Photo from adventurefilm.org

Photo from patagonia.com

The climbing community has lost three amazing people. Jonny Copp, Micah Dash, and Wade Johnson. The three left for China on May 20 to climb Mount Edgar. The climbers were due back to catch a flight on June 3. They never made the flight. Jonny's company Adventure Film Fest opened a blog forum to help generate money to help with a search that needed to start immediately. There was an overwhelming out pour. On June 6 a body was found amongst an avalanche's debris on Mount Edgar at 4000m and later identified by photo at base camp. The next day the weather was so bad that it impaired the search for the remaining climbers. A second body was found and later identified as that of Wade Johnson, a photographer from Minnesota that worked with Sender Films. Micah Dash has not be located as of June 8.

I did not know any of these three men, but wish I had the pleasure to. In the climbing world we are able to meet professional climbers easier than in other professional sports. Being a climber myself, I feel a strong connection with these men. I have seen many short and featured films with both Jonny and Micah. They always seemed very positive and warm hearted. Only a real climber can crack a joke about the weather on a forced bivy in France. These to men were what we all, as climbers, aspire to be, driven.

I will not act like I knew these three men. I will only say that the climbing community is short three brothers today and they will surely be missed.