I received a very moving comment from cragrat, a close friend of Antons, who said:
I have just got back from Antons service in Wanaka - yet another Wanaka memorial gathering of old friends to celebrate old friends passing.
I was sorting out slides before the service and suddenly realised that I had probably climbed more peaks with Anton than with any of my other friends - from peaks at the head of the Murchison glacier (NZ) on a ski touring trip in the early 1980's - Phyllis, Acland, Broderick, Mannering and Cooper - back then Anton couldn't ski !!
.... to a summer Chamonix in 1986 - Aig du Moine, Aig d'Argentiere, Aig du Peigne, Nth spur Aig du Chardonnet, two of the best days in the hills ever where we climbed the Frontier ridge on Mt Maudit and next day the Brenva spur on Mt Blanc (with Jen) back to a huge feed of icecream (but the weather stopped us getting onto the Matterhorns Nth Face)
.... then there was some cragging at Smith Rocks in the US - with Julie Brugger, Todd Bibler and Beth Wald.... some summits in Peru - Artesonraju (with Roger Gocking and Thor) and Chopikalki and backing off the West Ridge of Santa Cruz before we really started because it didn't feel right to me at the time.
Unfortunately we hadn't seen one another lately so the goodbyes were even harder...
that such a small slip and small blow to the temple should have taken such a solid mountaineer will always make me wonder on the vagaries of life. Thanks for those wonderful days Anton.
January 7, 2008 8:32 PM
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