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Fluoride
Trad climber
Hollywood, CA
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Aug 13, 2009 - 09:14am PT
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F*ck no. No no no.
Mark was awesome. Fun in every way. I first met him out in J-Tree some years back, he was out there with Micah when Micah was just starting out and Mark was mentoring him. And Micah was schooling us all only 6 months into climbing. But Mark was still badass.
I climbed in JT with those guys. I think I have some pics of Mark on Wangerbanger/O'Kelley's. I had some really fun weekends out there with Mark & Micah. Great energy.
Would run into them in the Needles. Watched him do Thin Ice with Micah. He was always someone who had a big smile and hug whenever we crossed paths. My first trip to the Needles my partner and I rolled in and as soon as I got out of the car I heard Mark call my name, came over and gave me a big hug. A great welcome to the place seeing a friend there immediately. For that weekend my partner and I hiked in and out both days with him and Micah. We'd do our own climbs but come back out together and hang around camp.
He was a great guy and he'll be missed.
This is very sad news.
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Todd Gordon
Trad climber
Joshua Tree, Cal
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Aug 13, 2009 - 09:35am PT
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So sorry to hear this;...rest in peace, Mark.......
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Ray-J
Social climber
east L.A. vato...
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Aug 13, 2009 - 10:05am PT
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Adam, really sorry about your friend.
I didn't know Mark.
Shocking when this happens.
Was kinda kidding about the climbing,
The rock covered hills near Jamul are a
Special place for me.
My soul seems to like it there...maybe Mark's does too...
My sincere condolances,
Ray
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Ken Winslow
climber
San Diego
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Aug 17, 2009 - 04:22pm PT
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It has taken me a little time to get my thoughts together and it has been dificult for me to write. I want to thank each of you for your kind words and support.
When we introduced Mark to Outward Bound almost 20 years ago we had no idea that it would lead to the joy he experienced in the outdoors in general and climbing in particular. Mark, as you know, found solace in climbing and it nurished him in times of need. He turned to climbing when things were bothering him and he needed the time away to recharge his batteries. I believe that the fulfillment he got from climbing and his friends sustained him and extended his life.
Although I haven't meet many of you I recognize your names from my conversations with Mark and I can tell you that he loved you and he loved his time with you.
We are in the process of assembling a photo alblum of Mark's life and if any of you would like to contribute photos of Mark please post them and I'll include them. Best, Mark's Dad, Ken
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Blonde
climber
San Diego
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Aug 24, 2009 - 12:52am PT
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I am not a climber but a I am a friend of Marks. I only heard of this news a day ago. My husband and I knew Mark. I just wanted to post here to give his family a picture of him. I also want to send my condolences to his family and friends. If you knew him, you knew he was a joy to be around.
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Fluoride
Trad climber
Hollywood, CA
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Aug 24, 2009 - 10:29am PT
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Ken,
Just know you had an awesome son who loved climbing and the people who joined him in his exploits. I climbed with Mark many times and always walked away from the day with a smile on my face. He will be missed by anyone who ever roped up with him.
B.
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carrierocks
Social climber
alpine, ca
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Mark had never been to Yosemite before and I barely remembered it from when I had been there as a kid. We had a four day weekend off for Thanksgiving in 1997 so we decided to go. We packed up the truck and off we went. It was a long drive so we left Wednesday as soon as we were done working.
I remember getting almost up to the the entrance on a long stretch of road and we pulled over for a moment to see the stars. We could see every one. There was no light pollution. It was epic as Mark put it.
We slept in the sled area just outside of the south entrance. In the morning we packed everything back up and headed to the park. While we were waiting to pay to get in, Mark noticed that the Golden Access pass was free and good for a lifetime. He put his right arm in his jacket and pretendd he had lost it in the war. The ranger had given him some paperwork to fill out and unfortunatly he was not left handed. We help in our laughter as he scribbled his information down. The ranger gave him the card and let us in. We were so excited.
It was about 8 in the morning and very cold. I was driving and we came around a corner and hit black ice. The truck spun around a few times and we almost went over a cliff. What an entrance! I had Mark drive the rest of the way in because I was shaking too much to drive.
He stopped at every viewpoint on the way in. It was awesome! One viewpoint in particular, Mark wanted to go to the edge of the cliff and have a look. I was not interested due to the ice and the height of the cliff.
He went down and disappeared behinds some rocks. After a few minutes, I started getting worried that he fell off the edge. I called his name a few times and he did not answer. I ran down the icy rocks and around those boulders he had disappeared behind only to find him sitting on a rock gazing at the amazing view. It was beautiful. I have a great picture of him there with his arms in the air completely enjoying where we were.
We hiked back up to the truck and headed towards the Valley floor. We went through a tunnel and wow! The valley opened up. We stopped in disbelief of the power, the intensity of this place.
