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Marc Hirt
Trad climber
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Oct 10, 2009 - 08:09pm PT
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Kyle was my brother. I was one of the lucky ones who got to spend a lot of time with him, we shared our dreams and our hearts. He was the most interesting person I've met in this crazy world. Like a magnet he attracted and repelled with an equal force but his heart of gold shone through the frenetic energy like a headlamp in the dark. The shirt off his back or the gear off his rack was always there for the needy. He just wanted everyone to expand their horizons, fulfill their potential and have a good time! We could all stand to steal a couple of pages from his guidebook. See ya at the secret dream area.
Marc
P.S. The C.L.F. still lives my brother!!!
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Oct 10, 2009 - 08:24pm PT
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Just got back from 9 days in the desert, so sorry to hear about Kyle. I saw him with Ron Olesky at a barbeque at Jeff Lowe's on 7/23. Kyle perservered for a long time under extremely difficult circumstances. His legacy of bold climbs will live on.
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sunnyside
Boulder climber
boulder
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Oct 11, 2009 - 07:40pm PT
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Kyle lived in Boulder during the mid 1980s' and through Charlie Fowler and Mark Rolofson, I was fortunate to have met him and become his friend. At that time he was dating Allison Sheets and was sharing a house with Mark Rolofson, and John McMullen. Kyle was such a kind person and was always interested in what was going on with climbing. He had a great eye for routes and was the one who first told me about, and suggested that I try free climbing such routes as Rainbow Wall and China Doll, both originally sent as aid climbs by Kyle and friends. I remember the great climber parties that him and his roommates used to have at their house there on Broadway and Ash in Boulder, the views of the Flatirons, looking out their front yard was inspiring. I remember him always talking about the climbing potential in the desert and how he respected the feats of Layton Kor and how he aspired to be such an explorer of rock as Kor. I recall watching several slide shows of his desert tower ascents, I was especially intrigued by his and Charlie Fowlers ascent of the Totem Poke in Monument Valley. He will always be remembered, at least in my book, as one of the true innovator within the rock world.
Bob Horan
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sunnyside
Big Wall climber
boulder
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Oct 12, 2009 - 12:50pm PT
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Like a Kachina Wind, when looking out into the magnificent desert your spirit will be felt.
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Conrad
climber
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Oct 16, 2009 - 09:43am PT
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RIP Kyle. With respect to his family and close friends.
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back east
Boulder climber
Boston, MA
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Oct 16, 2009 - 02:43pm PT
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Hello to all of Kyle's friends;
Here's a few pictures from when he first started out in Boulder. We moved out there from Setauket, NY in 1979, to find a better life. I brought forth our daughter, Ianna, and went back East, he stayed out West. Ianna later became brain-injured in an accident when she was still a baby, leaving her whole right side powerless. I mention this here because you all knew what a fighter Kyle was, and Ianna is the same way. She was supposed to be on permanent life support but got off it and learned to walk, talk, read and write and do amazing artwork and craft. She now runs her own jewelry business. We are both very saddened he is gone, but happy he is in a better place and without pain.
Kyle managed to get me to climb the Flatirons, and a few other places....we found a place to climb that wasn't in any guidebooks, and called it "Smearin' Off"- a pun on the vodka label- not that I'm a drinker or anything. I just touched the climbing world very briefly, when he was first starting out in a big way. I guess that became a trademark of sorts for him- after reading your posts- that he loved to make new climbs.
We met in Earth Science class in 9th grade. Our teacher, Mr. Coulter, told him to sit near me. (I guess the teacher knew I was always nice- the other kids kept making fun of him because he was a bit awkward-looking and had very long hair- and he had just moved up from Virginia so had a funny accent). So we were friends for many years. When things in my family became difficult, he was a stalwart friend. We both had our stubborn streaks, and we were both very young when we moved to Boulder, so didn't have the tools or wisdom to work things out.
I still have the first chalk bag that he made. He was such a sentimental soul. So anti-establishment, so high-minded and down to earth at the same time.
He will be missed, for sure.
Rene
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Oct 16, 2009 - 03:03pm PT
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I only met him a few times, and didn't know him all that well.
But I have long been well aware of the legacy he left to any of us who climb in the desert.
Thanks again, Kyle. Good bye.
Condolences to his family and all who knew and loved him.
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asheets
climber
eldo
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Oct 17, 2009 - 03:00am PT
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Some photos
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asheets
climber
eldo
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Oct 17, 2009 - 03:00am PT
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asheets
climber
eldo
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Oct 17, 2009 - 03:02am PT
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The next day, Christmas, found us topping out on Standing Rock after experiencing the famed "bands of moistened kitty litter" desert sandstone. Kyle climbed the entire route wearing a santa hat and a cigarette in his mouth. Layton's original summit register was there.
