Good evening everybody, and thank you on behalf of the family for coming. And on behalf of all of us who are friends and were fellow climbers of The Climber as well. Your coming really does something that I've talked about at a lot of funeral services before, but I've never felt myself before. And that's the lightening of the load when it's shared with others. There's been such an outpouring of love, so many people concerned, so many people expressing their wishes, so many people praying that it has just taken a lot of the load that would just be overwhelming off and lifted it up to God in prayer, and in caring, and in love and lightened our load, and I've experienced it. I want to thank those of you who've so supported us, who were with The Climber and on behalf of the family to thank you. I trust that it's having the effect of sustaining them, as well. As we begin this service tonight, I'd like to ask you to consider why we come to these times and to prepare your heart that we make the most of it tonight. For each and every one of us there's going to be a day and a service just like this at which we'll be the guest of honor. And what is said of us, about our priorities, about how we've lived our lives, about our faith in God - all will be focused on choices that we've made. And so these are times for us who remain to be thinking about and open to God about those questions, about how we want to choose to live and about how we want to relate to God. So, that's one of our important purposes here today, and of course we want to also, and chiefly, mourn and honor The Climber, a wonderful friend, father, a son, brother, husband, brother-in-law, however you were related to him. We want to do honor to his whole memory tonight.
The Climber has impacted each of our lives in somewhat of a different way. As he has, that's been significant. But, as we hear the whole story tonight, it's our prayer that hearing the whole story of his life will complete the picture. The Climber's life was cut short. But, the time that he spent with you, and you and you, is being completed by telling more of the whole story. It's all the story that there will be told. Really, he doesn't have the opportunity to impact your life much more, except that you hear what his whole life was about, and we're trusting that will be a very powerful thing for everybody here tonight. So, with that in mind, would you agree with me in prayer? Let's invite God to come and to help us to do those important things tonight. Would you pray with me?
Our heavenly Father, we thank you so much for the comfort that we have in you. We thank you Lord for the revelation about eternal things and spiritual things that we have only because of you. We thank you for your presence with us and your love for us. Thank you again Lord for your words of truth that free us and instruct us. We ask you Lord to be present with us, come Holy Spirit of God and be present with us, and do your work in each of our hearts. Each of us individually must relate to these things tonight and we ask your help. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
We're just going to sing a couple of choruses, and please, join in. I believe the words are going to be showing up on the screen. I know that The Climber and some of those loved to sing some of these songs as they were climbing some of those 14er mountains.
Our God is an awesome God, He reigns from Heaven above.
With wisdom, power, and love
Our God is an awesome God. (repeat 2 x)
Our God is an awesome God, Our God is an awesome God.
Where you lead me, I will follow.
With your rod and staff to guide me.
Over mountains, through the valleys
You will bring my heart through safely.
And I will rest in the shadows of your wings.
My soul follows hard after thee. (repeat)
Oh, my God. You are my keeper.
And you have everything I need.
You're my shepherd.
My soul follows hard after thee.
Where you lead me, I will follow.
With your rod and staff to guide me.
Over mountains, through the valleys
You will bring my heart through safely.
And I will rest in the shadows of your wings.
My soul follows hard after thee.
Then sings my soul, my Savior, God to thee.
How great Thou art, how great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, my Savior, God to thee.
How great Thou art, how great Thou art.
Oh Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds thy hands have made.
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.
Then sings my soul, my Savior, God to thee.
How great Thou art, how great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, my Savior, God to thee.
How great Thou art, how great Thou art.
And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.
Then sings my soul, my Savior, God to thee.
How great Thou art, how great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, my Savior, God to thee.
How great Thou art, how great Thou art.
When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,
And there proclaim: "My God, how great Thou art!"
Then sings my soul, my Savior, God to thee.
How great Thou art, how great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, my Savior, God to thee.
How great Thou art, how great Thou art.
Hello. I'm Pastor RM. So glad you are able to be here. The Climber was a special guy, and we're going to remember him. I want to read Psalm 23 together. If you all could pull that out from the little blue sheet that was given to you. I think it's appropriate, they call this "Climber Psalm", and I know why they enjoy it, those who climb and enjoy nature like The Climber did. Let's read it together.
The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His names sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me.
Your rod and your staff they comfort me.
You prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil, my cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Amen.
The Climber was especially close to me - one particular reason is we used to pray together on our Wednesday morning payer time. And, some of you don't know our ritual, but we have a men's prayer meeting every Wednesday morning, and we've been doing that for many years. Since I've been here, 7 years, and of course, years before that. But, after we prayed kind of on our own, then we'd gather in little groups. And one of the little groups is named John. And The Climber was part of John, and all of these gentlemen here, and I'm going to ask them to stand up - if you'd do that guys. These guys prayed together with The Climber every Wednesday morning faithfully. And believe me he was one of the most faithful of all of us. (Wasn't he guys?) He was always there, and he'd get there early and do his kind of private prayer and we would come together and we would have a time together and each one of these guys could tell you stories of how The Climber would pray out different prayers, and usually he was praying for someone else. Remember, many times he would pray for fellow workers that had illness or were going through a struggle - something to do with their family. I can remember many times, he'd bring the request over and over waiting on God to do a mighty miracle. So, he had everyone else in mind. He always wanted to be a better man of God and we'll always remember The Climber won't we. And, one thing I'd like to say...know he's watching right now. So, you're listening to me. We'll never forget you. No one will ever replace you in our prayer circle. Your prayers will be missed. And your presence will be missed. We love you.
