Death

It has been an interesting winter for me this year. At least a couple of moments have really touched me over the past months of the season, and unfortunatly it was at times when the Death of someone was involved. The first time that comes to mind was the loss of a great ski photographer and mountaineer named Carl Skoog. I had met Carl at the Outdoor Retailer show the winter before and had spoken to him briefly about getting out and shooting in the future. He was one of those guys that was extremely excited about meeting new people and I could tell that I would enjoy working with him. We exchanged cards and corresponded by email for quite sometime, but unfortunately our opportunity to work together never came. Carl took a large fall thousands of vertical feet down moutaineering route in S. America and passed away. At the OR show this winter, I attendend a slide show of Carls work and listened to his brother speak to a small group of people. It was Heavy. I remember walking out of the room following the talk and slide show thinking to myself of the impact of what had just happened. I did not know Carl very well at all, but we share friends in a tight knit community and the heavy feeling of self awareness and existence will not soon leave me.
A similar situation occured yesterday with one of Extreme skiing’s greats, Doug Coombs who passed away in France, was swept over several cliffs with his skiing partner. It could have been some sort of slide or possibly they slipped on ice. The situation is one that really makes one step back and think…..This is a great loss to the ski community and one that I am sure will be felt for quite sometime. I have friends that work up at Valdez Heli guides and other friends up there skiing right now. I am certain the mood is much different after losing the one that pioneered so many of the routes in the area. My thoughts go out to his wife and son.

more can be found about Doug Coombs passing @ http://www.valdezheliskiguides.com/whatsnew1.html