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jjg
Social climber
castle valley ut
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Nov 11, 2009 - 08:02pm PT
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Just returned from the San Rafael Swells to scatter My best friend Tenley Webb's with Kyle Copeland's ashes. Yes, he was an extraordinary man and a dear friend to Tenley and I. Had many an occasion to enjoy the outdoors with him. LOL. Janet
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Icemann
climber
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Sep 16, 2010 - 09:09pm PT
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I am writing on behalf Ianna Good the daughter of Kyle Copeland. She was hoping some of you would share your photos with her. Can you send them to my email address. Just send be a private message using this forum or FB.
This is a monument to Kyle Copeland in Ianna's backyard in Westwood MA.
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Icemann
climber
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Sep 19, 2010 - 09:40pm PT
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Ianna is Russian Orthodox and we asked a priest for an icon of someone appropriate for this Ianna's monument. We were given an icon of St. Neophytos who the priest said climbed a spire and carved out a cave for himself. The site below says it a little differently but I suspect it's just a translation thing.
http://orthodoxyinfo.org/Saints/StNeophytos.htm
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mud
Trad climber
CO
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Sep 20, 2010 - 11:12pm PT
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A couple of Kyle - Mid 80's
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Globeshifter
Social climber
Salt Lake City, Utah
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It’s hard to believe it’s been a year since Kyle passed away. I have enjoyed reading all the stories and looking at the pictures that everyone shared on this site.
I met Kyle through Tenley 16 years ago. Throughout those years I found Kyle to be a true friend. I have few friends in life but the ones I do have and hold close have been in my life a long time.
The time I spent with Kyle was never dull and I usually walked away with something new to ponder on or an angle on life I hadn’t seen before. Anyone that knew Kyle very well knows that if you spent enough time with him you were bound to see a side of him that would be a bit abrasive. I would be to the point of telling him, “Hasta La Vista, baby!” when out of the blue he would do or say something that would make up for any of his tantrums and then some.
I am the one that took Kyle to Moab just before he died. He had been hospitalized for over 6 months and it was obvious he was homesick as hell. Even though his health was better than it had been in the previous months he was still frail, yet I could see that Kyle going home, even for just a moment was something he wanted to do no matter what, so off we went.
It as a great trip, I got to see a few sides of Kyle I hadn’t seen for a long time. Like laughter. He rattled on and on about some of the highlights of his life as well as some of the low times, he even talked of his daughter which I knew was a very rare thing for him to do and I felt honored he did. Tenley met us at his house in Moab and the three of us spent the day going through stuff. Each item seemed to have a story to it. Looking back I think he knew he wouldn’t be home again. Kyle passed away in his sleep two days later. I got the call from Tenley and one thing that stuck in my mind she said to me was the fact that she and I were the last people to see him happy. And I have to say that Kyle really was.
Toward the end I watched Kyle struggle with his emotions. He did his best to be positive. Like any climb Kyle ever took, there were situations and obstacles that appeared to be impossible to get above and beyond, yet Kyle did just that, one last time.
Until we meet again, Thank you and goodbye Kyle.
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shellon copeland
Social climber
reston, virginia
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Oct 23, 2010 - 09:26am PT
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Thanks for your posting and what an amazing thing to take Kyle home that last time I bet he was so very grateful. As well as to have you and Tenley and Kyle together in Moab.
Maybe that last journey was the impetus to let go and move on to the place where he would always be young and strong, never be hungry or in pain emotionally or physically and never feel scared or guilty, sad or angry. The fight was not lost.
I will always remember laughing hysterically with cereral balls up our noses or lighting a home made tobacco cigarette as big as a cucumber or singing Led Zeppelin as loud as we could.
This has been such a very very hard month and the wound feels just a fresh as the day it was made. I want so very much to do a web site and and it feels too hard right now. Seeing the picture of him you can feel his strength looking forward with binoculars despite his losses.
Shellon
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Oct 23, 2010 - 12:46pm PT
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When it comes to desert climbing- Kyle was Da Man!
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Oct 23, 2010 - 01:41pm PT
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I think that Kyle would be very proud to see that the sale of his used gear generated thousands of dollars for his good friend, Layton's, medical expenses.
Looks like it is time for another sale as he just got a pile of new bills as a result of the surgery this month.
I hope Shellon is aware of just how much Layton appreciates this effort. Indeed, the people of ST have likely been that much more generous in it.
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