chucK has passed away

[Ruanne Dozier]

Hello all, I was led to this post by a friend of mine who told me she read Charlies’s obituary in Stockton. My husband, Brad Dozier, was from Stockton and died while attempting to summit Peak 9626 in Alpine County, CA on October 27, 2018. Search and Rescue teams found him a week later. Brad and I were married for 26 years just like Charlie and his wife. We had 3 kids. This past year has been horrific. So, I’m reaching out to Charlie’s wife should she just want to talk to a spouse who’s a survivor of a similar tragedy. I’m here. Ruanne

[PDS]

He must have run out of Grape Nuts; otherwise, no way this happens.

[Jim]

Sad, sad, sad.  Met him a couple times at CC pub things.  Seemed a very nice guy.  Best wishes to the family and friends.

[Kim Siegmund]

I remember Chuck very fondly as a classmate and friend in graduate school. He was a very curious and deep thinker, and a good poker player. But, what I will remember him for the most was his love of music and introducing me to the Seattle grunge scene. Watching Mudhoney in concert I experienced my first mosh pit and slam dancing. Chuck saw me lose my balance and start to fall and he quickly grabbed my arm, pulled me up and advised me to always stay on my feet. Before going to see The Jesus Lizard, he loaned me a tape recording so I could become familiar with their music in advance of the concert. I did not feel my untrained ear could recognize a single melody on the track yet at the show, halfway through the set, they started to play a song that I recognized from the recording. I looked at Chuck with excitement that he returned with his big knowing smile and slow nod of his head. It was the same smile that appears on many of the wonderful pictures posted on this site. I am forever grateful to Chuck for his gifting me these experiences and creating these fond memories of Seattle in the 90s. I  will always remember him for this.

[mjemond]

Charles (Chuck) Spiekerman Memorial

Friday, Oct. 18 at The Mountaineers, 7700 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, Goodman Room.  Parking is free next to the Mountaineers as well as at Magnuson Playfield on 74th Street nearby.

5:45-6:45: Program with refreshment/appetizers

6:45-9:30: Food service and informal sharing/mingling.  (BevMo will be involved but BYOB also is allowed.  No indoor climbing, tho.) 

Moon rises at 9:40 over Lake Washington that eve, and we have reserved the outdoor Seattle Parks Bouldering Rock right next door.

Those who knew Chuck are invited.

(Olyclimber might want to post this on a new thread to get this announcement out???)

Edited October 2, 2019 by mjemond
typo

[olyclimber]

On 10/1/2019 at 9:40 PM, mjemond said:

Charles (Chuck) Spiekerman Memorial

Friday, Oct. 18 at The Mountaineers, 7700 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, Goodman Room.  Parking is free next to the Mountaineers as well as at Magnuson Playfield on 74th Street nearby.

5:45-6:45: Program with refreshment/appetizers

6:45-9:30: Food service and informal sharing/mingling.  (BevMo will be involved but BYOB also is allowed.  No indoor climbing, tho.) 

Moon rises at 9:40 over Lake Washington that eve, and we have reserved the outdoor Seattle Parks Bouldering Rock right next door.

Those who knew Chuck are invited.

(Olyclimber might want to post this on a new thread to get this announcement out???)

I created an event in the calendar and shared this on the CC.com Facebook page.

[Alex]

Just saw this. Sad passing. Chuck and I climbed at Static together, fun and easy times. 

[Otto]

Kaleetan Peak, July 7, 2019
Chuck's Line, one pitch, 5.7, 1x

The last outing I did with Chuck Spiekerman was a visit to Kaleetan Peak on 7/22/2019. He had been working on me to get away from Darrington, and sold me on this unclimbed 600-foot West Face. The only problem was the four-hour approach hike. But since I'd been doing that nearly every summer weekend for the last several years, I agreed to help.

Chuck had done the research, scoping the face on an earlier solo trip up the North Ridge. He'd returned to work out the approach from Melakwa Lake and the best place to leave the climbers' track to contour around to the west side. He'd found the "magic gully" that leads down from the south shoulder to the west face smoothly. Now he'd invited me to join him on a rock climb of discovery on the west face itself. I was skeptical that there could be a good, unclimbed cliff in a busy, popular hiking area. At the same time, I was skeptical of all the work to hump in the required gear. Surely these two factors opposed themselves and would cancel out! So I agreed, and we'd have the place to ourselves for a day.

We brought two 60m ropes, a single rack with wires and cams to 3", my bolt kit with 3 bolts and hangers, drill and hammer, and no bivy gear. It is in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area, so no power drills are allowed. We would have to allow four hours of hiking time to get back to Denny Creek trailhead, and set our turn-around time. I didn't want to hike out in the dark.

Being on a strict timeline, I didn't stop for photos much. Wanting to document the wall itself, I took shots of the cliff but not of Chuck leading out. He drilled his first ever bolt on lead, protecting a steep short wall on a limestone patch. It only took him about 8 minutes to drill. The climbing on the limestone patches was phenomenal: sharp, sticky, and fun. Then he got in another bolt at the belay anchor, which is in quartzite, or perhaps andesite, much harder, and it took 20 minutes. It's a "pre-Tertiary melange" up there! He brought me up, and I drilled the second anchor bolt. Agreeing to go up and left toward a big tree for Pitch 2 next time, we rapped off.

 It was late afternoon and time to get out of there. On the talus on the way out I took these three photos of Chuck. Rest in peace, my friend.

There is gravel strewn over every ledge and hold, but the rock is sound. We didn't experience any loose rock or rockfall. The talus slope at the base is very loose and littered with bright, white quartz rhomboids.  It is a wide wall; there are doubtless better places to start. Indeed, there is a good crack in a left-facing corner directly below our line that could be used as a more direct start at a higher grade. For our continuation, we were going to angle left to the big tree aimed at by the arrow in the annotated photo. We spoke of staying in the light-grey limestone as much as possible, as the climbing there is excellent. If someone hankers for an adventure route, feel free to use Chuck's Line as a first pitch and go from there. 

Edited February 3, 2020 by Otto
writing is hard

[Rad]

Brilliant. Thanks for sharing that.

[olyclimber]

thats awesome