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CAMNOTCLIMB
Trad climber
novato ca
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Oct 26, 2006 - 04:44pm PT
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A great climber and person will be missed by all, my best to his friends and family. Jim if you are reading any of this, I hope you are ok.
Brian Mibach
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Mo Overfield
Boulder climber
UK
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Oct 26, 2006 - 05:07pm PT
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Heard the news yesterday, and very saddened.
My thoughts go out to Amy and the kids, and all the others that Todd's life touched. I hope that all the tributes and kind comments that have been posted here and elsewhere are some comfort.
I had the great fortune and priviledge to climb with Todd in the mid 90's, in Wyoming and mostly at Hueco. As a visiting Brit I was always made to feel very welcome, and often humbled by the tremendous hospitality I received.
Fantastic times, some of the best in my life. Todd was my biggest influence on climbing, and gave me my future direction. Always a kind word, always enthusiastic, never one to give up. My abiding memory of those times was the way that he would come up with several solutions to an unclimbed problem. Most of them were impractical, or downright wrong, and probably wasted a lot of time; but now I can think of no better way to waste that time than staring at a bit of rock, in the desert with some chalk on it, with Todd and co.
You were a good guy, Todd.
Thanks for the memories
Mo
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DK
Trad climber
Boulder, CO
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Oct 26, 2006 - 06:31pm PT
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Sometimes you do think people are invincible... alas, it isn't so...not even in Skinner's case.... I remember back in the day...the early 80's when Skinner and Piana were posing as college students in Laramie, slinging hash at the Overland, and running off to Vedauwoo at every free moment...Bob Cowan too... dragging me along obviously to be their belays... I learned a lot, they were all over it, and this was even before the days that these guys became incredibly sick climbers...
To Todd, (and Paul and Cowan)...here's to memories of Rheinlanders, Chimis, and all that you are...and will be... My heart goes out to Amy, the kids, Paul P., and Steve B.... We all feel your loss, and send you the love.
DK
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Lezlie Lehmann
Trad climber
Van Nuys, Ca.
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Oct 26, 2006 - 06:39pm PT
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Thanks to Callie, I'm giving this posting of photos a try. Here is how I described this precious one to Becca in an e-mail:
"... This photo is with my then 11 month old son, Russell. It is classic Todd: the humanitarian - see how Todd gets down to my little guy's level - note the looks of mutual admiration they exchange with one another, and how Todd grabs hold of Russell's hand with both his hands - Oh, God, Todd not being here to love and be loved by his family and friends is just unfathomable and incomprehensible, but Ohhhh, how Blessed we all were to have him here!
Warmest Wishes and Prayers to the Skinner Family & Compadres.
Lezlie
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Lezlie Lehmann
Trad climber
Van Nuys, Ca.
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Oct 26, 2006 - 06:56pm PT
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it worked, Callie -Yahoo! so here's more from that memorable day!
And there will be more to follow from the early days (shortly)
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Crimpergirl
Social climber
St. Louis
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Oct 26, 2006 - 07:13pm PT
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Happy to help Lezlie. Thank YOU for the photos.
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Lezlie Lehmann
Trad climber
Van Nuys, Ca.
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Oct 26, 2006 - 07:56pm PT
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The first uncaptioned set of photos above of Todd in his usual colorful tank top and baggies was taken at J.Tree (don't know the route) on April 8, 1991. My son, Russ, is 16 now. My younger boy, Grant, was named for our beloved Yosemite Granite - he's 12 and climbs barefoot.
This next set of B&W photos were taken in June of 1985 on site at "City Park," in Wash. It was the day we met Todd and the first time we'd ever seen anyone free soloing. We were "Newbies" who'd toproped one time; I held my breath watching Todd glide up the face thinking he's either demented or a god - turns out he was a hatless cowboy wrangling a rock and my heart and he didn't even need a lasso -
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Lezlie Lehmann
Trad climber
Van Nuys, Ca.
