Andy Martin, April 21, 2015, RIP

It is with great sadness that I report the tragic loss of our dear friend and fellow TAYer, Andy Martin, from natural causes on Tuesday this week.  Andy had a great enthusiasm for our snowy mountains and ski adventures that he shared with all who were fortunate to know him.  He started posting here in 2006 and kept his streak going for over 220 months. 

He loved days skiing at Crystal and trips to Whistler as much as his backcountry adventures in the Cascades, CAT skiing trips in the Monashees, or recent travels to Chamonix.  Our hearts go out to all his friends and family during this difficult time.  He will be greatly missed.

His TAY profile: www.turns-all-year.com/indexyrsimages/martina/pho.html

That's very sad news, Paul, thanks for the post. Condolences to Andy's friends and family.

I'm not sure if I ever met Andy in person, but I certainly recall his posts on TAY, including many positive replies on my TRs over the years and comments on my various snowpack-related posts. So I spent a while now reading through the TRs he posted on TAY over the years, including several notable ones on Little Tahoma:
www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboardi...ction=profile;u=1363

Ski on Andy!

Met him once on the Van Trump side. Sorry to hear he's gone.

My brother and I ran into Andy by chance at Crystal last ski season. We spent an entire day skiing with him. We had a blast. We traded emails but never skied again. Really nice guy. RIP.

Oh no...  Very sad news.   Scott k and I skied with Andy on what I recall was his 120th / 10 year TAY anniversary a few years ago. 


Need to look it up, but I recall it was a marginal day but Andy was "full on" in ski mode.  He was super enthusiastic about the TAY 10 year thing to be sure.

So fit...sorry to hear this...

I met Andy at least once on the Muir Snowfield; he pointed out the concept of skiing AAA Gully as an addendum to the usual Muir circuit. Still haven't given it a try; perhaps next time, in memory of a friendly spirit on the snow.

Thank you, Andy.

This is a shock and very sad. I knew Andy both as a skier and professionally. He was a great companion in the mountains and a leader in the civil engineering community. Although I haven't skied with him in several years I did numerous trips with him over the years. He did 50-mile trail runs during the summers and was very strong for someone in his 60's. He will be missed.

Andy and I met on a trip to the Selkirks in 2006 and that sparked a long streak of great ski tours together; many times with my girlfriend then, now wife. Highlights include: Mt Hood and Adams on a single weekend, White Salmon Glacier on Shuksan in a day (Andy skied from the true summit of course), Mt Baker in a day, Fuhrer Finger (Andy summited Rainier several times), Slot Couloir (twice), Chair Peak circumnavigation, and many trips to Camp Muir and at Snoqualmie Pass. The idea to name our daughter Helena was born when my wife, three months pregnant, skied St. Helens with Andy. Andy's motivation to get out was extraordinary for somebody in his 20s, let alone for someone who was in his 50s and later 60s. I will miss Andy, his drive to ski, his dry humor and most of all just him as a great person.
I attach a picture of Andy and me on the (balmy) summit of Mt Adams in 2006 (Andy is on the right). We were younger then, although Andy did not seem to age much.

sad news, you guys lost a good one, we all did:-(

i am saddened by the loss of another lover of skiing.

A celebration of Andy's life will be held this Thursday, April 30th at 5pm at
The Cove
1500 SW Shorewood Drive,
Normandy Park, WA 98166.

Some additional pictures of Andy including 1) on summit of Mt. Adams last June with Mary and me, 2) his ski descent of the SW Chutes that day, one of his favorite runs, 3) skiing on his recent trip to Whistler, Photos from Matt Phillipy.

Three weeks or so ago, about half way down Whistler, I gave Andy Martin a handshake goodbye, then Andy gave my wife a quick hug and skied off to the lift for another run, as we skied down to return to Seattle. We had no idea that would be our last run with him.

We met Andy in 2005 on a trip to the Bernese Oberland, then skied with him in the Selkirk’s, Crystal, Alpental, Mt. Adams, and many ski tours around Snoqualmie Pass and Mt. Rainier.

Andy’s “day trips” were usually epic: Favorites with Andy were a tour up to Steamboat Prow, with a very direct route through the trees to the snowline, including Andy tagging Mt. Ruth on the way, and a great ski down through perfect corn.

My all-time favorite day trip with Andy started as a simple trip to Camp Muir, then Andy suggested we add on a little extra – we boot packed 800’ or so above Muir towards Gibraltar Rocks, then skied the down to Muir snowfield to the Nisqually Chutes, and finished at the Nisqually Bridge for a 6,700’ descent. Of course it was Andy who volunteered to hitchhike back to the car at Paradise.

Andy was an awesome guy. He is greatly missed.

The times I skied with Andy, it seemed he rarely shied away from skiing off the top of a mountain vs. ditching the skis and booting the final few feet. 

Here he skied off the very top of Mt Hood when the rest of us left the skis on that narrow entrance on top of the West Crater route.  I could hardly watch as Andy skied and side-slipped those 50 yards or so! 

You can see the joy on Andy's face!

I know it's been a while now, but just the other day I was talking to Silas about meeting this really good skier and nice guy a few weeks ago in early April at Whistler - Andy Martin. He got a shocked look and told me he'd heard he had just passed away. So sorry for his friends and family. I'm sure he'll be missed. I was looking forward to getting to know him.

Brian

I do not know Andy, but much respect to him and his passion,
and I'll ski off volcano summits in his name.