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Sean Jones
climber
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Never met any of these guys. I just got in and found this news. We're all praying here with all we're worth. Hitting home in a way here as me and my family just bought a house in Boulder last week....moving there in 3 weeks. Won't be meeting one of them but holding the strongest hope for the other 2 to pull through this. Thanks to all for doing all you are doing....I'll get to the site right away and contribute...everyone please do the same...and hold faith for the others.
Peace to all.
Sean.
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crøtch
climber
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Condolences to Jonny's family & friends. Cheers to a life lived well.
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Fletcher
Trad climber
the end of the world as we know it, & I feel fine.
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I am so sorry. :-(
Eric
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10b4me
Ice climber
Rustys Saloon
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damn it
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Captain...or Skully
Social climber
North of the Owyhees
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Well, it IS better than gettin' run over by a bus, or havin' a washing machine blow up in your face.
It is a good day to die.
Salut!
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reddirt
climber
Elevation 285 ft
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Captain...or Skully:
Well, it IS better than gettin' run over by a bus, or havin' a washing machine blow up in your face.
It is a good day to die.
Salut!
or end stage metastatic cancer (which I am witnessing day in day out). But nonetheless, this huge loss is so shocking & sad.
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Daphne
Trad climber
Mill Valley, CA
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So sorry and so sad. Loving and support to the many who are grieving these men.
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drljefe
climber
Old Pueblo, AZ
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peace
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slobmonster
Trad climber
berkeley, ca
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It will be hard to forget Johnny's gravity boots: home-made from an old pair of ski boots, with huge steel hooks bolted to the back. He showed me the pair at some point in Indian Creek, having just tested them out hanging upside down from the Black Canyon overlook. He was psyched; I was wide-eyed with obvious, palpable fear.
Around the same time Micah was basically living in the Creek, in a (fairly fetid) RV parked semi-permanently beneath the Bridger Jacks. Huge motivation, all fun, no games. A good college friend accompanied Micah on a trip to Greenland, where they ran out of food and spent way too much $$ on air freight. Again, I shook my head in amazement.
Very sorry to have lost two more bright stars from our flickering constellation.
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officerugg
Social climber
maine
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Micah, I was thinking of you just the other day...
Jonny, yep that boulder problem is pretty hard, can you finish it with my beta? ;)
Wade, we never met, but, I'll judge you by the company you kept, my highest regards.
Damn it all!
I'll meet you guys there.
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Todd Gordon
Trad climber
Joshua Tree, Cal
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Very very sad;.....Micah lived at the Gordon Ranch for most of one year with his girlfriend Emilia;.....When my mother had a stroke and we needed a caretaker for her, Emilia moved in with my family in San Diego for about a month to help out my family;......lots of very kind and giving energy from Micah and Emilia;......This was about 8 years ago....Micah was in his early 20's.....getting things going and living the life;.....The climbing community and the world is at a loss from these fine lads not with us anymore.........Those of us who are still here;....we can continue on in their spirit and their inspiration.........so sorry this happened.....
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Ceedy
climber
Cali.
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I first met Micah about eight years ago when he joined the Yosemite Rescue Team. Micah was a bad-ass wall climber but at the time had a lot to learn about free climbing the valley’s burly cracks. I remember stumbling around a corner one day at Arch Rock just in time to watch him take a giant whipper on a 10a-plus fingers to offwidth crack called Midterm! As a seasoned crusty Yosemite veteran I hazed him with the appropriate amount of teasing and slander. To my surprise and delight, three years later Micah was cranking 5.12 cracks onsite and redpointing 5.13 quickly. Soon the tables had turned, “Remember Midterm” he yelled down to me one day from the top of a heinous Indian Creek finger crack that he had just on-sited, and which I had whipped off of earlier that day, “this feels way easier than midterm,” he said with a grin. Micah continued to progress at a blistering pace and was soon sending the gnar in the mountains and living the dream of a sponsored bad ass! Through Micah I met Johnny Copp who became Micah’s partner in the mountains and friend for life. Johnny struck me as the archetype of everything an alpinist should be, big, burly, seemingly undaunted by the sort of situations that make most men pee their pants. He wore one of those infectious smiles that beamed positive energy, and the two of them together were a super strong if not somewhat comedic super alpinism team of the small and big. Micah the little neurotic jewish ball of muscle, and Johnny the "macho man randy savage" hulk of a man with his classic mountain man chin mullet...what a pair. Legendary! Micah was my brother he even spent a christmas with me and my parents, and the loss I’m feeling right now is impossible to put in words…and I really haven’t even registered the reality that Micah will probably not be walking through the door gnawing on a carrot like a hyperactive rabbit, showing his rippling abs and asking if he looks fat. Right now the world just seems cruel and unfair…I’m going to miss you brother…I love you monkey….Cedar.
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maui_mark
climber
under a coconut tree
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Are we human beings with a spiritual existence, or are we spiritual beings with a human existence?
I first met Micah back in his days at CMC in Leadville. We both signed up for the same program and most of our classes were together.