As we fill in the rest of the story, you will not only know The Climber better; you will have the completion of his influence on your life. He might have shared some part of himself or his faith with you; here is the rest of the story.
Born in Virginia - passed away in August of his 43rd year on K-2 Peak after completing the climb of Capitol Peak in the Maroon Bells - Snowmass Wilderness near Aspen, Colorado.
He is survived by both parents, his brother, "Upward Call", two sisters, and a foster sister.
The Climber loved his job as a software engineer.
The Climber earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science with a minor in music in college. He also completed a two year course of study at a Christian Bible Institute.
His family loved to do things together. Two of their regular and favorite activities tell you a lot about what made The Climber we know.
As a family, they faithfully attended Sunday School and church as a close Mennonite family. They also camped a lot in several beautiful areas around their home in Virginia. His dad would make time around his busy schedule as a cabinetmaker and take the family to spend family time in the beauty of the great outdoors. The Climber loved a mountain lake area in the Shenandoah Valley where they could all hike and swim. While camping out for 3 or 4 days at a time they would always have a Sunday school for the kids and for any others in the campground that might want to attend. His dad led the family in these two activities, camping out and worshipping God.
A glimpse into The Climber's boyhood finds him out setting off a couple of stray firecrackers that he had found. It was about Halloween and after setting off several fairly safe noisemakers in the neighborhood, he saw the police car coming up the street. His guilty conscience wouldn't let him lie his way out of trouble; he confessed the whole thing. He got a lecture from the officer and was sent home. It turned out the police officer was not in the area in response to The Climber's firecrackers but to investigate a car that failed to stop and fell into a neighbor's swimming pool!
The Climber took a long bike tour from Kitchener, Ontario back to his hometown in Virginia. In his 23rd year, he would take a transcontinental bike ride from Oregon to New Hampshire with a Christian group called Outspokin'. Their purpose was to tell about God as written up in the book, "Pilgrim on a Bicycle." To get out to the west coast, he took a bus route through the south that brought him through Colorado on his 6th day. It was then that he got the dream of living in Colorado as he wrote in his journal about the beauty of Pike's Peak, a majestic mountain over 14,000 feet in elevation. (Editor's Note: Journals of this trip are posted elsewhere on this site - see the home page or the Site Map for a link.)
The Climber's love for the outdoors was balanced by his duties at home. He told all of us that meant he would hike or climb one weekend out of the month and work in his yard and be around home the other times. He kept a beautiful yard and vegetable garden. The Climber didn't do just one thing at a time though. Once when I was talking to him on the telephone, he told me what he was doing on his computer and meanwhile had a little window on his monitor that allowed him to be watching and listening to the ballgame! His wife told me that he worked in the yard with a TV hooked up to follow the Broncos or Rockies, even if it required an elaborate arrangement to set it all up. He recently ran the lemonade stand with the kids while checking out the game plugged into the power outlet of his car. Bob C. saw him in the grocery store recently with his baggy white pants, blue shirt and headphones. Across the store, The Climber yelled, (due to the headphones), "Rockies are down by one in the 9th but there are men on base," then, "Neifi just hit a triple and they're up by one in the 9th!" The whole store knew by then. His wife even relates that The Climber multitasked while taking a shower; he usually was listening to CarTalk or National Public Radio while cleaning up.
In the early years of their marriage, The Climber liked to prove his keen intellect to his wife. He would ask her to take quizzes and puzzles and check to see if he was indeed smarter than she. They would watch Jeopardy and he would say, "So, do you know the answer to that one?" Sly herself, His wife started watching an earlier broadcast of the show and would quickly announce all the right answers. The Climber was impressed but certainly befuddled at this newly revealed talent. Before long, she had to confess.
Both sides of the family loved to be around this good Christian young man. He was friendly and loved to talk. The Climber would always set up the croquet set and patiently entertain the kids whenever they all went home to Virginia. As a young man he loved to study the constellations of the solar system and brought much of his knowledge into our hikes. He also spent time teaching the kids, using the same telescope that opened this wonder of God's creation up to him.
Bob C.: "I've hiked 5 mountains with him and I must say The Climber was always extremely safe... I've never seen him take a risk. As a matter of fact, he made me feel safe up there." The Climber always seemed to be tuned in to God. Once my job moved me to Tennessee for a year. The Climber was in my men's group that prayed for my safety and direction. The Climber asked me to wait around for about 10 minutes. He returned with $600 and said "I just felt God telling me to give you this just in case you need it. On the way to Tennessee, I encountered major trouble with my truck-about $600! If it weren't for The Climber responding to God, my family would not have had money to eat or fuel money to even get to Tennessee!
