[TR] Denver - Final Ascent 5/5/2012

[W7VP]

Trip: Denver - Final Ascent

 

Date: 5/5/2012

 

Trip Report:

On May 5, 2012, David Trippett made his final ascent in Denver Colorado. David left a note saying he had been suffering from unbearable pain for many years before tying a complex climbing know and taking his own life. He was my son and his adventrues were always the source of vicarious pleasure for me and my family, especially his little sister Julianna. He left his wonderful Rhodesian Ridgeback, Obi, with his sister in Colorado.

 

There will be a memorial service for him at The Episcopal Church of the Holy Cross in Redmond, Washington on June 9, 2012, at 1:00 pm. We expect to have Wagner Machado there and we hope to have Joao and others who have shared David's adventures. Please come if you can to share in the wonderful life of David Trippett. Bill Trippett, his dad. Contact me at w7vp@comcast.net or friend me on Facebook.

[Plaidman]

My condolences. All the best to you and your family. I found this obituary. It tells quit a story. There are several photos that David submitted on Mounatainproject.com too.

Several of them are very good.

David's photos on Mountainproject

David William Trippett age 37, died May 5, 2012 in Denver Colorado. Self described as a continental drifter, a climber, a structural geologist, and a Ridge-Back lover. Prior to his death David was completing his M.Sc. Degree at the Colorado School of Mines in Mineral Exploration before embarking on a career in Peru.

 

David was born on August 26, 1974, in Longview Washington. After an early childhood in Pueblo Colorado, his family moved to Reston Virginia. He graduated in 1993 from Gonzaga College High School, Washington, DC. David received his B.Sc. in Geological Sciences from the University of Washington in 2001. He traveled extensively both for work and fun completing challenging projects in Patagonia, Peru, Nepal, Mexico and Botswana. David was lucky enough to be able to combine his professional career with his love of rock climbing, and completed many challenging climbs in remote parts of the world. David's noteworthy undergraduate work on erosion in the Himalayas was published by the Journal of Science.

Everybody who knew David, or worked with him, acknowledged his enquiring mind, and his ability to understand complex geological problems. David's love of mountain climbing made him unique as a geologist, and he was able to get to places no man had been before.

 

In Katmandu, David's skills as a person, a geologist, and a mountaineer were tested. He fell in love with the Nepalese people, adopted and supported a Sherpa family. He developed many lifelong friends in both adventures, and had learned to speak both Portuguese and Spanish. During most of his travels all over the world, David was accompanied by his faithful dog, Obi.

David is survived by his mother Carol Slade and stepfather John Slade of Sydney, Australia, his father William Trippett and stepmother, Linda Trippett of Woodinville, WA, his sister Laura Mastro and brother in law Mike Mastro of Denver, CO, brothers Randy Howard, of Phoenix, AZ, and Scott Howard of Arlington Virginia, his little sister Julianna Trippett of Woodinville, WA, and grandfather Maurice Kent Holman of Phoenix AZ, and many loving aunts, uncles and cousins.

 

David leaves his nieces, Aunna Mastro, Heather and Rachel Howard, and nephews Edward, Evan and Alex Mastro, and Taylor Howard, and his beloved dog Obi.

Dhaulagiri Sunset

Taken By: David Trippett

[Plaidman]

I really liked this picture too. David was a good photographer.

[TrogdortheBurninator]

Sincere condolences. David posted many memorable trip reports to exotic locales. I've wanted to go to the Adamants ever since.

 

Very sorry to hear he was so unhappy

http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/tripreports/fromsearch/1/user_name/David%20Trippett

 

[Alpinfox]

Very sad news.

 

I met David through cascadeclimbers.com and went climbing with him at Index for just one day. He was a fantastic climber and redpointed all the pitches we climbed, while I flailed at the other end of the rope and tried to keep up.

 

We had a great day of climbing and stopped by his family's house in Woodinville on the way back to Seattle. I felt I'd made a good friend in just one day and looked forward to him returning from his trip to Brazil so that we could climb together again.

 

My condolences to the Trippett family.

 

I'll miss David very much.

[boadman]

Wow - David and I had fallen out of touch over the last couple of years although we generally ran into each other and climbed for a couple of days in Squamish every summer.

