Yesterday was the sixteenth anniversary of the death of two young men who were very important to me (and to many other people), and of a third, whom I didn't know, who left behind a widow and two small boys.
My boys, my young men, were climbers. Fraternity brothers, climbing partners, and friends. Theirs was a yin-yang friendship. They were opposites with a shared passion for rocks, fear, and accomplishment, and admiration for one another. Hard to know one of them without knowing at least something of the other; impossible to know either without loving him.
These guys, so much younger than I am now, with their third partner, made their assent. Details elude me: name of mountain, for example. But the point was, it was a first assent of the north face of an Alaskan peak. They travelled a bit late in the season, aware that the changing temperature made avalanches a greater than usual risk. They made it to the top, called home, spoke to family, then started down. They never made it.
Great guys, great young men. I am thinking of you, and of your siblings and widows, parents and children.
Hope,
ReplyDeleteI remember when this tragedy occurred. You had their photos up on the wall of your room at Oxford and you talked about them all the time. I still think of them often especially after reading a ton of Krakauer adventure books. I believe you told me that they had attempted it once, but it was tougher than they could manage, came down to re-plan their next attempt, carefully studying the terrain, etc., and then climbed it again.
It's a terrible loss.
Connie
Thank you Hope. Nicely written... After 16 years I've hardened over a bit, but you managed to squeeze a tear out of me again. I welcome it.
ReplyDeleteLosses incorporated into viable lives - still losses.
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