I met The Climber's wife 3 years ago. She volunteered to teach 2 year olds in Sunday School and we were assigned to teach together - that's how I eventually met The Climber. His wife, even with several kids and all the chores and to do items that comes with that, decided to get involved with God's work in the church. I think that speaks volumes for her. That's also when I met their daughters. The oldest one would help us with all the kids, just a beautiful girl, I think about 9 at the time. She had her mother's sweet spirit and it showed in working with the kids. The youngest one was one of those kids you will never forget, she had this voice! I remember telling his wife to record it and they could put her in commercials, it was just an unbelievably cute precious voice that those of you that know her know what I'm talking about. The Climber would stop in from time to time and I would see him at the men's Wednesday prayer meetings. We started talking about families and things we enjoyed doing. We both enjoyed the outdoors, we both liked to hike and The Climber just had this love of the mountains. He told me about coming to Colorado, falling in love with the mountains, then going back east to court his wife and bring her back to Colorado.
The Climber to me represented all the good things about being a man of God. He truly loved the Lord, his wife and kids and I could just hope that more Christians would radiate that love, as The Climber did. He wasn't a boring Christian. He enjoyed being with people and climbing the mountains he loved. I know this first hand by the number of times he approached me about going on the next 14er hike or by the number of e-mails I received from him about the next outing. Sometimes the e-mails talked of trips a full year away!!
We climbed 5 fourteeners together, The Climber jokingly would only give me credit for 4 because one of the peaks was not officially a 14er. But the disputed peak I felt was tough enough to count.
The Climber was always so enthusiastic about the beauty that God had surrounded us with. Prayer before and during hikes were one of his trademarks. This trip to Capitol Peak had been on The Climber's mind for quite a while because a person he had met on a couple of other hikes was joining us and he was not sure if this person knew Jesus. He and we all prayed that he would have the opportunity to share Christ in a loving way with this person, I know that The Climber prayed many times for this.
The Climber always was quick of wit and enjoyed other's humor. I have a fear of heights and The Climber respected that fear. I remember after we had crossed the knife edge, which I was dreading, Pastor Mike said to me, "Well Herb you made it across the knife edge." I said "Thanks to you, now what's it like?" Mike said "Now it gets tough" I said "You weren't supposed to tell me that" and The Climber said "That's a good pastor that tells you what you don't want to hear."
The Climber loved life and lived it that way. The Climber was always so soft spoken and "God' natured. The Climber was always concerned about others safety on these hikes, he always talked about safety and if you were OK. The 1st time we climbed a 14er together one of the guys was slower than the rest so The Climber just stayed back with him so everything would be OK, even though he could have easily beat us all up the peak. I think that's what being a leader is all about, not being in front but being there for those around you.
On this last hike I remember him grilling a younger member about if he was ready and strong enough to continue, and also saying there was nothing wrong with going back now that he had accomplished a lot. But that was The Climber. I guess that's what makes this climb so hard for me to talk about or think about, The Climber was about safety. I know he would not do anything foolish to endanger all that he had with his wife and the kids. He was still thinking about others as he turned to yell "rock" just moments before the slab gave way that he was on.
I am very proud to have known The Climber and proud to call him my friend. I'm also proud to know The Climber's family and I know his wife will continue to raise the children in God's and The Climber's way. God bless you!
I now have met more of the The Climber's family, from his dad, sister, sister in law, his wife and their kids. What a better way to measure a man than by his family. The Climber left this world a proud and happy man, his family is founded on "the rock".
Why The Climber, God?
I wish I could answer this question. All I can tell you is a true observation about viewing a good friend's life.
I had a secretary that was quite a gal. Over the years my family and hers went on many outings together and I knew her kids and she knew mine. Just great friends over many years. Some time during these years we both found Jesus. She attended church but her husband and kids would not. Her oldest son and his wife had a child, her first grandchild. I can remember how excited she was getting before the child was born. I truly remember the call to leave work to go to the hospital. She went to the hospital, the baby was born and she was back at the office with a smile from ear to ear telling us all how beautiful her first grandchild was. One of those moments you want for all those you love! Several hours later she received a call and had to rush back to the hospital, her grandchild had some kind of heart problem. There was concern but everything would be ok. That night there was another problem with the child, many of us from work went down to be with the family as they were staying at the hospital because things just kept getting worse and worse. Many, many tears were shed and prayers lifted up. Her grandchild died at 3 days old. We were all heart broken. At the funeral I learned that my friend's husband had invited Jesus in his heart, both the mother and father through this ordeal had invited Jesus in their hears and others were hearing the gospel message.
I was really questioning why God could allow this little child to suffer so much and to put this family through so much pain. Then I looked at this situation from a different perspective. I saw a child in paradise!! With the hope of spending eternity with grandparents, Mom, Dad and probably many others of the family that might not have known Jesus without this little child's existence. This seems crazy to non believers but it gave tragedy a whole new meaning to me. I do not understand why God lets these things happen, but I do know that God loves each of us and has a plan for us. He took my father when I was 11 years old and I was angry at God far too long. God loved that baby, my dad and he loved The Climber. God loves you too.
Attention: Pastor Mike
Regarding: The Climber
Pastor Mike,
Our thoughts are with you today as you prepare for The Climber's memorial service.
We're praying that the weather clears today, but, so far, it doesn't look good.
Enclosed are some feelings. Feel free to use them or not.
I still don't know what I will do. I still have today to back out of my Mt. Wilson climb. If not, I may summit on Thursday/ Friday. I just don't know how I'll feel after backpacking up to Navojo Lake.
We'll be with you tonight in spirit. At 7:00 p.m. I will light a candle at St. Daniel the Prophet Catholic Church in Ouray, CO.