We both wept at it's beauty. We starred at it for a while and kept going wondering what else would be around the corner.
Mark absolutely loved this place instantly. We stopped at Bridal veil falls and hiked up to it. We stopped everywhere. We camped that night at the Red Bud campground on the west side of Yosemite.
The next day we went back in. It was cold and there was snow here and there. There were not very many people there because of Thanksgiving so the park seemed to be all to ourselves.
We wondered around the Valley floor all day. Mark decided to climb this huge boulder behind the chapel. I yelled at him his whole way up to get down. I was afraid he would fall.
But he was right at home. I have another great picture of him on top of that rock. It took him a while to figure out how to get down off of it though.
When he did, we wandered off into the woods. We walked aound the whole valley floor along the Merced river. We found a nice sandy beach and had lunch there.
We went to Mirror Lake and around the village and to Yosemite Falls. Mark, of course, ran up ahead of me and was hopping along on the rocks at the base of Lower Falls.We found a secret cave near there that the indians had written on the walls.
It was a great, great, perfect day!
We stayed at Red bud again and the next day went back in. We were wondering around and came across a trail. Mark suggested we find out where it goes.
We hiked up and up and up and up and up these steep switch backs. We eventually saw a sign that said we were on the four mile trail to Glacier Point.
Four miles?! Yeah right! The farther up we went, the more snow there was. We were hiking in waist deep snow unprepaired. Mark kept pushing me though.
He kept telling me "you can do it." We were almost to what we thought was the top when someone coming down the trail told us that we were crazy and should turn back. It was going to be dark soon. Mark really wanted to get to the top and I was not too excited about hiking down in the dark in the snow. So we turned around and headed down the hill as quickly as we could. We kept sliding and twisting our ankles all the way down. Half the time there was a cliff on one side of the trail. It got dark before we reached the bottom. It was scary but Mark kept me calm.
We made it though. I couldn't walk for week after and my knees are still screwed up from it but we made it! We got back to our camp and were too tired to cook. So we ate a can of boston baked beans-cold-and a beer. It was one of the best weekends of my life. Every time I have been to Yosemite, or seen a picture of it, I see Mark and remember all the great times we had there.
The next year for Thanksgiving we went back up that trail, to the top, had the same meal and many more adventures.
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ß Î Ø T Ç H
Boulder climber
the ground up
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thanks carrierocks
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Search
Trad climber
Idyllwild ca
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It’s been years now and I still think about Mark Rad as I called him. I met him on MySpace way back, and he encouraged me to pilgrimage to Yosemite. After I got back 9 months later ; I moved to idyllwild and kept in touch with mark. Soon Mark and Micah would come up and stay with me on weekends. We’d ususally go to tahquitz sometimes suicide rock or if feeling lazy go bouldering. We quickly developed a three man team of climbing brothers. Over the years we went on many trips , Yosemite, Josh, sd. Mark was like the big brother I never had. He’d push me to climb harder, lead more. his sense of humor. I’ll never forget him telling me this joke drinking a beer on the porch, oh man it was so hilarious coming from him I still feel the non stop laughing. one day mark came up by himself , no Micah. We were in the parking lot getting ready for the March up to tahquitz and we spot two girls heading out. we knew we had to get on it, so we made dibs and we climbed with them. We found some 5.8 ish routes that were side by side. Mark and I leading pitches side by side with these girls on belay. We didn’t think it could get much better. Mark ended up dating the girl he partnered with Regina. Mark was the poster child for the honorary title of dirtbag climber. He and so much booty on his rack. Duct tape on his pants. Rolling cigs; sometimes he’d spend a grip of time working out a stuck nut or cam. one day in idyllwild mark and Micah went up without me as a bitched out to work, and they came back with crazy story’s of whippers and such, and mark gave me a Souvenir He said I should give this to my mom, but I’m giving it to you. It was a broken purple Yates screamer he fell on. I miss that guy so much, but more than anything I’m so glad I got to spend so much time with him. He was there for me like a brother . We kinda got disconnected after Micah’s accident. The last time I saw him he came up to just hangout. I lost my phone and numbers and kinda disappeared awhile. Then a year after marks death, I found out the news surprisingly while hanging out at nomad. Didn’t really know Clark at the time but mark talked about him a lot. I saw Clark and asked if he’d seen mark, and said dude he’s been gone for like over a year..... I was devastated. Clark gave me one of marks old rigid stem cams. He said marks mom gave his friends some of his gear. I wish I would have been around or in touch. But really like Micah said. I just hope he found peace. He had his battles, he was a warrior. I’m so sad for his mom, he was close with her. Mark rad I love you bro. You live on in my heart here on earth. Wherever you are now I know you’re I know you are,enjoying all that is in your purest form.
Matt rad
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