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Ryan Johnson was a good man. I met and climbed with him many years ago in the Utah desert, then we carpooled back to the NW after a bunch of climbing, racing back home in time for Thanksgiving in Washington. I remember we picked up another carpooler in Boise who we had found on Craigslist to split gas money, and the guy turned out to be an "adult model" photographer, with a variety of wild and crazy stories, though it was a relief when we dropped him off somewhere in Oregon... I remember how excited he was about the mountains around the Juneau Icefield and the Stikine area. It was because of his infectious psyche that I ended up making two trips to that region, and during one summer trip to the Mendenhall Towers, the weather was good enough for Ryan and a local friend to hire a helicopter ad come up and climb a route and camp alongside my partner and I. I saw and chatted a little with Ryan in the past few years, but last spring he bought a copy of my guidebook. My wife was searching via instagram and came across one of Ryan's posts which he had labelled #CascadesRock.I'm glad he got a kick out of the mailbox that day. I hope his collection of climbing guidebooks will go on to inspire someone else to great heights. I know the town and climber/skier community in Juneau will help nurture Ryan's young son Milo. Ryan also used to post to Cascade Climbers under the name AKIceBum, but he stayed above the fray and didn't post a ton.

https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/2018/03/08/search-and-rescue-underway-for-2-men-on-juneaus-mendenhall-ice-field/ Not the news I wanted to read this morning. Hoping for the best possible outcome.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/16/obituaries/jim-bridwell-mountaineering-maverick-is-dead-at-73.html?hpw&rref=obituaries&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region&region=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well wise sir, do not grieve it is always better to avenge dear ones than to indulge in mourning for every one of us living in this world means waiting for our end let he who can achieve glory before death when a warrior is gone that will be his best and only bulwark