Life Lessons

To live in Crested Butte is to be exposed to death by adventure. Too often, those who live in this high mountain valley die too young. We have lost members of our community in the mountains, the skies and the rivers of the west. It is part of living here. It is never easy. It is always a reminder.
It is a reminder that it is the living here that matters. This past weekend within two days, this town lost two threads of its community fabric. Knox Frank, a part of the Butte’s backcountry community, was lost in a huge avalanche south of here. Jeremy Worrell was lost in a skydiving accident near Cañon City. Both were doing what they absolutely loved. Both were out there on the edge. Both are now reminding all of us that it is the living that matters.
I knew neither very well. I recognize their faces and crossed paths with them in this small town. But I have spoken to their close friends and each is described by those who hung with them as great guys with great attitudes. The shared pictures were at parties or in powder and almost always contained a smile. Laughing, fun people with a zest for life seemed to be embodied by Jeremy and Knox.
Again, it is the living here that matters.
The pictures and stories circulating town this week paint portraits of two guys participating. Participating in life, in Crested Butte, in the things that make this a place worth living. It is obvious Knox and Jeremy impacted people and they will be missed.
So once again, there is a pall over the community as two of our own have been taken from us. Make sure it is not in vain. Remember their energy for this place. Their love of the mountains, the people, the community.
And take a lesson from the tragedy. Live your life here. It won’t always be easy and as we know far too often, it is not always safe. But it is a real life and it is a life worth living. Knox and Jeremy were both in their 30s … far too young to leave this world. But they lived a good life. They didn’t die of clogged arteries scooting around the mall in suburbia. They died living and that is a lesson … a life lesson … for us all.