Video footage recovered from the scene of an avalanche that killed three Boulder-based alpinists last month on China’s Mount Edgar shows the trio laughing and documenting the breathtaking landscape that they died ascending.
Clips from the last climb of Jonathan “Jonny” Copp, 35, and Micah Dash, 32, both of Boulder, and Minnesota native Wade Johnson, 24, were shown Saturday at the Boulder Theater during a joint memorial service.
Hundreds of people came to share memories of the men, who were in southwest China to attempt a new route on Mount Edgar, one of the lesser peaks on the Gongga Shan massif at the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau.
The three, friends and all experienced climbers, were reported missing June 3 when they did not make their flight out of Chengdu.
Nick Martino, one of six American climbers who went to China to aid in the search, described to the crowd the excruciating emotional experience of changing the rescue mission to one of recovery after word was sent that Copp’s body had been located in a field of avalanche debris.
“We knew it was a different kind of trip then,” Martino said. “I knew we would never be the same.”
Martino explained how the crew worked alongside “amazing Chinese climbers” to reach the bodies of Copp and Johnson.
“We got Jonny and Wade, and we regret it was impossible to find Micah,” he said, citing the bad weather and constant threat of avalanches and rock falls.
Others from the American rescue group said it appeared as if the climbers had taken “every safety precaution,” and there was no way for the men to foresee the type of avalanche that killed them.
A makeshift memorial service was held on the mountainside, led by a Tibetan climber who burned incense and prayed.
Once the bodies were brought down, they were taken to be cremated at a nearby village. The ashes were brought back to the men’s families.
Bruce Johnson, Wade Johnson’s father, said his son “loved the mountains.”
“He loved climbing, and he loved making film,” he said.
Wade Johnson was filming the China climb for Boulder-based Sender Films.
John Copp said his son, whom everyone knew as “Jonny,” learned how to walk among Tibetan refugees and grew up traveling the world.
“It taught him, and all of us, to see the world through different eyes,” John Copp said. His family plans to publish the climber’s journals, a collection of poetry and reflection.
Anita Dash, mother of Micah Dash, said her son was “probably the best kid anyone could have.”
“He was never fenced in,” she said, always exploring new frontiers and his deep connection with nature.
