In Memoriam

Saying good-bye to someone is never easy, and industry veterans were getting more than a little misty this week with the untimely passing of two men.

Kurt E. Lankford, a 43-year-old Boulder, Colo., resident, died of a heart attack while running on the Anemone Trail west of Boulder on Tuesday, September 17. A noted backcountry skiing expert, he was co-author of the best-selling guidebook “Skiing Colorado’s Backcountry,” published in 1989 with Brian Litz, a well-known and respected outdoor industry writer and photographer. According to an obit in the Denver Post, Lankford had no previous history of heart disease or other known health problems. He was last seen leaving work for his usual lunchtime run. His body was discovered 10 feet from the trail the following day by a hiker.

Ed Hommer, a 46-year-old double amputee from Minnesota, training to climb Everest and become the first double amputee to make the summit, was killed when he was struck by a basketball-sized rock near Disappointment Cleaver on Mount Rainier. Hommer lost his legs in 1981 in a plane crash on Mount McKinley. Last year, with co-author Daniel Paisner, Hommer published “The Hill,” a book describing the McKinley accident and then his return to climbing.

SNEWS® View: Godspeed to you both.