Monika Johnson missing near alpental....

as a lone Kitty sits above Moraine Lake and ponder her existence so do I

a giant has passed through and brushed our souls with love

peace out

YES

It's important to keep those memories alive.

Some wonderful suggestions have been made to honor Monika at next weekend's Vertfest. That's just a start.

Agreed.
Before Monika's accident I have thought how so many who have walked in the mountains before us never have their legacy remembered. Proven or not I have rationalized it down to- if I can remember them their spirit lives on. I believe that an amalgam of all those who have walked the white path be it past, present or future are an inherent makeup of those people who are passionate for climbing. What I'm trying to relate is that, even if it's not recorded history the effect of those who are presently active, wanting to get active or past before us all benefit from our passion for the outdoors.
The love and passion that Monika shared for the sport and those with her will never be forgotten, passed forward and will live forever carried in a tradition centuries old.

Never knew Monika, but have somehow been connected since hearing of her missing.  She's been on my thoughts all week as I've gotten to know her through TAY and such.  She was also a disappearing speck to me at Vertfest and I was comforted to know such people were blazing the trails.  Like a kindred soul living the passion of life to their limits.  I had the honor of coming down the mountain in the recovery yesterday.  Joining such a community of people that wanted to give closure to family/friends was a privilege I'll always remember.  Especially as it was for such a remarkable person.  The care and concern exhibited was a tribute to the love all had for her.  She has touched my life.

Our friend Monika

A few hours ago I spoke with Ryan about finding Monika in the snow below the summit of Red Mountain.  As I write her body is being carried out from the accident site.  There is an indescribable amount of sadness washing over me knowing that she is well and truly gone.  So many others, from close friends to passing acquaintances have spoken about her with such eloquence on this site.  She touched people in a profound way and it only serves to describe what an exceptional person she was.   For many of us who had the good fortune to be graced with her friendship and companionship, she will stand out as one of the most powerful connections of our lives.
When I was interviewed by a reporter after the accident, I finished by saying that “we are all really grieving right now, she was one of the best.”  I wasn’t talking about her strength and abilities as a ski mountaineer and athlete.  No, I was referring to what wonderful person she was.  She WAS a great athlete, gifted with a massive set of lungs with powerful legs that ran us all into the ground.  Coupled to her famous will and determination, she was indefatigable.  Her strength and ability however was far surpassed by her kindness, generosity of spirit and the care and love that she lavished on those close to her.
Monika was humble, kind and almost child like in her openness to people and friends.  She made friends easily and brought  out the best in them.  She drew out the protective impulse in many of us “guys” who tramped in the hills with her.  I called her bahini (little sister); the vulnerable little scamp that followed you around as a kid and easily ran you down at tag games.  We first met on a trip to Black Peak.  It was one of the two or three times in my life that I knew immediately that we would be lifelong friends.  She beat a track straight uphill, powerful arms double poling upward.  In the winters that followed we spent many days skiing together.  She was a woman of emotional depth and intelligence.  Drives to the mountain and long talks on the phone were often as rewarding as the time spent together outside.   There were no bad days with Monika:  Hiding in the back of the Saab in the Paradise Parking lot, giggling at the ranger busting people for sleeping in their cars; striding through Cascade glob on a “hike” tour or waiting in the Nelson Library for Heli to fly.  It was all satisfying and rewarding;  you were in the mountains, your friends were with you and there was possibility ahead.  Nope, there were no bad days, just good days and really, really good days.  One of my favorites I wrote about here, four days at Rogers Pass after a late March storm had deposited a blanket of powder beneath blue skis.
www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboardi...dex.php?topic=9590.0

In late fall 2007, Monika was riding her new road bike when the carbon fiber head tube collapsed, pitching her suddenly and violently to the ground.  She suffered   a serious head injury and she would require extensive dental work to repair the damage to her teeth.  She called me a few days before a planned ski trip, tearful and scared at what had happened.  I and others told her that she would be back, that we would be there for her and she would make a full recovery.  With what was a seriously debilitating injury that would have set most of us back for years, she applied the same epic determination and will that she displayed in the mountains to overcome.  The iconic full face helmet made its appearance that winter at Fairy Meadows, joining the hand knitted wrist warmers and Powder Kitty to her skiing kit.  Because of the brain injury her capacity to work was limited and she had memory problems.  Every time she came to Bellingham she had to call me up for directions to my house.  It was all very difficult for her; the loss of functioning, the lowered income and uninsured medical bills and looming over it all the legal struggle with the company that sold her the bike.  She treated everyone with such kindness and regard; she couldn’t understand why the company responsible wouldn’t take full responsibility and admit liability.
Through all these struggles, she leaned on the support of her friends, and most importantly, she continued to go to the mountains.  Monika loved being out.  Her spirit and enthusiasm for the mountains was a wonder.  I have known someone who seemed so happy and at home in wild places.  It was her sanctuary and sharing it with her friends made her life complete.   It definitely helped her come back and slowly overcome the weight and stress of what had happened, like we all knew she would.
This past summer I was fortunate to get to spend a lot of time with Monika rock climbing and on a couple of surf trips to the Oregon coast.  I cherish the memories of that time now that she is gone.  One day we were climbing in the woods, delaying our departure in the rain by climbing a few steep, short pitches.  After failing on a climb, Monika went up and started over the crux that had spit me out. Without pausing she extended one of those long legs of hers and stemmed off of a tree,  beaming down that smile of hers, exclaiming, “I just downgraded it to 5.10 T”.   
She took to surfing the same way she approached the mountains; cautiously, meticulously and with rare stamina and determination.  I would see here from the outer break getting pummeled by the white water session after session, back to the incoming waves, working her way out to ride the small swells next to the beach.  I tried to get her to come out to the break but she was stubborn and knew what worked for her.  On her second trip she felt ready and come out to the break when the ocean was sending in perfect chest high waves.  Joining the new friends she had made the day before, Cory and Kathleen and I as we rode wave after wave.  We picked out a swell for her and sent her off with a “go, go….paddle, paddle”.  It was her wave and she rode it to shore perfectly.  From the break we watched her jump off her board in the foot deep water and turn towards us, thrusting her arm in the air, the smile and squeal of pleasure reaching across the waves.  The same spontaneous joy heard throughout the Cascades and mountains of BC.  We were so happy for her.
It makes me incomprehensible sad that one of my most cherished friends is now gone.  I selfishly expected to spend time with her as the years passed, knowing that there would always be trips ahead with Monika, forgetting how short our lives are and how something rare and beautiful can go away.  When this deep grief passes I know that it will be replaced with a wistful longing for her presence.  She will always be in the back of mind…..  Monika was one of the great gifts of my life…..  And the power of her love is that it is also true for so many of us.
We are all bound together in our shared love of the mountains, the experiences and the emotions they create within us;  powerful and evocative in an expansive, exquisitely beautiful setting.    That, in the end, is the essence of our time together:  skinning through the woods loaded with freshly falling snow, descending a perfect layer of corn in the bright glare of a spring day,…descending an open glade of powder- dancing through the widely spaced trees;  ending a great run with a tap of  poles.
Knowing  that it is all a precious gift.   
I was searching through my large collection of pictures of Monika and I came across this little video clip of Oyvind and Monika in the Baker back country.  It broke my heart to hear her voice but it is one of the ways that her memory will carry on for me;  Striding powerfully ahead into the storm, friends in tow, towards the next climb, …up,… always up
picasaweb.google.com/GreggCronn/OyvindAn...v1sRgCLjC75uv6aD8Rw#
Goodbye Bahini……

Thank you for posting this.

Thanks Gregg. Beautiful sentiments.