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Very sad news. I'll miss Chuck's sarcastic sense of humor, his brotherly teasing, his intelligence, and his adventurous and ready spirit. I spent one of my all-time favorite mountain climbing days with Chuck when we climbed the full North Ridge of Mt. Stuart in a day, which was his idea and turned out great. It was one of those days of alpine perfection. We didn't see another human the whole day and we flowed up the route in the glittering sunshine. I can close my eyes and recall a dozen moments from that day. Memories that I have cherished to this day, but are now a bit heavier. Thank you for that day! I will miss you my friend.

Sausagefest, Chuck with a smile on his face

it's 2wd to the washout at 6km ,then you have to walk around an hour to the Slesse Mountain Trail. and a bike won't help that hour at all due to trees on the road

I got terrible news today that our very own @chucK , a long time OG cc.com poster and moderator passed away in a climbing accident in the North Cascades last week. I'm still processing this info myself and I'm a bit in shock, but I have got the OK to share a bit of information about Chuck Spiekerman's celebrations of life in case you knew him and want to attend. His friends on this forum were many...he was at tons of CC.com events and was a very active climber. This thread can also serve as our own memorial to Chuck so if you have any pictures to share or stories to tell please post them up. **PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS THREAD IS NOT FOR DISCUSSING THE DETAILS OF THE ACCIDENT. POSTS TO THAT EFFECT, ALONG WITH OTHER THREADS ANALZYING THE ACCIDENT, WILL BE DELETED FOR NOW.*** This thread is for celebrating @chucK not discussing what happened last week. There will be a time and place for that sort of talk, but especially since he was one of our own the discussion must not be an armchair speculation but rather about the facts as presented, and abstracted from personal judgements about people. We will make a time and place for that, but it is not now. Any discussion would be absent the facts anyway. There is value in discussing accidents so we all learn, or more often, we remember to remain alert and vigilant from absent mindedness in situations. Be careful out there. The following information was passed along to me (the "I" is not Olyclimber). ALL INVITED, DENNY CREEK CAMPGROUND I just reserved Denny Creek Campground for Aug. 22 (next Thursday). Site 34. Group Site accommodates 35 people and I think dozens of tents. I plan to be there around 3:00 p.m. and setup up for a potluck. We can tell Chuck stories, drink bear, barbecue, whatever. The following day, those who are able will follow Bill and hike with Chuck’s ashes on a trail to the base of the climb that Chuck and Bill started three weeks ago. Chuck said it was a 4 hr hike one way, Bill, if I heard him correctly, said it was a 5 hr hike. Mary hurt her foot this morning. If she is able, we will hike to the base of the climb and spread Chuck’s ashes. If she is not able, we will do whatever she wants. It is possible that we won’t have the ashes. In which case, we will go anyway. The main point is to get together, share each other’s company, and tell stories about Chuck. If more than 35 people show up, they can sleep in their car, get a different campsite, whatever. I am not going to micromanage who camps where or what the menu is. I just want people to show up, grieve, and celebrate Chuck’s life. ALL INVITED, U.W. This one will be sometime after UW reconvenes on Sept. 25. We don’t have the venue yet. Chuck’s work colleagues, including Kevin, are working on this. This one will be more formal and better attended. I envision a few speeches from behind a microphone, powerpoint of pictures of Chuck, maybe even a pastor, although I realize that Chuck wasn’t at all religious