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Brian Corbett
climber
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May 20, 2014 - 07:09pm PT
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This news breaks my heart. My precious brother and mentor Rich Copeland died in a climbing accident in Yosemite. Rich and I became friends many years ago, and have had so many adventures together I can't count them. I always loved the mountains, but Rich taught me that they are mine to enjoy. Over the years, he earned his spot among the Yosemite gurus.
Rich, in my experience, was the incarnation of laughter and fun. When things got difficult, Rich was at his best. Indeed when things seemed outrageous, Rich would bellow with song. It is hard to imagine a more positive human being, or one more ardently out for adventure. Rich was not afraid of much, and died doing what he loved most.
Sharing in a brotherhood with Rich was one of the great privileges of my live. I simply cannot find words to describe this man other than to say I couldn't have loved him more, and I will miss him more than I can say.
Thank you Rich, with all my heart. May your spirit spill over into me.
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Leggs
Sport climber
Made in California
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May 20, 2014 - 07:16pm PT
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This thread is beautiful and humbling...
Rest in Peace ~
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jbur
Trad climber
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May 20, 2014 - 08:01pm PT
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Terrible News, I haven't caught up with Rich in a really long time. We climbed together some in 03-04 in Southern Illinois and took a trip to North Carolina to do some aid on Looking Glass. I'd hear stories through friends about his latest climb or other adventure, and it always started with "Man, your not going to believe what Rich has been up to". He was a hell of a guy, and will be missed. Here's a photo of him on belay in N.C. Spring of 04 I believe.
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Matt's
climber
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May 20, 2014 - 08:21pm PT
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my condolences to Richie's friends and family.
the news article makes it sound like he fell off of the long ledge that traverses Liberty Cap-- is that true?
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Erik Sloan
climber
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May 20, 2014 - 08:22pm PT
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Cheers Richie! I have tons of awesome photos I will try to post up later. Woot! to a life lived fully! Love ya bro!
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bowleggedgoat
Trad climber
CA
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May 20, 2014 - 09:11pm PT
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I met Rich when I tried my first big wall, The Shield on el cap in 2011, Rich and Ammon were climbing the second ascent of hole world and all the while we were epicing on the shield we could hear those two hooting at all hours of the night. When we bailed, they topped out I remember Rich handing me a cobra and offering humorous philosophical support to a whupped gumby (me). Topped out the shield yesterday and was thinking of Rich the whole time. Then i get down and find out he's gone. hits you hard, this stuff.
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StahlBro
Trad climber
San Diego, CA
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May 20, 2014 - 10:56pm PT
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Raising my glass to a life well lived.
Hope I can do the same.
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Broooks
Trad climber
Burlington, VT
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May 20, 2014 - 11:47pm PT
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Two weeks in the Valley with Richie resulted in the highlight of my climbing career. He, our best buddy Jim Thurmond and I got together for The Zodiac in April 2010. Even though it was my first big wall and first time in Yosemite, Richie's boundless energy and expansive ability made it all happen -- wedged in between two snowstorms. He just kept going strong even after climbing through the spray of Horsetail Falls in a drysuit, having to hold his pee for hours because of the suit, leading every pitch, setting up portaledges at 2:30 in the morning on Day 3, dropping one, sleeping 3 in a 2-man, only a couple hours sleep, we never lost the laughter. He loved every second of it. After topping out at sunset on Day 5, he rallied us for the night descent to get Jim home for a family emergency. I remember Richie took great pride in his solo ascent of Half Dome (I think it was 9 days), but he was equally proud to show me around his favorite spots on the Valley floor even in a storm. It will be hard to make my second trip out knowing that Richie won't be there to greet me with a pot of Tuna Helper and a new bivy site. Knowing him, even for only two weeks, made my life brighter and fuller. With his energy and motivation, anything was possible. Climb on Richie!To Rich's brother and sister and parents, my sincerest condolences. Please feel free to request high res files of the photos. I'm deeply sorry for your loss.
Brooks Elder
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ß Î Ø T Ç H
Boulder climber
extraordinaire
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May 21, 2014 - 03:48am PT
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Report here, although it says the accident was on El Cap.
They somehow got it right in the text tho -- 300 foot high ledge on Liberty cap.
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Leggs
Sport climber
Made in California
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May 21, 2014 - 12:27pm PT
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What wonderful tributes, memories and photos shared...
Bump for a life well lived, and lived to the fullest.
~peace
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ElCapPirate
Big Wall climber
Reno, Nevada
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May 21, 2014 - 06:27pm PT
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I will never forget you Richie. You were one of a kind and there will never be such a zany character like yourself. You made being stuck out in the Midwest for a few years VERY entertaining. Hell, you made life very entertaining.
How about that time we were all hiking up to climb at Devil’s Lake, you had a neck brace on from a skydiving accident and could only walk in slow movements. I was on crutches with a dislocated ankle from a BASE jumping injury. We started get separated from our group a bit, so it was just me and you limping along together. As people were walking down the trail the other way, or passing us by, you would start saying stuff like, “Man, I hope I don’t break my neck on them rocks… like last time”. And, “I don’t know how that knot came off”.
