Sad news coming

[mike_m]

There was a fatal accident on Denali yesterday. Two lost, at least one was from Seattle though the names haven't been released yet.

 

"They have slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God."

 

Be safe up there.

 

 

[Weekend_Climberz]

[TrogdortheBurninator]

Here is a link: http://www.adn.com/front/story/8896317p-8796351c.html

 

I just found out about this a few hours ago and it saddens me very deeply. Both of these climbers were cc.com users and will be greatly missed. I didn't know MIzuki, but had the pleasure of becoming good friends with Brian this past winter on a number of trips. He was a blast to hang out with, and I only regret not meeting him earlier. My deepest condolences to his wife and friends as well as to Mizuki's family and friends.

 

[Weekend_Climberz]

I'll post some more pics when I get home. This totally blows my mind. Both these individuals were great climbers as well as great people. I haven't met Mizuki, but from others who have climbed with her I've heard nothing but how much of a love of life she had. I did 8 out of the 21 days of ice climbing this past winter with Brian and have great memories of joking with him and shooting the shit. I'm going to start a tribute on my website to Brian. WOW!!!! :cry:

[CascadeClimber]

I knew Mizuki. She was the kind of person even a quasi-misanthrope like me couldn't help but like and respect. We planned to make another go at Lib Ridge as soon as she got back.

 

I don't really know what else to say.

 

Here is a pic of her walking the last few feet to the top of Rainier in her ever-present orange puffy:

 

 

 

She will be missed. My condolences to all who knew her and Brian.

 

Loren

 

Edit to add: Mizuki posted here as Pochi. The few trip reports that she put up are hilarious.

Edited May 19, 2007 by CascadeClimber

[Layback]

I did not know Mizuki personally, but I knew of her from Mountaineers circles. From what I knew of her she was very skilled and very safe.

 

This comes as quite a shock. My thoughts and prayers are with both families.

[Weekend_Climberz]

 

I spent almost half my ice season with brian_m this past winter and he was super stoked to head up the big hill in Alaska. What a sad day for the PNW. He was a true American Hero and saved many lives during his work as a fire fighter. God Speed Brother!!!

 

I put up a little tribute here

[40spice]

Mizuki was an inspiration and an awesome climber. Here she is on her 36th birthday on Eldorado in September 2006.

 

Edited May 20, 2007 by 40spice

[Weekend_Climberz]

King5 did a nice piece on them with more details of the incident.

 

linky

[olyclimber]

Trog,

 

What was Brian's screen name here on cc.com? This is really sad news.

[Serenity]

I knew Brian. Saddened to hear of his passing.

 

R.I.P.

 

Condolences to family and friends.

 

 

[TrogdortheBurninator]

Brian posted as Brian_M and Mizuki posted as Pochi.

 

[pindude]

Brian lived and worked here in Spokane only a few years ago. Strong in spirit and body, honorable, and well-liked by virtually everyone around him, Brian was truly a good, nice person. He was one of my favorites when he worked at Mountain Gear's retail store where I'd go out of my way to seek him out for info and advice. Among our discussions was Denali's West Rib: climbing the route was a dream of his for many years. I didn't know Mizuki, but am confident any partner of Brian's--especially for this route--would be similar in character.

 

It's this aspect of climbing I hate. What a tragic loss. My condolences to the families and many friends of both.

[octavius]

I'm stunned by this news and at a complete loss for words tonight. Here is a photo of Mizuki from a climb of Glacier Peak this past summer.

Edited May 19, 2007 by octavius

[catbirdseat]

I knew Mizuki quite well. I was one of her instructors in the Intermediate Course and watched her first leads on rock and ice. I mentored her as a new trip leader on the Emmons Route on Rainier.

 

The last climb we did was an attempt on Johannesburg in awful, smokey conditions from a brush fire. She maintained good spirits throughout despite having skinner her knuckles on ice and getting hit in the arm with a rock.

 

She was a woman of few words, but many great deeds. I'll miss her deeply.

 

I didn't know Brian quite as well, but on our one trip together he proved to be a fine gentleman. The last time I saw him, he was on the Mountaineer Creek road with a huge pack and equally huge grin on his face, headed for Mt. Stuart.

[chris_w]

I am sadden by the news. I knew Mizuki for a couple of years. Never climbed together but ran into each other many times on the trail, VW or at a mountaineers event. She helped instuct at a couple of field trip I led and was very dependable.

 

I can still hear her asking questions for her first Denali attempt (and summit) in 2004.

 

My condolences to both families.

 

[ilookeddown]

I knew Brian and we planned to do some stuff when he got back. He was so excited to go to AK. I am shocked and saddened to hear this news.

Edited May 19, 2007 by ilookeddown

[einzelgaenger80]

What a sad year .. and not even half-way there. So many good climbers, and good friends, passing away.

"We stand on a mountain pass in the midst of a whirling snow and blinding mist, through which we get glimpses now and then of paths which may be deceptive. If we stand still we shall be frozen to death. If we take the wrong road we shall be dashed to pieces. We do not certainly know whether there is any right one. What must we do ? Be strong and of good courage. Act for the best, hope for the best, and take what comes... If death ends all, we cannot meet death better." -James Fitz.

[ZimZam]

My condolences to their families, friends, and those of you here who climbed with them and considered them buddies. Very sad.

[JosephH]

Shaping up to be another tough year in the PNW - my condolences and be careful out there...

[Paul_K]

Mizukie in the red hat on the summit of Whitehorse. Very strong, very kind and invariably upbeat.