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Oct 26, 2006 - 08:14pm PT
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Hueco "Tanks for the Memories", Todd. In this set, we've got the boys sittin' around the quonset hut stove that Todd installed,while outside it's Winter Wonderland time at Hueco, Feb.' 86/ "Chillin' in our camper w/ Todd, Beth, a French climber possibly named Norbert, in blue, & my boyfriend/future husband, Hans, in red, and Bill Hatcher (at The Gunks- Oct. '85))- finally back at the Tanks- Midnite Marauders in the "Round Room" before the Ranger Bob raid -Feb.'86
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Lezlie Lehmann
Trad climber
Van Nuys, Ca.
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Oct 26, 2006 - 08:29pm PT
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More of Hueco in Feb. 86
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DHike
climber
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Oct 26, 2006 - 08:41pm PT
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It truly is amazing, reading all the posts from everyone, that Todd touched so many lives in such a positive way. Damn this hurts as it continues to sink in. I am still in shock.
The planet needs more people like Todd. We should all strive to pass on to others some of what Todd had given us, it is the least we can do.
Leslie, those are some great pics, I think, the 'french climber in blue', is actually american Rick Erker. Sure looks like him. Bittersweet seeing those old pics.
Todd, you are on the ultimate free solo, and I know you are smiling down upon us with that big ol' goofy grin, keeping us stoked with that unequalled enthusiasm. Peace
Dan
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Jennie
Trad climber
Salt Lake
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Oct 26, 2006 - 10:32pm PT
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Todd,
Farewell to you and the short season we knew with you. Summer has gone and fresh snow blankets the high country. Winter winds whisper sorrow as we remember the joy of spring and your joyous tenure among us. Must we accept your departing as we accept the seasons that pass over our beloved hills?.......As we embrace the past with gratitude and remembrance, we are compelled to thank you...... Is the veil too heavy or the distance too far, that our song of gratitude be not heard in your patient ears?
Thank you for the magic and the belief in face of doubt.....What would you have us remember, as we remember you?.....the squint of enthusiasm in your eyes?.....limbs of iron suspended on doubtful holds?......friendly looks and words of encouragement in the wind and harsh sun?.....windblown hair?
We thank you most that you found us worthy to be your friend. The laughter....the sharing....the words of praise upon your lips.
We might have come to you with flattering voices, bowing to you status among the tribe. But you laughed at status and mocked elite circumstance. Was it knowing how pride fouls the mind?.....were you too disciplined to walk backward into self absorption?.....or just too free in spririt to encumber your soul with heady burdens that destroy the inner child?.....not deeming friends, your puppets....but companion children, walking hand in hand.....a host....a guest....an advisor....but never a master.
A few shown themselves as enemy....the territorial saw you as intruder....the proud saw you as competition....the jealous attempted imprisoning your wings in a bird cage of false ethics.....Yet no enemy walks laughing at your funeral. Did you purity and passion exalt their discord?....Did the pain of death break the nutshell of their understanding?.....or did Heaven reveal the hills as temples.....not battlefields?
Slow to anger..... quick to forgive, you honored your enemy as future friend, and revealed the greater measure of your soul.
We will hear your laugh in the wind.... and remember your song through the window of memory. May your spirit never be trapped or imprisoned..... and may the sorrows of this world not weigh upon your soul.
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Flip
Trad climber
Sacramento, CA
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Oct 26, 2006 - 10:33pm PT
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Hey Folks,
Here's my suggestions on commemorating Todd, especially this Saturday his birthday:
wake up way before dawn and make industrial strength coffee
piss off your partner by making him get up with you but not leaving until 2 hours later
watch the movie "Life Aquatic" which Todd loved, and wear a red ski cap like the people in the movie. or watch Big Fish, a movie about death and stories, a movie Todd watched repeatedly
once in a rare while, (like Todd's birthday) bust out with some El Patron tequila and savor every sip while telling stories of Copper Canyon, or your own stories
tell stories of your children and family, show pictures of them, be so proud of them
tell more stories, make stories, and ask other people their stories - and listen with the passion that was Todd
I met Todd, Beth, Bill, Scott, Lynn et al ten years ago in Halong Bay, and had the privilege to spend time at the Yosemite cabin this time last year. I even got to go partly up the climb Todd & Jim were on. It has a beautiful view. I'll be wearing my red ski cap this Saturday and sharing the stories. goddamn.