I caught on and started chiming in. “This time I shouldn’t tie the rope to my foot… that was a bad idea”. We were getting the funniest looks. At one point a guy pipes up and said, “It’s really none of my business but maybe you guys should find another sport”. Richie and I looked at each other and HOWLED with laughter. We used the line often where it fit.
We would just jump on our bikes in Chicago and start riding, most the time following the shoreline for days. We would just sleep on the beach or in parks like bums. It was simple and amazing. When we would get tired of being bums (soaking in views and culture) we would just take a train back to the city.
Your couch parties down in So Ill were LEGENDARY!! Who in their right mind hikes a couch for miles out in the boonies? We would just set the couch down and start drinking beer or have a smoke when we got tired of carrying it. Sitting out in the middle of the woods on a couch is something I only see myself doing with you. Then we fashioned a bridal for it and hoisted it up a cliff sixty feet, or so. The rope swing we made off the couch started getting out of hand, quickly. The next night Richie showed up with five gallons of white gas. “This is how we do it around these neck of the woods”, he told me.
One time, I showed up down there and Richie had bought a couple hundred dollars worth of wind chimes. Man, he must have bought every chime in the store, wooden ones, steel, bamboo… all kinds of chimes. We spent hours hanging all these chimes in the highest branches in the woods. We used a hunting climber tree stand and big wall techniques to hang them. Afterwards I made a comment about it going to be a bitch to collect them all. He laughed and said, “Those are there to stay, ha haa”.
I remember looking for a check in your apartment, for hours. We looked all day for that damn check. It was supposed to look just like any other check, like a payroll check, you said. We never did find it but I was curious once we gave up and I said. “They are going to have to cancel it”. And then ask, “How much was the check for, anyway?”
“Ahh, it was a check from Ford… just fifty thousand”. WTF, are you serious? Only you, Richie, ha haa
We would be coming back from a road trip somewhere and he would be like, “Hey, drop me off right here at this gas station”. Uh, ok… we would be out in the boonies. He would have no phone, just what he was wearing. He would just say something like, “I’ll probably meet up with a friend”. And you know, if he didn’t he would make one. But, it was strange just dropping him off like that, but he was just as easy going as they get.
I only did one wall with Richie, but have known him close to fifteen years. My partner bailed on me on Hole World and who showed up, but the man himself. He didn’t have a plan and he lit up when I asked him to join me. That was one of the best walls I’ve ever done. Bonding with my bro whom I was already close to is what life is all about. We laughed our asses off up there. The storm that rolled in will always be etched into my mind. Waterfalls everywhere!! Baseball sized rocks literally hitting us from the water pushing it over the edge. We are hanging under the rain fly because I couldn’t get the ledge up fast enough before the sh#t hit the fan. We were freezing! The last thing on my mind was weed and you say, “Hey man, you want to smoke a bowl? It might be the last time”. I just start howling at the absurdity. When I finally was able to control myself I say, “yes” and we somehow got the job done in between fits of laughter.
That was hilarious when we got off of Hole World. You had stashed a mason jar full of weed out in the woods somewhere. We spent all day wandering around looking for a jar of weed. It was supposed to be underneath a log, you kept telling me. We never did find it but boy did we laugh for hours trying to find it. We laughed even harder when we realized the facelift happened while we were up there, ha ha.
Richie was one of the most generous people I know. He would literally give you his shirt off his back, or his shoes off his feet. One time he knew I was pretty broke in the Valley and he hands be $200. “What’s this for?”, I asked. “Remember that time you surprised me and took my gear down from El Cap? I’ve been meaning to give this to you”, he would say. And then insisted I take it or he’s going to have to rough me up, ha ha. He had a heart of gold.
I’m not ashamed that I cry when my friends die, I think it’s natural. I’m openly sad that Richie is no longer with us. But, I can’t explain the happiness I have, that he was in my life. His pure joy of living and loving life is definitely Richie’s legacy.
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Jim Clipper
climber
from: forests to tree farms
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May 21, 2014 - 07:03pm PT
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^ Faack #2 and #13
speaks volumes (imho)
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Leggs
Sport climber
Made in California
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May 21, 2014 - 08:31pm PT
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Wonderful tribute, Ammon.
~peace to all
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Heisenberg
Trad climber
RV, middle of Nowehere
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May 21, 2014 - 09:35pm PT
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I forget who took this photo. Looking at it closer it shows how he lived his life. This is an amazing tribute of a photo. Absolutely breathtaking.
