K2 - 09, effort and tragedy

- they don't call it extreme for nothing.

Here are a few more names of the fallen, with reference links. Most of these were North American skiers. (I haven't tried to keep track of others.) Some were involved in ski mountaineering accidents, others in media cliff-jumping accidents.

Heini Holzer
1977, Piz Rosegg, Switzerland
www.alpenglow.org/ski-history/notes/peri...limbing-1977-nov-p30
www.shortsupport.org/cgi-bin/whowho_bio....erby=name&direction=

Paul Ruff
1993, Kirkwood, California
www.nytimes.com/1993/04/18/sports/skiing...-can-mean-death.html

Trevor Peterson
1996, Chamonix, France
www.avalanche-center.org/Incidents/1995-96/19960226-France.txt
homeboyski.com/2008/03/25/forgotten-star...t-1-trevor-petersen/

David Persson
1999, Mt Rainier, Washington
Seattle Times, May 26, 1999, page B2
www.alpenglow.org/ski-history/notes/book...tml#harlin-2001-p113

Hans Saari
2001, Mt Blanc, France
hansfund.org/pdfs/Memorials/MOUNTAIN_GAZETTE_Hans_Saari.pdf

Aaron Martin and Reid Sanders
2002, Mt St Elias, Alaska
www.powdermag.com/features/onlineexclusi..._pwdrsls/index1.html

Carl Skoog
2005, Cerro Mercedario, Argentina
www.alpenglow.org/carl-skoog/obituary.html

Doug Coombs and Chad VanderHam
2006, La Grave, France
www.nytimes.com/2006/05/17/sports/others...c3f&ei=5070&emc=eta1

Billy Poole
2008, Wasatch Mountains, Utah
www.newwest.net/snow_blog/article/the_st...lly_poole1/C458/L41/

Shane McConkey
2009, Italian Dolomites
espn.go.com/action/freeskiing/blog?post=4018726

How about Alex Lowe?
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Lowe
Granted, they weren't doing any extreme skiing at the time, but it was a ski mountaineering expedition to terrain that is extreme in many regards.

And was Alan Bard planning to ski or just climb?
www.mountain-guiding.com/newsletters/accidents-1997-07.html
bardini.org/bb_hist.htm

I omitted Alex Lowe and Dave Bridges because the accident didn't involve skiing. The circumstances were no different from a Himalayan expedition without skis.

As I recall, Alan Bard fell while guiding on the Grand Teton in summer. Skiing was not in the picture.

Correct, Alan Bard died guiding the Owen Spalding route on Grand Teton, in the summer.

I once was ambivalent about extreme skiing. But after reflecting on my brother's fall, the haze of ego and ambition cleared from my eyes and I saw that it wasn't worth it. I love ski mountaineering, but I can't justify seeking out descents where to fall is to die. (I also love rock climbing, but I can't justify free soloing.) There's plenty of other cool stuff to do on skis.

Lowell,

I'm not so much trying to be inflammatory as probe your thought process, because your post makes me ask another question. Where do you draw the line? You mention that you can't justify free soloing. But it doesn't seem black and white to me. You've done your fair share of alpine climbing, right? So where do you draw the line between scrambling, simulclimbing, and belaying individual pitches? One man's free solo is another man's third class, right?

Feel free to ignore my question, but I really do mean to ask it respectfully.

Sky

- that's pretty incredible, listing all of the information Lowell. we can learn from others' (unfortunate) mistakes.
I don't recall how Patrick Vallencant died. Bruno Gouvy, I believe was a slip, after a heli accessed descent.
The current French skier (probably around 40), has waited at times 10 years for a good window.