I remember one day in class we had this presentation. Micah stands up and tells the class that his goal for this year, probably 1997/98? was "to be solid on 5.9"
Micah and I didn't run into each other again until 2001. He was climbing with Roadie in Golden. He told me tales of climbing El Cap...Native Son in the winter, Lost in America, doing Space with some crazy wall chick... I was in complete awww of you Micah. You became the Yosemite hardman. But you did it with just being yourself. Climbing with the love and passion you have for life.
Year or so passes and my life actually changed that day you and I crossed paths in Golden. You inspired me Micah. I never told you this. But you as a medic, and being on SAR..... you Micah were living the dream. You went from wanting to be solid on 5.9 to being a bad-azz. I ran across you and Greg L. on your way to climb Astroman one afternoon with my brothers. Still Micah you left me in amazement bro.
Later on I heard of you and Nils Davis sending the link up in sub 24 hours. And when I began my dirtbag Yosemite pilgrimage you were one of the first people I saw in Yosemite. The smile you had on your face about the expedition of going to Greenland was larger than life. Turns out my living out of my van lasted the next 4 years. And each time running into you in Yos/Utah, Colorado.
First time in Indian Creek you picked "Ruby Cafe" as your project. Hanging with the Dr. Josh Cross, Nick M., Rennan, Brent O, Ren, Lakey, Nils, Mikey Schaffer, Turkey Dinners with Heavy Duty, little Cleo, Amellia, ect... the list goes on my friend....
Mikey told me once about you that you are destined to be a great climber. He saw what I did.... your motivation and your passion for climbing. You told me once in the Technobago that its not just the climb that you love so much....the journey getting there.
The time I spent with you Micah was little compared to others here. It didn't take you more than an hour to know that Micah would give you the shirt off his back.
But since those days when we first met in class in leadville Micah, you have had one of the most major impacts on my life. Every now and again I'd look at your blog to see what you were up to. What new adventure were you off on?
And everytime I ended up in Yosemite...you were one of the people I was always hoping to check in with. You are larger than life Micah, The world will miss you friend.
The Candle that burns twice as bright, sometimes only lasts half as long. No matter what my friend you will continue to shine.
Love you Micah. Take care out there, and I'll see you on the other side.
Mark Stroeve
E lei i ke aloha no na kau a kau
(Aloha today, tomorrow and always)
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Mig
Trad climber
Portugal
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I met Micah in the Summer 2000 in Yosemite Camp 4. At that time, Micah wasn´t the todays famous climber.
I fly (from Europe) to yosemite to realize a lifetime dream. Was a really hard experience trying climbing the El Capitan.
Micah was the person that more support us and teach us some of the best wall tips. He was a really friendly person, and his way of thinking was a learning way for me and my future adventures.
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alleyehave
Trad climber
San Diego, CA
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http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j9XeNbDfzG_-BTaVgvW1u7avC7dAD98MER7O0
Body of second US climber found in China
2 hours ago
BEIJING (AP) — Rescuers struggling through high winds and blizzards recovered the body of a second American climber Monday after an avalanche buried a team of three U.S. mountaineers in southwestern China last week, an official said.
One of the Americans was still missing
The body of photographer Wade Johnson, 24, of Arden Hills, Minnesota, was uncovered Monday morning by a team of Chinese rescuers.
The rescue team had been scouring Mount Gongga in Sichuan province for the two missing U.S. mountain climbers after the body of Jonathan "Jonny" Copp of Boulder, Colorado, was found Saturday.
Three search teams are now on the mountain but are facing rough conditions, said Gao Min, a spokesman for the Sichuan Mountaineering Association.
"Our search team has encountered extremely challenging conditions today with the intense winds, potential for avalanches and heavy snowfall," Gao said.
Johnson was working for Boulder-based Sender Films, which makes climbing and outdoor adventure films.
The deaths of Copp, 35, and Johnson were the first on Mount Gongga since 2001, Gao said.
Micah Dash, 32, also of Boulder, remains missing. The three men were last heard from on May 20 at the base camp of Mount Edgar, a Mount Gongga peak.
Gongga, Tibetan for "highest snowcapped mountain," attracts both tourists and mountaineers. It is 24,790 feet (7,556 meters) above sea level, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
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philo
Trad climber
boulder, co.
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RIP.
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happiegrrrl
Trad climber
New York, NY
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So sorry for Wade's family and friends having to get this news. Though of course *now they know* their loved one's fate, it is only a small consolation for the loss they are feeling. So sad, for such a promising young man to be taken away so early in his life.
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Robert 560
climber
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Very sad my heart goes out to their family and friends.
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Blitzo
Social climber
Earth
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I knew Micah from the Valley and Gordon Ranch. He was a good guy. I didn't know the others.
This is a real bummer, but at least they were doing what they loved.
R.I.P.
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theLoop
climber
Northwest Montana
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My heart is heavy. Sooo many special memories with Micah are flashing through my mind... El Cap / Half Dome climbs, Outward Bound courses, so many laughs. My thoughts and prayers for all three climbers and their families.
-Aimee Aucoin Alexander
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