Jonathan Büchner… my main climbing partner, and my best friend.
On May 31st, Jon and two other experienced climbers disappeared during their descent off Atwell Peak in the Coast Mountains. A lengthy SAR operation was unable to find any signs of the boys. At this point, it is presumed they were swept off the face by a sudden avalanche - but impossible to say for certain. Search will continue over the coming weeks as the snow melts.
//
Friends go grab drinks on a Friday night, but brothers tie into climbing ropes together.
“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself. It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.”
- C.S. Lewis
Jon was the best of the best. He moved through the mountains like most walk through their house. I always felt a bit like the younger brother, trying desperately to keep up but always falling a bit short.
But Jon was far more than just an athlete… he had the deepest appreciation for beauty I’ve seen in a human being. He didn’t just take photos… he created art that reflected the beauty that he saw in God’s creation.
That beauty he saw wasn’t limited to the mountains - it was how he saw people, too. Jon took more joy in being able to introduce others to the mountains than he did in his own bucket list climbs. He was more talented and capable than most could dream of, but he spoke and treated others with a gentleness that still amazes me today.
continued ⬇️
the great expanse | joffre peak, 2721m.
this photo was the first shot i’ve ever licensed commercially (thanks @vsco 😌) and it was also the culmination of many months of scouting, careful weather monitoring, failed attempts, and sleepless nights. i made two unsuccessful tries at joffre peak via the aussie couloir, and on my third try @seb_gulka and i finally hit the summit after a 2am departure from the trailhead in -30° temps. long story short… a photo doesn’t always tell the whole story. the summit is euphoric and life-changing, but it doesn’t come without the willingness to put your body and mind on the line in pretty substantial ways.
(this objective involves traversing significant avalanche terrain and sustained glacier travel… don’t venture into the backcountry without experience in these areas.)
Creation - this planet and the mystery of life within it - is all a miracle.
The more you learn, the more you realize just how impossible it all really is. It requires more faith to believe this all just popped into being than it does to acknowledge a Creator, whose ways are far higher than our own.
This world is broken. Dangerous, polluted, mistreated.
But this place we call Earth is filled with slivers of glory so divine that you cannot help but wonder, is this really all there is?
Or is this just a temporary home that will one day be made perfect?
“The fact that our heart yearns for something Earth can’t supply is proof that Heaven must be our home.”
- C.S. Lewis
📸 photos by myself and @renhcub
#earthday #beautifulbritishcolumbia #creation
springtime in squamish. from a lap of slhanay & the chief peaks a few years back.
it’s fun watching the west coast come alive with activity this time of year, almost like an unleashing of pent-up energy from the gloomy winter months.
pretty cool to live in a place with such close access to endless inspiration.
the Nooksack Cirque, from two very different perspectives.
the place Fred Beckey described as “the deepest, darkest hole in the entire North Cascades”.
jagged rock towers, hanging glaciers, cascading waterfalls, an amphitheater of Roman proportions.
and only 40km from home!
