5/14/14 Shuksan Avi

This was posted this afternoon in the Bellingham Herald

www.bellinghamherald.com/2014/05/14/3642...html?sp=/99/101/102/[/url]

Best to those near and dear.

Todd

sad news.

Well that sucks. If anyone knows who was in the party please send me a PM.

This stuff hurts every time it happens.

I may have gruff East Coaster roots, but the ski community is family to me and I do care deeply about this crazy clan.

ID'd over on the CC board.

Recovery flight took off this morning :

www.sfgate.com/news/article/Recovering-b...Cascades-5480569.php

[Edit:  apologies for the previously included misleading link to a similarly named individual, which I had looked up from an apparently incorrect post at another forum.]
TR's:
cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/userposts/id/3539
Pics & videos:
www.flickr.com/photos/j4cooper/sets/
Subset of what would seem to be his own kids skiing:
www.flickr.com/photos/j4cooper/sets/72157641610618443/
(If you're a father of young kids, these are hard to handle -- I started crying -- but may they help to keep the rest of us safely scared.)

Gear reviews:
www.wildsnow.com/author/jonathan-cooper/

I believe the WildSnow author is Jonathan Cooper of Bellingham not John Cooper, 46, of Seattle.

NPS successfully made the recovery today (thank you, rangers!), and published John Cooper's name:
www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-new..._skier_killed_i.html

May family and friends find peace in this tough time.

Here's the CC.com thread discussing the accident:

cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php...san_toda#Post1124072

John Cooper posted quite a few trip reports on CascadeClimbers.com under the login "SmilingWhiteKnuckles". His posts reveal a really likeable personality.

His photo collection on flickr is beautiful and heart breaking. Words fail.

I have never met him, but always enjoyed his TRs on CC.com because they gave me hope that I could balance being a dad and still climb and ski. This really makes me question my actions. Seeing his Flicker album brings me to tears. My utmost condolences for his family.

Coop was a bright light, and a big smile. I met him years ago playing ultimate in town, and then I gave it up to be a back country skier. I taught his nephew and niece at Eckstein and had them both on the ski bus, where they passionately picked up their uncle's love for the sport. This hits too close to home for many. May his memory remain a blessing.

To some extent, everyone's questioning themselves right now. I haven't climbed steep rock in years and only ski really steep snow in bounds, so I don't feel I'm risking death everytime I go to the hills. My kids are grown and my wife is used to it. If I was risking death on a regular basis this would really shake me up, and not just make me cry looking at the pictures. I do feel terrible about this guy, but I am going skiing tomorrow on something mellow. His closest friends may or may not change what they are doing, or how they do it. Everyone reacts differently.  I lost an old friend to a climbing accident many years ago and it slowed me down some, and got me to start wearing a helmet. I never really considered quitting - it just slowly happened over the years.

Few people think that what they are doing is really that dangerous. We all find ways to look at what we are doing in a reasonable way. We all climb or ski well below our limit. We are all skilled in certain ways, and educated in others. We can shrug off most accidents because we wouldn't have done it that way, or we wouldn't have been there in those conditions. I've already been over that check list with myself today.

The fact of the matter is if we love to play in the mountains, we are going to be in danger some of the time. We can be on the ragged edge of sanity, or the presumed safety of the low angle. We can all get hurt....on any day. Nobody can guarantee safety, or tell anyone else how safe to play, or exactly how to do it.  Nobody listens that much anyway.

For me I've never enjoyed being in a position where one fall or slip would probably cause certain death. Obviously, I've never been a free soloist, or a truly extreme skier.. I've always liked the security of ropes and partners, and lines that were clean and landings that were good. That doesn't mean that I've never made critical turns or been in spots where the only way out was up. I've just limited those times as much as possible over the years. For me, that's how I've kept my balance.

I'm so sorry that man died yesterday. He looked like he was having a wonderful life.

Skiing the "steeps" of Windy Acres tomorrow.

Well put on risk management Avajane...

As a dad, I have cut a deal with myself that the risk I take in the mountains is worth it for my kids. I am a more balanced, better Dad for the time I spend in the Cascades. And like John, I can share my love of the mountains with my kids.

That Flickr album is hard to look at. I wish the best for his young family in what will continue to be difficult time. I didn't know John, but in a way, we all know each other.

First person account by John's partner:

cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php...san_toda#Post1124144

Well put avajane.

Thanks for that Lowell. That is a tough read. My heart goes out to his wife, children, family and friends. I got the call out yesterday morning via text for BMR and I was immediately worried about the implications. Such a difficult situation.

May John rest in peace, so sad to learn of this accident. Thoughts to his family.......heartbreaking.

Memorial website:
thinkingofjohn.weebly.com/
... which provides information on monetary donations, providing meals, and Sunday's memorial service in Seattle.