Sincerely,
Kate and Bill
I'm still in the mountains -
Can't move ahead and can't go home
Can't sit still
And I can't close my eyes.
I met The Climber in the mountains in August of his 42nd year. My husband and I were atop Windom Peak when a group of men arrived. A few minutes later, one of them mentioned a sunrise service and it piqued my curiosity. You see, 5 years earlier my husband, Bill, and I met 2 pastors on the summits of numerous peaks in the Sangre de Cristo range. Could it be the same pastors? Yes! Pastor Vince and Mike! We could never forget their generosity. They gave us their climbing helmets - and a little red Bible. (A Bible that is with me on every peak). Our paths had crossed again on another 14er.
So, it was here, on Windom peak, that I met The Climber and others from their church: Mike P., Jobi, Nat, Martin, etc. What a happy, pleasant group of men. All were so kind - The Climber even insisted I join them on their climb over to neighboring Sunlight peak. A friendship was born. The Climber's enthusiasm was contagious, and I shared his dream of reaching the summits of all 54 peaks. He, and the others from the church were the ones you wanted to have as friends and climbing buddies.
A year goes by and after much phone tag, we were all at the base of Capitol peak. The Climber was so charged up that evening as he studied Capitol's ridge.
I wish you all could have felt the happiness we shared on Capitol that beautiful morning. I wish you could have heard the funny little stories being told. (The banter between The Climber and Mike P. was especially humorous that day). The climbing group cared for each other. The Climber was especially conscious not to leave anyone too far behind. He encouraged us on. He was in his element. He was happy.
The climb was long, but not that hard. Maybe it was the camaraderie, but Capitol seemed easier than many others that I had summited alone. I was happy to be part of this climbing team.
I was looking forward to an evening at base camp where we could all have a proper visit over dinner - a visit that never occurred. Instead, barely a year after we first met, I am breaking down The Climber's tent and gear and fashioning a cross out of twigs and twine to place over his camp.
All of us who were with The Climber that day will remember our own conversations with him. The Climber told me that he actually enjoyed climbing the harder peaks. He had started compiling a list of his favorite 14ers -Capitol was going to be on that list.
Well, Climber, we will be climbing together again. If, and when, I can move on to my last 5 peaks, they will be dedicated to you. You will be in my mind and heart as I climb up those mountains. As I trudge up the summit your picture will be in my pack next to the little red Bible.
Kate M.
P.S.- Thank you, Pastor Mike, for your level-headedness on the ridge; Mike P. for your courage; Herb, Walt, and Jesse, for your kindness, and Rick S. for helping me get off the mountain that afternoon.
I'm still in the mountains. I know our paths will cross again.
I am The Climber's brother, age 49. I've never been as athletically gifted or agile as my brother has. Nevertheless, I too like travel and hiking. One of his goals was to hike all of Colorado's 14'ers. I have a goal of section hiking the entire Appalachian Trail (approximately 2,175 miles).
We shared a bedroom growing up, but being 6 years apart, we did little together then. However, we have made numerous trips together since we both reached adulthood - sightseeing and hiking. These have included Lake Superior, Eastern Canada, New England, Virginia and North Carolina mountains, Washington State, the Canadian Rockies and the Colorado-eastern Utah canyon country. In his 32nd year (and my 38th), he and a cousin helped me hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon by carrying all the food and sleeping gear. Last fall, he took me across Bross - one of the 14'rs. We surely would have made more trips together in the future. This is what I will miss most in his absence.
As I've observed him over the years, especially on visits with him and his family in Colorado, I've seen his dedication to his family and his Lord. I am fully confident that he is now in his eternal home with his Saviour and Lord, Jesus Christ.
Never in my life have I so wished that I could see through the veil that keeps us from looking into eternity. I wonder what he said on the occasion of his sudden, unexpected arrival last week, as we count time. I wonder what the Lord said when The Climber arrived. Is there a reason or reasons for The Climber's death at this time? Why did God allow it to happen? We do not have enough information to evaluate from our perspective here on earth.
It falls to us to ask the Lord what He wants to say to each of us in and through The Climber's death. The Lord has purposes He wants to accomplish both in and through each one of us. I want Him to accomplish all that He wishes before I go home to be with Him. Acts 13:36 says "David, after he had served the purposes of God in his own generation, fell asleep (i.e. died) ...For myself, I see this as a time to consider whether there are changes the Lord wants me to make in the way I live. Are there things He wants to do in me through this?
In most of what I've said so far, I am assuming that most of my listeners are Christians. However, if you are not a believer, I want to speak to you for a moment. Because I know the eternal life and destiny that God has given me, I can trust Him regardless of what happens. He will also be a husband to his wife and a father to his children. He will be all we need Him to be, now in this life and through all eternity. But, if you do not know Him, you cannot count on that. The scriptural promises of comfort in the face of death do not apply to you. You have no assurance of a home in heaven when you die. As we've seen with The Climber, life can end very suddenly. We don't need to be on a talus slope for it to happen - we could be on an interstate highway! I understand The Climber was only a few feet from safe ground. When it comes to our spiritual lives, it behooves us to be sure our feet are on solid ground. The only solid ground is that of knowing Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. Ravi Zacharis has said, "there is not enough reason in the world to be able to live by reason, but there is enough reason in the world to make faith reasonable."
