Randall Grandstaff

[Old_Man]

Regrettably, the news about Randall Grandstaff is true. I don’t know the details of the accident but I know the news has affected a lot of folks. The AMGA office is trying to get information regarding the memorial service. Unfortunately we don’t know anything at this time.

[Jason_Martin]

I don't want to spread too many rumors about this incident, but following is the information that I have heard. There is a lot of speculation which has been ommitted.

 

Randall was guiding the Great Red Book in Red Rocks. His student rappelled the route safely. Inexplicably, Randall fell to the ground and died on impact.

 

Randall was a great climber with numerous first ascents. He was also a friendly and engaging person. He will be missed.

 

Jason

 

[ 06-18-2002, 01:46 PM: Message edited by: Jason Martin ]

[freeclimb9]

Grandstaff's funeral was last Monday with a memorial service in the evening at Calico Basin.

 

From the Las Vegas Review Journal, "Grandstaff's brother-in-law, former Clark County Fire Department spokesman Steve La-Sky, said Saturday that investigators have determined the accident was caused by an equipment failure known to climbers as a 'catastrophic anchor failure.'"

 

His obitiuary in the paper follows:

 

Randal Grandstaff, 44, died Wednesday.

 

He was born Sept. 24, 1957, in Las Vegas. A climbing instructor, he was a member of American Mountain Guides Association, Union Internacionales Des Associations De Guides De Montagne, Boy Scouts of America and a lifetime resident of Las Vegas.

 

He is survived by his wife, Laura; stepdaughters, Stephanie Sanders and Whitney Sanders; mother, Carmella Chris; brother, Sam; and sisters, Darla La-Sky, all of Las Vegas, and Carla Jones of Houston.

 

Services will be 2 p.m. Monday at Palm Mortuary-Downtown. Palm Mortuary-Cheyenne handled the arrangements. The family requests memorial donations be made to Friends of the Nevada Wilderness, 1700 E. Desert Inn Road, Las Vegas NV.

[Jason_Martin]

Thought I'd share this with the online community since so many people knew Randall. I received the following email this morning...

 

Jason

 

Notice to the AMGA community:

 

Two weeks ago the guiding community lost one of it¹s shining members.

Randal Grandstaff was killed while guiding in his home, Red Rock

Canyon,

Nevada. Randal was the founder of Sky¹s the Limit guide service and

climbing school and was the mentor to many young guides. He put up

hundreds

of routes in Red Rocks and was a brilliant rock climber and Certified

Rock

Guide. Autopsy showed Randall had advanced heart disease which would

probably have taken his life in the coming months. The extent to which

this

played a role in his death is unknown.

 

Randal had a thirst for life, for mountains and for the profession of

the

mountain guide that was inspirational to guides and climbers around the

world. He will be deeply missed by his family, friends, colleagues,

clients

and by the larger guiding and mountaineering communities.

 

We are the mirror as well as the face in it.

We are tasting the taste this

minute of eternity. We are pain

and what cures the pain, both. We are

the sweet cold water and the jar that pours.

 

Jellaludin Balkhi (Rumi)

12th Century Turkey

Translated by Coleman Barks

 

Randal will forever be part of the canyons he loved and of the people

who

loved him. Good bye my friend.

 

Ramsay Thomas

AMGA Vice President