RIP Telemon

Good bye, Bob. Thanks for the trips, memories and inspiration. Hang in there Gabe and Mrs. Weibe.

Telemon and I skied together several times around Baker, Stevens Pass and Jim Hill. What a great guy! One time he and Nick spent the night at my house on their way back home after a whirlwind trip of summer volcanoes. He was tired, but still stayed up, regaling our family with tales of climbs and ski trips.

I remember he always sent out a "SPOT" signal letting his wife and elderly parents know he was OK. Just last week me, Bob and several others were emailing back and forth as we planned, then aborted a trip up the south side of Mt. Baker. Here are some of Bob's words that show his thoughtful approach to the mountains, and his loving consideration for his family:

From a June 9th email:
"A couple of days ago my two main concerns were: am I fit enough to climb 7,000+' in one day and is it going to be sunny so I can see the views. Those issues have been resolved but an unusual risk for mid June is worrying me. While the recent new snow has likely covered the crevasses that have stymied my previous attempts to climb Baker on skis, avalanches are now a serious concern. This statement from NWAC www.nwac.us/forecast/avalanche/current/zone/5/ is quite sobering. My goal is to summit Baker. I would love to do it with my son and friends this weekend. I can not help but think of the consequences if the unthinkable happened. What do you guys think?

Bob

From a June 10th email:

"Having to make these types of decisions is the worst part of living an adventurous lifestyle for me. My stomach is in knots; I can not help but think about the worse case scenario and what it would do to my family. Hard to tell if I am chicken or clever.

Later,
Bob"

From an email sent by Bob to a group of skiers on June 12th:
"As I mentioned earlier today, I find these decisions kind of gut-wrenching. It is ironic that the sunny weather that I was so hoping for at the beginning of the week is the catalyst for a different negative condition. Next week's weather calls for mostly sunny skies, which may or not mean that the bluebirds will be flying and vista will abound; my guests should get other opportunities to see the PNW volcanoes up close. It is supposed to be significantly cooler on Monday (which means wearing more clothes but less sweating) and lots of brave/stupid/naive/competent/risk-taking (we will know which in a couple days) skiers and climbers will have made lots of "ski cuts" on the Roman Wall, so I would be prepared to delay the adventure by one day and reassess the danger. I haven't heard from Mario yet today, but I believe that he would concur on the side of safety.

After a serious discussion with Lorne this morning, I informed my wife about the avalanche warning. I didn't want to get her upset before I had several opinions about the danger...

Thanks for everyone's patience while we work this out.

Bob

We miss you Bob.

The "last posts" feature on the user profile page is poignant at a time like this:

Latest posts of: Telemon

I never met Bob, but looking through his posts reveals his enthusiasm, his friendliness, his civility, and his safety consciousness. My deepest condolences to his family and friends.

My condolences to all his family and many friends.

Wow.  Bob and a bunch of us were making Baker plans for last weekend, which did not come together due to conditions, so he continued on with the rest of his road trip.  This is just a total shock - I can't believe we won't be making plans for July or August turns together on the Sholes.

The details are sketchy in the referenced report, but for anyone who did not know Bob, let me say that he was a careful and safe skier and a great lover of mountain adventures.

Tragic -- my thoughts are with his family and friends. A big loss to our community.

We had talked about some volcanoes this summer. I'll dedicate the next one I do to you, TeleBro.

Adams might be appropriate. Bob just emailed me last week for the waypoints for the "secret" route to do the SW Chutes from Morrison Creek. Now he can do it easier, sans waypoints.
RIP, Bob.