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ewto
Mountain climber
My mommy's tummy
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Oct 26, 2006 - 10:43pm PT
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"tell more stories, make stories, and ask other people their stories - and listen with the passion that was Todd"
MAKE stories ... that's the biggie. I didn't know Todd and only met him one brief time in the valley, but I do know that his life was much about making those stories.
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QuentinDaniel
Social climber
Cumming, GA
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Oct 26, 2006 - 11:42pm PT
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I am not a climber...in fact, I can't stand heights what so ever!
However, Todd Skinner was my hero! And my cousin...
Reading everyone's messages validates why I admired him so much and the thoughts have been a tremendous comfort to me and our family the last few days.
One of the articles about his accident quoted it was like "Superman" died! It truly was for me.
From a very early age, Todd was a larger than life hero in my life. I did not spend a tremendous amount of time with him growing up, but the moments I had with him touched my life forever!
I have used Todd and his life many times as tangible proof of what can be accomplished when you pursue your passion in life. He did not care about money and fame, but about being the best climber he could be...simple, but true, and I belive he achieved what he set out to do.
I wanted to share a story with you all, a tall tale, that I tell often whenever outlandish and crazy stories get told....
When I was about 10 or so, Todd was a student at the University of Wyoming. I lived in Laramie, as my dad (Todd's uncle) was a professor and ski coach at the University. Todd was staying with us over a holiday (I believe it was Thanksgiving). He lived in one of the dorms at UW and those happened to be the tallest buildings in Laramie, rising (6,8,10, you pick!) floors off the prarie. (As I remember now, Todd had been arrested or fined for by the campus police for camping on the roof of the same building in a tent!)
The dorms were locked and he needed something from his room, so he told me to come with him. My parents let me go. Todd parked in the lot near his dorm, which was empty, given not many students were in town. The doors were locked!
He tried both sides of the building but to no avail, he could not get in.
He told me, as a 10 year old, to wait there...he would be right back!
He then proceeded, right before my eyes, to climb up the side of the dorms. It was if he had done this before!
Up...up...up...up...he went, 6 floors to his dorm room. No rope...no nothing. He opened the window, which he knew he had left open (now, I assume he did this more than once!), and slipped in side.
3 minutes later, he opened the door and we went up stairs. We got what he needed and headed back to my house for the holiday.
As a suffering acrophobic, the entire episode caused me to quake in my jeans, but it made him a larger than life figure in my life! It is a story not many believe, but except for an occaisonal stretch on the size of the building...it is true!
I loved having Todd as a cousin and a member of my family. He never missed a major family function and I still remember him vividly coming to my wedding! He just lit up a room and his smile and stories left impressions to all who listened.
At the end of September, I went home for my cousin Ian's wedding. It was a beautiful family event and it was there, I had my last interaction with Todd. I am so glad I went. He truly saved the best for last....
Todd had just lost his mother. After several long years of suffering, she had passed away and I had the chance to offer my condolences around a blazing campfire. His son Jakey and my son Quentin Francis ran for hours chasing each other and many of the girls in attendance. We spoke of his work, my work, and of course his up coming trip to Yosemite. He was so excited to be off on another adventure and the pitch in his voice changed as he spoke passionatly about what he would be doing.
My mother has been battling cancer this year and we had a chance to offer words of encouragement to each other in the face of aging parents and difficult circumstances. As he talked, I saw a side to Todd I had never seen before and he cemented his heroism in my eyes even further that night. I got to see how much Superman loved his mom and how her passing had made him feel. He also shared with me the concern he had for his dad. Those very human and very tender moments made me admire him even more!
In seeing his interactions with his kids and family, it was clear to me that he had become a legend as a husband and father, just as he had as a climber. His passion for excellence was unparalleled in everything he did and it carried over into the home.
