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Peter Gibbs - A Skiing Tribute

Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 10:07 pm
by Alex
My Dad passed away yesterday morning after battling cancer for 4 years. I figured this was the only place that was fitting to write a little skiing tribute to him. He was an avid skier (of the groomed and mogul variety) and would ski almost every weekend from December to March. A lot of his friends also skied, and that's where they spent a lot of their time together and where they got great stories from. That's probably what's so great about skiing, is that no matter how old you are, you can always feel like a kid when you're glissading down a hill (speaking of that, a friend's grandfather passed away a couple weeks ago at 92. He skied till he was 89, which is pretty bad ass. I want to be like him when I grow up).

So. Story Time.
Back in May 2007 I was just getting in to touring, so I convinced my Dad to attempt the Spearhead Traverse with me. He'd never done any touring at all, so I took the majority of the gear and packed my bag full. He had a 30 L pack with some of the denser stuff in it.

Going up the Blackcomb Gondola
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At the bottom of the traverse I taught him how skins worked and tried to show him how to keep his edge while skinning up corn. We (slowly) made it up to East Col, where someone looked at the two of us and our packs and made some comment about me being a sherpa or something (60 L pack vs. 30 L pack)
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Skiing down to Circle Lake, I struggled to make tele turns under my heavy pack. We traversed over to Decker and skinned back up. The face had softened a bit, but it was frustrating to skin up. My Dad got a little freaked out after he lost an edge and took a bit of a slide on his bum, so we decided to turn around. We ended up camping just on the S side of Circle Lake instead of skiing out.

We set up camp and I went to get some more turns in while he rested. After dinner, I saw his sleeping bag. I had told him to grab my sisters sleeping bag, but instead he grabbed the first one he saw. It was one that she got when she was a kid, and it was intended for sleep-overs. I asked him if he wanted to ski out in the dark, and he declined, so it's easy to say that that was probably one of his coldest sleeps ever.

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The next day I tried to convince him to ski up over Decker without a heavy pack on, but he resisted. So I went and did some turns on Decker. I skinned back up to our camp, we packed up, and skinned out over Disease Ridge. Despite failing at our intended goal, it was still a fun trip and one that I'll always remember. RIP Peter Gibbs. I miss you.

And always remember sunscreen (because Fuck Cancer)

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Re: Peter Gibbs - A Skiing Tribute

Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 10:32 pm
by skykilo
I'm really sorry, Alex. Is there going to be a funeral or a memorial?

Sounds like a good trip and a great memory. I've really enjoyed taking my dad on some climbs.

Re: Peter Gibbs - A Skiing Tribute

Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2012 12:54 am
by Alex
Ya. We're just trying to book a venue. It's not going to be for a couple weeks though. Next weekend (16/17) we're biking down to Seattle in a cancer fundraiser, and also biking back to Vancouver on the 18th. So likely the weekend after. I'm not sure though. I'll let you know though.

Re: Peter Gibbs - A Skiing Tribute

Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2012 10:49 pm
by Alex
Oh ya, I forgot. When I was going through old pictures I found a couple good skiing ones

Check out the leather

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Re: Peter Gibbs - A Skiing Tribute

Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 12:58 am
by ryanl
I just read this . What a great memory to have Alex. Your dad seems like one cool dude. I'm sorry he had to go early. Hope you're hanging in there buddy.

Re: Peter Gibbs - A Skiing Tribute

Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2012 4:41 pm
by Jason Hummel
Sorry about your dad. Great tribute.

Re: Peter Gibbs - A Skiing Tribute

Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2012 6:25 pm
by mcohen
Fuck cancer indeed.