 

 

[kola]

I wanted to join the rest of you who knew Mizuki and extend my thoughts and wishes to you in memory of her. I'm an outsider to the Northwest climbing community but I shared Mizuki with you.

 

I climbed with Mizuki, and her friend, Anne, (along with a friend of mine), for a week in Ouray this past March. I met Mizuki over the internet when she responded to an open invitation I had posted on a few climbing sites about a trip to Ouray. Mizuki said she had injured her leg and was not able to make the Colorado trip she had joined earlier. She thought she would be recovered enough for my March trip to give Ouray a shot. After several e-mails about getting the trip together, we finally hooked-up in Ouray several weeks later when I picked Mizuki and Anne up at the Montrose airport.

 

In the car ride to the motel in Ouray, Mizuki seemed unexpectedly reserved and I wondered to myself what kind of week it would be. The first few hours of the trip were awkward. Our e-mails had been brief and centered mostly on logistics, with a little discussion here and there about what we might want to climb. I am a detail-guy and was continuously updating her on how plans were developing. In what I am sure was an unintended way, Mizuki made it clear that she cared little for details; all she wanted to do was climb - anything!!! all day!!! every day!!!

 

During the course of the week as our party of four climbed together and lived together, I think I got to know her much better and was impressed by her passion for climbing. Unlike many climbers I meet, Mizuki was aware of climbing history and tradition. She was an adventurer at heart, fully into the current one and always looking forward to the next one, including Denali.

 

I was also captivated by her warmth, her sense of humor and wonderful smile: her whole face lighting up, eyes matching mouth in a broad grin over my poorly told jokes and silly antics. Mizuki and I talked only a little about her leaving Japan but I sensed a sadness about some things left behind, unresolved.

 

During some of our casual monents in Ouray, when she and I talked about some of her climbs, Mizuki talked mostly about her partners, not the routes. For those who knew her, she displayed a certain joy in remembering climbing with you and her memories were first and foremost of her personal experiences with you. Her partners must have touched the same spark that lay within her.

 

I've seen reports regarding the accident on Denali that Mizuki met her partner over the internet. That is not surprising - it's the same way I met her. She was confident in her climbing skills, she seemed to know how to keep herself safe and I never saw her cut any corners. She was strong and determined. Who knows what happened on Denali? The only thing I feel certain about is that Mizuki knew what she was doing up in the hills.

 

I remember saying good-bye to Mizuki at the Montrose airport - this time very different from when we said hello, just a week earlier. We promised to climb again with each other, sometime, somewhere, maybe rock climbing, probably Ouray next year. In April, I got an e-mail from Mizuki asking if I wanted to meet her at Red Rocks in September. Again, no details, just "... airfares are cheap so, let's do it!" I immediately said OK and marked the dates on my calendar. She said she would get back in touch after Denali - I wished her luck in Alaska and asked her to remember to always climb safe.

 

The good-bye in Montrose was said to a climbing partner.

 

The "good-bye" said today is to a sister.

 

Like each of you, I'm left feeling a heavy loss, an irreplacable loss. The short time that I knew Mizuki, memories were made that will last - for me, they will last as long as Denali lasts. I won't see her in September but I am going to keep those dates that are written on my calendar so that I can see them - and, remember.

 

Peace, Mizuki.

 

Tom

 

 

[tvashtarkatena]

I met Brian M as Brian Hench and I were coming out from Dragontail not even a month ago. My first impression from a distance was that of a Ultimate Fighter with a huge shit eating grin on his face humping what appeared to a gear festooned refrigerator on his back. It is shocking and surreal to get this news so soon after. Mizuki was to join their party the following day. My deepest condolences to their friends and family.

[40spice]

I have only been a friend of Mizuki’s for less than 2 years. But in that short period of time, she became a huge presence in my life. We met when we joined a climbing team at Vertical World Seattle back in Fall 2005. I didn’t know who she was, but I soon became aware based on the buzzing around her in the gym that she was a highly respected climber, particularly in Mountaineers circles. That was the end of my first summer climbing and I had just finished the Mt’neers Basic Climbing Course. Needless to say, I was awestruck by her. As a newbie woman climber, I didn’t realize how much I craved a role model—when I met Mizuki, I knew she was it. We became friends and started climbing together…in the summer we went outside, in the fall we came back indoors and drank beer, and, this winter, she introduced me to waterfall ice and snow boarding. I have so many wonderful memories in such a short period of time….endless hours of gym climbing, the Eldorado boulder field in the dark, skydiving at sunset, beer, martinis, sushi, movies, Ouray hot springs, breakfasts at sunrise in Banks Lake, swimming in the river at Exit 38, hail storms while on belay and long, long talks about climbing, life, love and the future. Mizuki was an extraordinary woman, a good friend and a force of nature. She was an immensely skilled, experienced, strong, driven and passionate climber. As a new climber, I always felt so lucky to be climbing with her but worried that I would hold her back. Mizuki was modest, patient and supportive and matter-of-factly respected my limits when I would hit one. She was kind and generous. Her mind and her heart were open to anyone she met who was up for an adventure. Mizuki was never about ego, she was about climbing. Over the next months and years the depths of this loss will slowly settle in. I will be forever grateful for the brief time I shared with Mizuki on this earth, for everything I learned from her and for the inspiration of her example.

 

Goodbye dear friend.

 

[dbconlin]

I climbed 3 or 4 times this past year with Brian. I don't think we ever successfully got up a climb together, but we always had a blast. I will miss him greatly. Goodbye, friend. My condolences also to his young wife (Jessica, I think?). I think they had been married less than a year. So sad.

 

Here he is an an attempt at Mt. Kent this past winter: