forever unending RIP Jim Jack

this life
goes by

blinking hard
refocusing on time
that slips away anyways

the things we do
you cannot fall
you cannot fail to see the danger

what makes us hungry
hurts us too

never disappears
from empty tables
fills them
with always

and I will never forget
friends that
aren't here anymore

Lost a friend this week up at Steven's Pass in an avalanche that claimed the lives of a couple other expert skiers.  These guys were the best in the biz.  They knew what they were doing, and knowing them, they knew that Mother Nature was still in charge.  Hard to believe right now but the truth will sink in next time I pull off highway 2 and into the parking lot at Steven's.  Rest in Pow, Jim Jack.  You were an inspiration to me and many others.  The first ski test you ever took me out on you were so nice to me I thought you were fucking with me.  No one could be that funny, that nice, and that clean!!  Thanks for the tips and tricks.  You were a light for newbies and old friends alike, everyone gathered round for a story, and no one told it better than you.  Whenever I shred, a part of me does it for you.  I never met anyone who truly embodied the freeskiing ethic of shredding hard and having fun as purely as you did.  Your passion for gnar shralping was contagious because it was genuine.  I never heard you ask how someone's day was without listening to the answer and despite being the best skier on the mountain, your humility was never more present than when following a new friend down a run you had probably already skied a million times with that perma-grin plastered on your face.  Not gonna forget that easily.  I'll try to keep smiling just for that...

It's gonna be weird going back to Steven's Pass knowing we won't ever get to lap Seventh Heaven again.  You are a legend forever.  RIP.