The Climber failed to reach his goal of hiking all of the 14'ers. I'm sure there were other desires that were left unfulfilled at the time of his death. I think that will probably be true of all of us, regardless of how long we live. I may or may not fulfill my goal of hiking all of the Appalachian Trail, but I am confident that God will more than make up for all the losses and unfulfilled desires of this life when we are with Him. HE IS FAITHFUL.
I'm privileged to count myself a friend of The Climber and I want to honor him here today. I considered him my best friend and there was a quality to our relationship that had a depth and vulnerability to it to a depth I did not have with other friends. We've been friends since college days - 23 years ago was when we met. We met as fellow music majors at James Madison University and we were attracted to each other initially because we had similar puny (weak) senses of humor. But after that our relationship grew in depth and we became inseparable bike companions. We biked all up and down the county and beyond. We did more than exercise, we shared our lives as we talked during the trails and got to know each other very well.
There are some funny stories. I dated his wife first, I don't know if she remembers and that was at The Climber's request. He was tied up in another relationship at that time, but his wife (to be) had been going through a really tough time and his concern was such that he asked me to help her out. My dating relationship lasted only once or twice. One of them was a double date with The Climber but shortly thereafter she and The Climber got together. Then after that they really hit it off. I was the best man at his wedding and he was the best man at mine. As he moved out to the West our times together were less and less frequent. We had several trips out West and a number of trips when he came to VA. We would get together and usually bicycling would be at the core of it. One of us would borrow a bike for the other person and go off and catch up with what's been going on, and that's the quality of the relationship that even after a year apart we could pick right up back where we were before. There were things I shared with him that I never shared with another friend. He was that kind of a man.
He challenged me in the Lord. Being with him made me want to seek God more, he had that quality about him and that concern in his relationships with people. His gentle humor encouraged me, he was fun to be around. He enjoyed the outdoors, his energy and his zest, his love for life inspired me. He changed me in the relationship we had - as he started the music major with me he changed his major over to computer science and I started taking some classes that way and that's my career now. And also my love of biking was developed through The Climber. He started calling me T and I called him C (Climber). We had those nicknames for each other.
We grieve today because his body was broken up on the mountain but someone else's body was broken and his blood was shed for us, the Son of God, that we might have life and though we die we can live again. The Climber counted on that promise and our faith and confidence is that now he is beholding the Father face to face. I say good-by brother C, you've changed us, impacted us and inspired us and for that we're grateful and we're better. For The Climber this is not good-by, this is see you later.
I wanted to share that I ran into something the last couple days at his house going through some things that has so impressed me as to who my brother really was. I knew before but I didn't know to what extent. I found the book of memoirs from his bike trip across the United States (at the age of 23) and I started reading it. You know back at that time a book was written about that trip and I started to read it back then but lost interest after reading a couple chapters. When I started reading his memoirs; I kept reading and reading, and if I look tired now it's because I read too late into the night and woke early in the morning and started reading again. I'm not finished yet but when I get home I am going to type them up (Editor's Note: That journal appears elsewhere on this site - see the Home page or Site Map for links to it). It was not just what he was seeing but his enthusiasm was so great, and his positive attitude was so great you just want to be there and experience it all with him. I've never been interested in bike riding before but I would love to do that trip, I will never do it but I would love to.
He said something about the bike trip that I took word for word, he said, "Jesus is my best friend, and I'll always want it so. I pray that I can help show the joy of Christ and the fun of living for Him as I bike along." Now, at that time he was 23 years old, but he meant that for the rest of his life and he lived like that so he could let others know about Jesus. What's fun about reading these memoirs is, I used to get hand written letters from him longer than any man I know. When e-mail came along a lot of that dropped off, it was too easy to type it out. But you know it is not quite the same. When I find his notebook about climbing his 14'ers I know it is going to be as special or more so than this notebook was. (Editor's Note: That journal also appears elsewhere on this site - see the Home page or Site Map for links to it).
I also want to mention his pundit attitude about things. One day he got up and he said: "Today was a really great day and a thoroughly miserable one." Can you imagine feeling that way and writing both of those on the same line. It was just his zest for life and his enthusiasm about what he was doing and what he was out there accomplishing. What was really neat is, at other times he referred to the beauty of the Rockies and that they reminded him of his precious Shenandoah. So I want you to know that taking him home to VA is taking him back to his precious Shenandoah and I think he'd be happy for that.
THE CLIMBERS TRADITION
I had the privilege of being on a number of backpack trips, also in the wintertime he would cross-country ski with us at Snowshoe and we saw that same zeal, excitement and love. The Climber was part of a God-given tradition that his church has cherished and it involves a deep appreciation for God's creation and the mountains of CO. The Climber took it on with zeal like the rest of us with this tradition and he saw it as something bigger than himself, something bigger than just climbing mountains. It was something God had put together in each one of our hearts that were involved in these outings. I am going to share a couple things about this tradition.