 

He was a complicated individual, always seeming much younger than his 37 years, but full of life and excitement. You always had a sense that he was battling some demons, but I never thought they'd get the better of him. Several of my most memorable experiences involve trips with David. Here are a couple highlights:

 

When I was in Thailand in 2001, I met David on Tonsai. He set up a tent next to me and my girlfriends. He was just learning to climb and was super excited, bold and fearless. He was 5 years older than me, but we all thought he was 18 or 19 until he told us. He loved the full moon parties, and would often party all night and then climb in the tropical sun all day the next day. A huge hand sized spider decided to hide out in my climbing bag one day. Instead of letting it go in the wild, I decided that David's tent would be a safer place. For two weeks, as he read by his headlamp, you could see the huge shadow of the spider hanging from the wall of the tent above his head. When he finally noticed it, listening to the shrieks and watching the spider shadow and human shadow scurry back and forth in the tent terrified of each other was entertaining, to say the least. He somehow managed to catch a dragon lizard and repaid the favor though. When I woke up and saw that thing in front of my face, my brain stem said, "COBRA!" and I nearly had a heart attack.

 

That summer, when we were both back in the US, after a year in Asia he called me up and asked if I wanted to help him sail his boat up to Squamish from Seattle. It sounded like a good time. The story's a little too involved to get into here, but suffice to say, we barely survived. After recovering from our near death experience, we decided to climb Angel's Crest. We left the boat at noon. He didn't remember his headlamp. We got back to the boat at 4 am.

 

RIP Dave, we had some great times.

Edited May 17, 2012 by boadman

[Sol]

Condolences to you and your family. I heard nothing but good things about David, so sorry for your loss.

[Plaidman]

I let my buddy Ben know about the news about David. I wanted him to know so he could show up at the memorial in June.

He was on this trip with David "TR Yosemite " and said he had the time of his life and said David was awesome to hang with and that he was a great climber.

[G-spotter]

RIP avitripp

[wayne]

I met Dave and his concerned father while trying the N Face of Index in Winter. Dad found our camp and asked if we had seen anyone. Conditions were great so I assured him, and told him we would have a look. Soon afterwards Dave and his partner came down and chatted with us. He later helped my partner get his lost crampon returned to him. Very enthusiastic, interesting and engaging young man, Sorry for your loss, Wayne

[skykilo]

I am also really sorry about your loss.

[genepires]

sorry about the loss. Can't imagine what it must be like for a dad to lose a son.

 

for some reason, the name David Trippett sounds familiar. We have a small circle and I think I ran into him once or twice.

[ivan]

just 2 months older than me and friend of a friend - puts my own relentlessly recurring bouts of depression in their proper place i suppose - hard to hold on to good humor amidst these daily slings and arrows, and sad to see a strong one taken by them

[wbk]

I met David in 2005. We were both taking the Advanced Mountaineering course in the Tantalus Range - just three of us and the instructor, Dave. He and I were partnered up for our ascent of Tantalus. David already had great skills on the rock and he took the technical rock pitch which I found particularly challenging in my plastics! David and I were in touch and met up all over the globe, most of the time by accident, other times on purpose. David's skill on the rock was insane and he was a rock climbing role model for me! But the more I got to know Dave, the more his personality shined. Almost everywhere I travelled, I got beta from David. I'd stay where he suggested; I'd meet the people he knew and had met; I'd climb the climbs he suggested (if I could climb the grade!). The shining, positive affect he left on these folks and places was prodigious; he and Obi were quite the pair!

 

In Peru now, I expected to meet up with David this round of travel and it pains me to think otherwise.

 

You are missed my friend.

 

Ben Kunz

[beaconben]

I was lucky enough to spend a few days with David, getting rope-gunned around Yosemite. That is the only trip that I got to climb both Half Dome (reg route) and El Cap (west face) each in a day. He was a heck of a climber. Of course the part that impacts me now is how much I enjoyed his company. He was funny, kind, humble, mellow, relaxed yet motivated; a great guy to be stuck on a climbing trip with.

 

For those of you who have not, check out his trip reports. Sheesh! What a Globetrotting Bad-Ass!

 

I will miss you David. I will be one of the many.