Thanks Todd for being my Superman!
Quentin Daniel
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lil0kie
Mountain climber
Oklahoma City
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Oct 27, 2006 - 12:48am PT
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Todd touch so many peoples lives over the years. My husband, my 8 yr old son and myself met him while he was in Oklahoma doing a talk at Backwoods. He gave a talk and showed his slides of some of his trips. My husband had met him in the Wichita Mtns the day before. Todd befriended Mark (my husband) and they climbed together. Our son couldn't make the trip to the Wichitas that day, probably due to a soccer game.
While at Backwoods he announced he would be at Chandler Park in Tulsa the following day and invited anyone that would like to climb to attend. We drove up the next day and my son got to climb with him. I will see if I can't locate the picture we took. Todd also signed my son's climbing shoes that weekend. Our son is now 25 and living in Sunnyvale CA. He called us to let us know about Todd. He said he couldn't believe Todd was gone. We all will always have very happy memories of him.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends. Like Will Rogers, I think Todd never met a stranger or a person he didn't like.
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Kari Grady Grossman
climber
Lander, Wyoming
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Oct 27, 2006 - 02:17am PT
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All week I've been coming to this forum to read about Todd, while working on creating the program for his memorial, trying to find just the right quotes, just the right pictures to memorialize the man. It can't be done. I'm staring right now at his silly mug on the cover, that goofy grin under his cowboy hat on his wedding day, ready to go to print tomorrow - 600 copies - we're expecting a crowd! How can one person touch so many?
I' m not a climber and it didn't really matter to me that Todd was a famous one. He's a member of my community, a parent to my kids' friends, and husband to a woman I admire. He always wanted to hear about what I was doing and listened with rapt attention as if it was the most important thing in the world. Almost every conversation we had waxed philisophical, there was always a vision to grasp. It's like Todd was already living in the big picture and gently helping the rest of us see it. I'm sorry we won't be roasting anymore marshmallows around the campfire in the teepee with the children, and listening to your stories, and laughing, and philosophizing....but I'm glad I had the chance to experience your soul.
I wanted to let this community know that a sweatlodge ceremony will be held tomorrow in Todd's honor, to aide in his spirit's passing (Friday, Oct. 27) from
12 -2pm MT. If you can take a moment of silence during that time, you will strengthen the medicine too. We blow a whistle in the lodge to help his soul find it's way to the other side. It snowed in Lander yesterday. In Shoshone tradition this is a good sign. The snow covers his footprints, so that no one else can follow. Climb on.
Kari Grady Grossman
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Pemba
climber
WI
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Oct 27, 2006 - 03:16am PT
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We arrived in Lander tonight after a long drive that took us past Devil’s Lake, Taylor’s Falls, the Black Hills, Devil’s Tower, Crazy Woman Crag in the Bighorns, and Tensleep Canyon; all places where Todd at one time or another had pitched his teepee (either in reality, or just metaphorically). It was a beautiful drive, and in my mind I pictured through time all of those teepees, pitched in those magical spots, and it seemed as if I could drive up to them and they would still be there, just as it seemed I would drive into Lander tonight and Todd would still be here.
I first met Todd in a teepee. He just walked right in, and pissed on our fire. It was the right thing to do, actually: We were all ten years old, and the fire in our teepee was too big. At least he said it was. Todd had a way of getting you to thank him even as he was doing the most outrageous things. Somehow he convinced us that he had saved our lives, even if we had to sleep with the smell of burnt urine, and he didn’t.
Inauspiciously, so began one of the longest running and deepest friendships of my life. As many have mentioned, the postings here are very moving. All of the memories both add to my own, and keep me from dwelling on mine. I’m hungry for more memories of Todd, and yet I can’t pick only one of my own to share. Just one seems too limiting, and all of them together are just too overwhelming. Spilling out, they would fill this forum, and that’s not the purpose, here. I’ll try to be brief.
My favorite memories of Todd are quotes. The one that seems most appropriate tonight is this one: “Climbing isn’t worth dying for, but it’s worth RISKING dying for.” It’s just like Todd to split hairs so finely. Todd once told me that as an old man he would like to be the Fred Beckey of his generation, having left pitons rusting on all the finest plum lines in the world for future “first ascensionists” to find. “’First ascent, eh?’ I’ll ask from my rocking chair,’Did you find my pitons?’ and then I’ll cackle!” he said.
Another quote comes from when he had just graduated from college, and was mulling over job offers and next steps: “I have a vision where climbers live like surfers do, always going from wave to wave the world over.” Over the years, he perfected life on the "Permanent Away Team,” and in doing so he became arguably America's first professional climber. I’ve heard people since say how “lucky” he was to live his life, and I think back to that conversation and think how “visionary” he was, instead.
Todd said: "There's nothing worse than living with regret. If you ever feel like punching somebody, you should just do it. It's better than living with the regret of not doing it when you had the chance. Chances are you're right for wanting to punch them. If you're wrong, you can always apologize. And, some people just need to be punched."
Quotes, like memories, are just too numerous. Once they start spilling out, it’s hard to stop them. So, just one more, and it’s not even his but a story he told, instead: On Nameless Tower when their young camp-jack drowned while fetching water, they were going to abandon their climb and go home. The boy’s father came to them, and said,”No, you must stay, as this has nothing to do with you: The boy was simply out of rice.” In other words, it was just his time to go. A comment on Todd’s accident: While we really don't know what happened and the investigation is continuing, it seems as if this is really a freak thing, equivalent to a being hit by a comet. It might come down to it that Todd just ran out of rice this past Monday, and that's it. Whatever happened, he would want us to go on with our own expeditions, just as he did in Pakistan.
Tonight, as I wheeled my daughter around in the one kiddy cart at the Safeway here in Lander – the grocery store a couple of blocks from Todd’s house – it came to me that Todd’s hands had to have rested on the same handle where mine were then, during the many times when he would’ve pushed Hannah, Sarah, and Jake around the store. As we got to the aisle with all the dry-goods, I looked at the mounds of rice. Through the cart’s handle, I wanted to reach back to Todd’s hands in time and give him all that rice, every grain of it, and more. If I could do it, I would gladly give him half of what I have left in my own store just so that we could share a few more days together, and I believe every one of his friends and family would do the same. He was just that special. Sadly, that’s not the way it works, but sharing our stories here is like multiplying Todd’s life in our own. It’s like spreading Todd’s precious rice among us. Keep sharing…
Godspeed, my friend…I love you, and will miss you every day of my life.
Brad Werntz
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Oct 27, 2006 - 08:36am PT
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I was thousands of miles from home on monday yet the news reached me even before returning to my computer.
Sad indeed.
This has been the deadliest month ever for my friends.
Risk is the spice that adds flavor and excitement to our lives, but every so often we are reminded of the seriousness our lifestyle when the bill comes due.
Todd was a wide eyed visionary with the fortitude to follow his own path.
None of us has long, yet even with less than his share Todd left some big footprints and will not be soon forgotten.
Rest easy Todd. We'll be with you again soon enough.
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Muffy Mead
Social climber
Jackson, WY
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Oct 27, 2006 - 10:38am PT
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I'm not part of the climbing world but I knew Todd in high school. His family moved up to Jackson from Pinedale for one or two winters when his dad became the coach of our ski team. Orion, Todd, and Holly were all good skiers and everyone in their family was really nice. I remember the perpetually happy and goofy nature of Todd and his gangly way of skiing hell bent for leather down the course and laughing about the beaters he took. The news of his death made me inexplicably sad -- I haven't seen him for more than 20 years -- last time was in Laramie when he was in college there. But reading these posts has been an inspiration to me -- makes me feel like I haven't done much with my life and at the same time like I still could if I got after it right now. In any case it's clear that although fame might've changed Todd's circumstances it didn't change him -- at all. Good bye Todd.
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