It began almost 25 years ago and along with the adventure and challenge, a tremendous Christian fellowship developed, especially on the summit - the honoring of God, the thanksgiving to God and the prayers. God used that to do something in each one of our hearts. Each summer saw a good number of groups from the church ascending some of the 54 peaks over 14,000 feet. Nineteen years ago, Pastor Ray C. heard from the Lord about taking this tradition to another level spiritually and we all seemed to catch that vision. The Lord showed us the intriguing fact that many of the major events in the Bible had occurred on mountain tops: the giving of the Ten Commandments, Jesus temptation, the transfiguration, the crucifixion and Jesus ascension into heaven were on the heights. High places, for many reasons we don't know, are significant to God, but also Satan imitating God chooses the high places as sites for his followers to worship false gods and to perform occult rituals. So this group of mountain climbers saw a new level of prayer and spiritual warfare. Our climbing started to change as far as our purpose. When we reached the summit we began praying for the healing of our land, speaking blessings over America and Israel. We wanted to take back what belongs to God as we looked out over the vast valleys, what Satan, the world and sin had stolen. On each summit Psalm 121 was recited in unison, and different groups read the entire book of Psalms over a series of 14'ers. There is power in the spoken Word of God, we felt that power and we were encouraged. The Jewish Talmud was read on the peaks, we think of Deut. 6:4 "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one: And thou shalt love the Lord with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength." God's presence and anointing were felt throughout all these different climbs, the tears, the love and the joy were common on these summits.
Through the years a Dedication Bible was placed on every peak symbolizing God's abiding presence. The Word of God is on every 14'er. Additionally several little salvation Bibles were placed at conspicuous locations where they could be found by other climbers who would come up, believing that God would prepare their hearts when they saw it. God only knows what benefits have resulted or may result from all that was said and done on the mountaintops. The results are really His business, our role was just to be obedient. May the Lord receive all the glory and honor in this.
The Climber was a very major part of this God given tradition. Having climbed 30 of the 14'ers himself, he looked forward to praising the Lord and going to prayer on top of those summits. He loved to pray and shout from the mountaintops the Lord's praises. He was thankful to God for the many blessings in his life. He was thankful for his family and for his friends. In a picture The Climber is looking at the directional sign and the sign is telling us where the next location is and how far that is and also telling us where we came from. The thought came to my mind: The Climber knew where he had been, he knew what the Lord had done in his life, he knew his family, he knew how God had blessed him, how God had guided him through his years and he was thankful for that. But he also knew where he was going and you could see this and you could hear this from him. He knew about the eternity he would some day spend with God, he knew he would be united some day with his loved ones, and he knew he would be shouting the praises of God forever and ever.
Editor's note: For more information see - The Church's Climbing Tradition, written by the pastor who started it.
I've known The Climber for nearly two years. We met at Pastor Ray C's 14er Climbers Reunion which was held in January of last year. We hit it off immediately and found out that we had a lot in common. Since then, I'd done about ten peaks with him, which often involved three-days of camping and backpacking per trip. We would spend lots of time together in the car driving to the peaks, as well as climbing them, and, since The Climber was so personable and talkative, I got to know him well.
My image of The Climber was one of a sensitive, gentle, and witty guy who loved the Lord and his family very much. He enjoyed life and all that it had to offer. He had a passion to climb all the fourteeners in Colorado and always got excited about their beauty. He always started the car trips and the climbs in prayer, dedicating the time and the fellowship to the Lord, and praising God for the mountains. The Climber was definitely a people person and loved to talk and share. He also liked to organize the mountain climbing trips via e-mail - and he was good at it, too! He was a leader and an encourager and even started a life group for people that had an interest in climbing 14ers. The Climber loved to take pictures and liked being in them. He would often hand the camera to another member of our hiking party and ask that person to take a picture of him in front of some awesome scene! The Climber gave several slide shows at various friend's homes and at the church sharing his love for the mountains.
The plan was that we were all to meet at the west parking lot of the church at 8:00 AM. Some of the men had attended the men's prayer meeting earlier that morning, including The Climber, and when my wife dropped me off that morning at 8:00 only two men in our party were at the parking lot waiting. I recall getting out of my car and jokingly called out, "Where's our fearless leader?" I was referring to The Climber, of course. Pastor Mike C. replied that he had been to early morning prayer and had gone home for a quick shower and would be there shortly.
When The Climber and the others did get there, The Climber suggested that we pray as a group before leaving the parking lot. I rode with The Climber in his car, along with another young climber named Jessie. Jessie rode shotgun, so The Climber spent time getting to know him. Since I was in the back seat, alone, I read. In between segments of conversation up front, The Climber would ask me what I was reading and wanted me to share points on it (I was reading the book, Roaring Lambs). The topic of the book sparked discussion. The Climber had such a desire to witness to the lost. He wanted to know how he could reach out to people at his work and share his faith effectively. He told us how he struggled with timidity in this area, and how some of his previous "sharing" had had negative effects! He also talked of his concern for the salvation of Kate and Bill, two hikers that we all met on a mountain last year and who had hiked with us on various peaks since that meeting. The Climber encouraged us to pray for opportunities to share with them (He had such a heart for others!).
After parking our cars at the trail head, we all hiked seven miles in to base camp and set up camp for the night.
The next morning, The Climber and I left camp about fifteen minutes later than the rest of the group; we had wanted to take some sunrise shots with our cameras. We then lagged behind the group for a while. We talked a lot as we hiked together. The Climber shared how proud he was of his dad climbing Mt. Sherman with him. We talked about how God seems to put opposites together to balance us out; me with my wife, and he with his. He loved being around people and crowds, whereas his wife always did better one-on-one, he said. He also talked about what a great house decorator his wife was and how sometimes he had to put the breaks on her for financial reasons!! :~) He told me how much he loved her and his kids. The Climber had even changed the hiking trip dates so that he could be in town for a Back-to-School Night meeting. This was The Climber. He was very involved with his family. During the hike, he got excited about the beauty and said how he really wanted to bring his family back up there in the fall to see all the aspen trees ["never to climb the peak, though! Only for a short little family walk!", he said :~) ].
