Robson Gmoser RIP

Very sad news from Sorcerer Lodge, the ski guide Robson Gmoser was killed in an avalanche yesterday. He has guided many people over the years. RIP, may the powder runs be endless!

www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/po...nche/article23412511

This is sad. Best to family and friends...

Horrible news, and spooky too.

Several friends and I crossed the "Heinous Traverse" a few years ago to climb Iconoclast Mountain. We did a similar track-setting trip the day before, and a few of us skied the traverse in both directions during our summit day. But it was late January, probably not as warm, and (we thought) pretty good travel conditions. Still, it's a spooky route.

I never met Robson Gmoser, but friends have skied with him and his loss is shocking news.

Bad scary news involving a very experienced person...

My mind keeps circling back to this accident.

If someone like Robson Gmoser can be caught, then truly anyone can be caught.

I suspect we're going to hear a lot more about this accident during the coming year. I'm not a guide, so I'm not privy to the discussions within that community. But this accident feels like a horrible bolt from the blue.

Condolences to those who knew Robson Gmoser well. I wish I had.

I keep thinking about it too. He was out there skiing maybe 5 to 10 times more than I do, every year. And of course he was better trained and more experienced than I will ever be.

So it might be, for all of us, a question of when not if.

I also realized I have let my guard down this winter. With low danger from the trees to the alpine, I have stopped questioning my actions. Time to snap back.

Suze and I, with Annette and Jens, were lucky to have spent a week with Robson, Olivia, Marko, and Kelly at battle abbey in 2008. He was full of energy, totally doing what he wanted to do and being where he wanted to be in the world, and well ahead of the daily pack of us, whether he was on AT skis, his split board, or teles.

Deepest condolences to Olivia and their child.

www.flickr.com/photos/skioften/245114766...et-72157604789242399

www.flickr.com/photos/skioften/245033862...et-72157604789242399

bummer news.

An interesting article about Robson Gmoser, with more details about the avalanche incident:
www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-col...ion/article23553207/

And a nice blog post about him by his niece, Raine Gmoser:
danceswithfeminism.com/2015/03/12/when-someone-great-is-gone/