of the surrounding lands with the intent of operating a world-class ski resort. Frank investigated the possibility of bring the Winter Olympics to Redstone, Marble and Aspen. Redstone was slated to have the bobsledding event. 

It was Kistler who gave Lucas a piece of land across from the Castle on the mesa now known as Crystal River Park. Starting with a small rectangular wood framed building, Lucas began collecting river rock to construct his home. 

Local Kevin Kelly remembers this ongoing process, “There are still piles of rock in the Crystal that he stacked for his house. He’d go out in the river and fill his backpack with rocks and walk back up to his house. The bridge (he built) is free-standing, built out of stone.”

But, it is the mountaineer that Lucas is best remembered. Two dentists who often hired Lucas as a guide soon became his long-time friends, together they went on many adventures. Doc Law and Doc Stewart both shared memories of some of their trips.

“We went out and did mostly winter sports like skiing into Leadking Basin. Before it was popular, we would go into Conundrum Hot Springs to soak and drink a bottle of Jack Daniels,” says Doc Stewart.

Doc Law described his memories of their friend, “He was all muscle at 5’8” and 126 lbs, he was packing 72 lbs of iron when we’d go hiking. He had a whole hospital in that damn bag. Our worst trip was probably (skiing) from Avalanche Pass out of Marble to Crested Butte. We got in at 4:30 in the morning and our beds had been sold, of course.”

The Harris family bought a cabin near the Castle in 1970 and inherited Lucas as a guide and family-friend. Son Tom recalls as a boy cross-country skiing over to Luke’s house,” It was the period when you skied with all the different waxes. The house was great; he added a room with a woodstove. When you walked in, one wall was entirely made of pegboard where he would hang all of his mountain climbing gear: ice axes, crampons, ski gear. Under the house was a root cellar, he had a great vegetable garden and would shoot an elk and mule deer every year, he didn’t live off the land but close to it.”