Our group made it to the top of Capitol by 10:30 that morning and, as our tradition goes, we prayed. Mike C. and I called our wives from "the top", as we often do, but The Climber opted not to call from there. He wanted to wait to call his wife until after the K-2 area when all of the technical stuff would be behind him so that he could let her know that he was all right and heading down. I am sure that his final thoughts were of concern for his wife and the kids.
We all took our time on the hike. The Climber was always cautious and very safety minded, and we were glad to follow his wise example. He was forever looking out for everyone else. "Are you sure you feel up to this climb? You don't have to do it, you know." "Do you have enough water?"
I had chosen to go on a slightly different route on our descent, and was about 100 feet below the others, having just crossed a boulder field, when I heard rocks breaking loose from above. I looked up and saw the whole thing happen within seconds and was helpless to do anything about it, which is a terrible feeling. I was able to get to him in about two minutes from the time he stopped falling. I hurriedly took boulders from off of his body, checked for vital signs, and began CPR, but could tell, due to other significant signs, that it was not going to revive him. The whole thing was a nightmare, however, I know he is with the Lord. When I found him, he had a peaceful look on his face, as if he were in a deep sleep, not one of terror.
Just so you know, The Climber was not walking too fast, he was not careless with his footing, he was not going over strange terrain, etc. He was on "the trail", he was right where everyone walks, he was "right where he should be." The rock just gave way at the moment The Climber's foot stepped on it. I believe God is sovereign, and it didn't take Him by surprise. God has the whole picture, and we need to look to Him to pick up the broken pieces.
The Climber was a true friend, a brother-in-the-Lord, someone who made a difference in my life. He will be missed, but I am comforted in knowing that I shall see him again and resume the sweet fellowship we had together one day.
Mike P.
The Climber was also a good friend of mine and I climbed several peaks with him. I would just like to talk to you a little about the sovereignty of God. When something like this happens there are always questions, there are always thoughts and there is a process we all go through. You know my memories of The Climber on Wednesday mornings is the big bowl he'd bring every time filled with fruit, I understand it got squashed that Wednesday, some funny memories of him. We can say to all of you, "thank you for bringing up the way you did, thank you for being such a good wife to The Climber, thank you kids for loving your dad because he loved you." We used to always talk about you. The family was one of his main priorities wherever we would go and I remember driving down to the three last peaks I climbed with him. We climbed Little Bear Peak, which is a pretty technical peak, and we got to the top and met another guy who was not a believer. We began to share a little bit and talk and The Climber says, "we hope you don't mind but our tradition has been to pray for our country and Israel and we read the scriptures on top of every mountain, so we'd like to do that, is that ok?" He said, "that's fine". I thought, "man, coming from The Climber, I am supposed to be pastor and supposed to say things like that." I remember us three getting together over here to pray and he getting out his little Bible and reading Psalm 121. "I will look unto the hills from whence cometh my help," and a lot of those things. The Climber led out in prayer and we would pray. It was such a great memory of him and how he has carried on the tradition we talked about - knowing that is what was in his heart. And we prayed for his family, all the way back we'd talk about different things, about the Lord, about the family, and it was just a joy to be with him. He's really enriched my life.
I remember getting the call from the pastor and it blew me away. I just couldn't believe that something like that would happen and you always have questions when something like that happens. You wonder what could I have done or what should I have done? Could I have said something, should I have been there? Matter of fact the last words I heard from The Climber at prayer meeting Wednesday morning, because he was trying to get me to go with them; He said, "this is your last chance," little did I know. But when I got that call there was a big hole in my heart and I mean it was huge. You lose a friend, somebody you love a lot and I wrestled with that for the rest of the day. Of course I went over and talked with his wife and the rest of the family and I went home that night and I couldn't sleep. I was reminiscing about things like that, about The Climber and it's like he came to me and said, "Vince, I'm rejoicing with Jesus." Those are the five words I heard; I don't know if it was a vision, if it was a dream, if I was asleep or not but I know those were the words that The Climber was saying. And you know that started the healing process, it was still a tough night, the whole night but it was like a couple stitches went in that big hole and began to stitch up that hole. That process will still continue to happen and God will stitch it up. I don't believe The Climber's death was in vain at all. I believe God is sovereign and God has spoken to me some things about this - that He is sovereign and He knew the beginning from the end. He knew The Climber's life. God gave The Climber to us for 43 years. That was a blessing from God. He loved you (his family) so much and I reiterate how much he talked about you and what he had to say about you during our trips.
Three things were mentioned in the message last night and I believe The Climber fulfilled every one of these three things about following God and keeping on the straight and narrow path and they were related to Joseph. Joseph fulfilled his responsibilities, maintained integrity, and trusted God's sovereignty, and I believe that The Climber did that also (Editor's Note: See Genesis chapters 37 and 39 - 50). It is our turn to trust in God's sovereignty. We don't understand all these things and we couldn't pretend to do that, but God is sovereign and He knows the beginning from the end. He knew The Climber's life and He knew what would happen and God will fulfill his purposes. There are purposes that are being fulfilled right now through this and I believe they will continue to be fulfilled.