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Brian Corbett
climber
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May 21, 2014 - 09:38pm PT
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Mark and Cindy, my heart and deepest condolences are with your family. Cindy, we've met a number of times in St. Louis. I'm going to be at the service on Saturday in Yosemite. If there are any words you would like me to convey on your behalf, please let me know. I can be reached at
(314) 614-2137, or at: corbettbrian@yahoo.com. I'm going to call Liz Davis in a moment. I am devastated by this, and know you are too. With love, Brian
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gabeman
Trad climber
el portal
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May 21, 2014 - 09:50pm PT
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Friends and family we will be celebrating our friend Richie Copeland this Saturday, May 24th from noon to sunset at Cathedral Beach picnic area, here in Yosemite Valley. Please come celebrate and share stories about our hero Richie.
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Darcy
Gym climber
California
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May 22, 2014 - 12:30am PT
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There are so many people posting here who knew "Richie" from climbing together, but not so many who knew him as "The Dude" from Montecito Sequoia Lodge, the camp where my family has been spending the best weeks of our year for many years.
Our first summer at family camp six or seven years ago was when "The Dude" was just getting the climbing program started there. He had built the climbing wall under the deck, but wasn't given the budget to buy shoes small enough for the kids. He passionately wanted the smallest campers to learn to love the rocks as much as he did, so he encouraged parents to write on our end-of-the-week evaluations that this should be a priority. And, wouldn't you know it, the next year, there they were, the teeniest little climbing shoes, stiff in their newness, all laced together and ready to be worn by the next future superstar climber.
Where "Richie" could be crude and rough-edged with his climbing buddies, "The Dude" was sweet and gentle and encouraging with everyone from the smallest child to the most timid middle-aged couch potato.
He would stand right under the kids, patiently waiting for them to puzzle things out for themselves, but then also using one of those giant, craggy hands to guide them when they took a misstep. He’d grin that lopsided grin so widely and genuinely when they’d finally scramble all the way up (and they always did) that it was hard to believe that this was his job, that he could really be that excited about every single person pushing their own individual limits day after day, week after week, year after year. But he did.
A couple of years back, he put in a slack line on the beach. Watching him on it, with those cut up feet simultaneously tough like a mountain goat’s and flexible like a big old house cat’s, was poetry. “The Dude” made everything look graceful and effortless. He even inspired my own 70 year old mother to get up there; she and my dad put a slack line up in their own back yard upon returning home, trying to bring a little bit of camp magic back with them.
There were always a small handful of us who used our week at family camp to break out of our boring, desk-and-carpool-centered everyday lives and relive some of our youth when we didn’t have Responsibilities and Commitments. Right after dinner, we would excitedly sign up for the off-camp climbing expeditions he’d rave about, arrange for childcare for the next afternoon and pack our bags, complete with smooshed sandwich, juice box and fruit, like we were going off on a field trip with a beloved veteran teacher. The van rides with “The Dude” were the unexpected, unadvertised bonuses, when we got to hear those impossible stories of risk and redemption as we bounced along in the camp van on roads mere humans wouldn’t drive an armored tank on. He could drive those roads with his eyes closed, he knew them so well, dusty, covered in snow, in the dark.
While “The Dude” was the very embodiment of cool as he swaggered through camp, often barefoot and shirtless, his infinitely long arms hanging loose by his sides and his sparse hair looking like he just rolled out of bed, he wasn’t above getting silly at the variety show or morning pow wow. His “A-Lizard Face, A-Lizard Face” rendition was all the funnier for the contrast between the different extremes of his personality. When he cracked himself up at the sheer joyful ridiculousness of his job, it was hard not to laugh with him, too.
Last June, as we were bouldering by the forts, he was going on and on about the zip line that he envisioned running through the valley, maybe even ending over Lake Homovolo. He knew that this was a hard sell to those stodgy old suits who are always worried about liability and rules, but he also knew that he was one of the only ones who could set it up so that it would be foolproof. Safety was incredibly important to him. The only time I’d see him raise his voice was when a counselor training under him would take a shortcut or not keep their eye on their climber. We’re heading off to camp in exactly four weeks and I’m half-expecting to see that zipline of his dreams up there, one more physical fixture attesting to the undeniable, beautiful fact that he was there, that Montecito was one more place that he passed through on his too short, but enviably full journey. If anyone could make that zipline happen, it would be “The Dude.”
May your every climb be pure and unobstructed from wherever you are now. We’re going to miss you.
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Michelle
Social climber
1187 Hunterwasser
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May 22, 2014 - 01:21am PT
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Rest.
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Majid_S
Mountain climber
Karkoekstan
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May 22, 2014 - 01:48am PT
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I ran in to Richie here and there in the valley so many times, very nice guy with great smile. Pretty sad
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Norwegian
Trad climber
dancin on the tip of god's middle finger
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May 22, 2014 - 06:21am PT
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loving cup.
cheers, richie and friends.
"i'm the man from the mountain.
won't you come on up?
i'm the ploughman in the valley,
with a face full of mud.
yes i am stumblin,
and i know my car won't start.
yes i am fumbling,
and i know i play a bad guitar.
give a little drink,
from your lovin' cup!
just one drink,
and i fall down, drunk"
[Click to View YouTube Video]
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