Well, the hole in my heart is beginning to mend but you know each one has a hole in their heart and it starts the day they were born, it's been there since then and the trouble is we can't patch it up. That hole doesn't get any smaller; it just keeps getting bigger. God wants to fill that hole; there is only one person who can patch that hole. Man tries to stitch it up; there's different ways we try to do that. That hole is called separation from God. God loves us so much he wants to stitch up that hole. I don't know where you are at tonight or yesterday and I don't know what your thoughts are on The Climber and his life, but his life radiated that, that hole had been patched in his life. And so God can patch that hole in your life. We try so many ways to stitch it up, we try relationships, different religions, drugs, alcohol, material things, all kinds of things we try to do that, and sometimes we even deny there is a hole there but it just gets bigger. Well God knows that vacuum is there, He loves us so much he did something about it. He sent His Son, Jesus. John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." That's the love of God. He sent His Son to die for us, and this man, Jesus, lived 33 years, 10 years less than The Climber. In those years he fulfilled the will of God. I believe The Climber fulfilled the will of God in his years that he had in this life. Isaiah 45:5 says, "I am the Lord and there is no other, there is no God beside me. I will gird you though you have not known me. And that you may know from the rising of the sun to the setting, that there is none beside me, I am the Lord and there is no other. I form the light and create the darkness." God created The Climber and now The Climber is with Him. In vs.18 it says, "for thus says the Lord who created the heavens, who is God who formed the earth and made it, who established it, he did not create it in vain, he formed it to be inhabited. I am the Lord and there is no other."
When we climb mountains we look at God's creation and we always make comments like, "all this was created just for us." God made the world and created it to be inhabited and he made it just for us. In Romans it talks about the sovereignty of God, and how we're the clay and he is the potter, he forms us, he molds us. We recognize God is sovereign over all and he loves us so much and he loves the family so much that he gave The Climber to us for a season and now The Climber's with Him. But always keep that in mind - the sovereignty of God, that He knows and we wonder why, we try to figure it out but you know there is nothing anybody could have done. It was The Climber's time and he was young, we don't understand that but I want to encourage you tonight that God is still sovereign and He's still sitting on the throne, He's still in control. Part of the purpose Jesus came is in Luke 4:18. "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, he has sent me to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." He came to heal the broken hearted and he wants to heal all of our hearts and he will. It's a process and it will take time but the biggest hole in our heart, is it sewed up? Do you know Jesus? That's the challenge I want to leave with you. If you have never received Christ into your life pray with me, "Dear Jesus, I just come to you. My understanding is limited but I know that I am a sinner, because your Word says everyone of us has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. I open my heart to you Jesus and I pray that you'd come and sew up that hole in my heart. I open it up to you and invite you to come in and I thank you in Jesus Name, Amen."
A number of the Psalms speak of the beauty of God's creation in the heavens and on earth. One particular Psalm has woven a thread of God's Providence or Divine Coincidence through this past summer in our climbing and our spiritual experience. In July I told The Climber the story of my taking Mayor B. and Vice-Governor T. up to the top of Mount Evans while we hosted them on their first visit from Kazakhstan. These men agreed to keep the tradition of our mountain climbing fellowship and we read the Psalms and prayed for those at home who were sick, including the Mayor's mother. The whole of the Bible has not yet been translated into the Kazakh language but one of our men found a section that referred to the mountains; it was Psalm 121. As he read, the presence of God came over us and I realized I was witnessing an awesome event as the Mayor reached out and took the little Holy Book in his hands and also read from God's Word for the first time in his life, in his own language. The Climber was thrilled to hear this and as you heard, he read it from the top of Little Bear Peak a couple of weeks ago. Kate, one of our climbing group at the scene of the accident, stayed in the area another night and, along with her husband, Bill, set up a monument to The Climber where his tent had been placed at the base camp. She briefly wrote the story and placed it on a cross there along with these words from Psalm 121!
We read them now to you, as you probably even now are multitasking with one eye on your friends and family you sadly left behind and the other on the splendor of heaven and on the Creator of us all, The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God!
These words have never been truer than they are for you right now:
I will lift up my eyes to the hills-
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip
He will not let your foot slip-
He who watches over you will not slumber;
Indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord watches over you-
The Lord is your shade at your right hand;
The sun will not harm you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all harm-
He will watch over your life;
The Lord will watch over your coming and going
Both now and forevermore.
New International Version
Text: Katharina von Schlegel, 1752; trans. by Jane Borthwick, 1855 (Ps. 46:10)
Music: Jean Sibelius, 1899; arr. from The Hymnal, 1933
Tune: FINLANDIA, Meter: 11 10.11 10.11 10
1. Be still, my soul: the Lord is on your side.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;
leave to your God to order and provide;
in every change God faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: your best, your heavenly friend
through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.
2. Be still, my soul: your God will undertake
to guide the future, as in ages past.
Your hope, your confidence let nothing shake;
all now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know
the Christ who ruled them while he dwelt below.
3. Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on
when we shall be forever with the Lord,
when disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past,
all safe and blessed we shall meet at last.