Rest in Peace, Terry Mathews

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FireOnTheMountain
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Re: Rest in Peace, Terry Mathews

Post by FireOnTheMountain »

doggler wrote:Here's the link to a trip Terry, Abe(fireonthemountain), and I took to the Crestones in spring conditions. Terry used sound judgement that day, and didn't seem to mind when I went comotose for the entire ride back to Colorado Springs.
Epic day. Was still on the noober side when we did this trip and I took away a lot from the two of you. Glad I was able to enjoy it with both you guys.

I wish Terry would have found solace and peace elsewhere but life is never as easy as one hopes. Sad.
Everyday is a G r A t E f U L Day here in the ID...?
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DanielL
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Re: Rest in Peace, Terry Mathews

Post by DanielL »

I remember meeting Terry one time, while on a late fall hike in the mountains. He was very encouraging and helpful, cutting steps in the snow and so on. Rest in peace.
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lakecityrat
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Re: Rest in Peace, Terry Mathews

Post by lakecityrat »

If anyone has kept their calendars that Terry made with his spectacular photography each year, the Mathews family would love to see them. Please bring them to the memorial if you have any.
"Life's been good to me so far" - JW
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Cookiehiker
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Re: Rest in Peace, Terry Mathews

Post by Cookiehiker »

Terry will be sorely missed. I had the joy of being able to hike with him on a couple of 14ers. He was so kind and encouraging to me as I was very new to hiking. RIP, Terry!
C is for Cookie, that's good enough for me!
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ulvetano
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Re: Rest in Peace, Terry Mathews

Post by ulvetano »

Never met terry, but sounded like a great man. He left many positive impacts. Hoping family and friends rally thru this very sad and tragic event.
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Rock-a-Fella
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Re: Rest in Peace, Terry Mathews

Post by Rock-a-Fella »

I have been trying to find my voice after Terry’s passing. "I don't know what to say", "Stunned" and "Speechless" have been include in some of the prior posts.
Thank you to each person posting here as many of you have been able to articulate what I have not been able to and share stories, photos and elements of your relationships with Terry that have helped me process this difficult event.
I had hoped that a few days in the BC would help me more but I am still struggling with the reality that this is not all a bad dream.
I first met Terry here on 14ers, then in person in Aspen as Terry had encourage a number of the 14ers members to attend the annual Avalanche Workshop conducted by Mountain Rescue Aspen.
Terry consider each of us his brothers and sisters. I used to think you had to be interested in mountaineering to be part of “Terry’s family”, but this past weekend I came to know that Terry was equally generous with his time and support to many other “non mountaineers” both online and in person.

Last summer a mountaineer was “overdue” in the Bells. This mountaineer’s family and coworkers were frantic to find him and turned to the 14ers.com community for it’s help. The mountaineer’s last communication was from the summit of South Maroon. His message suggested he was going to attempt the traverse. Terry, reading the request for help from the FDNY for help locating their missing coworker, remembered a TR with a photo of the summit registry from the same weekend. Terry first checked and then forwarded that photo to the mountaineer's friend and family for verification. During this period, the missing mountaineer was found to have taken a fall on the north face of North Maroon and had not survived.
Upon verification, the photo taken of the North Maroon summit registry was found had been signed by the fallen mountaineer and contained text that was not in focus. The mountaineer’s family wanted to know what their son’s final words were. Terry contacted me through the forum and asked me if I could take a quality photo of the summit registry and with the input of a couple of 14ers members, it was decided to go one better and tear the original page out for the family. Straight from the peak, I went to the frame shop, had it framed and within a couple of days the President of Mountain Rescue Aspen was able to deliver the original framed summit register with their son’s final comments to his grieving parents. Like it or not, Terry paid close attention to posts, trip reports and request for assistance or advise on this forum. The retrieval of the summit registry may not have happened without Terry’s “eagle eye” and certainly the timely delivery to the parents would not have taken place but not for the series of events initiated by Terry Matthews to help people he did not know and would never meet in their time of grief and need.

I never had to “call” on our friendship but I knew that if I ever needed Terry’s help he would drive, run, hike and climb to my aid. Terry extended that to all he knew and many he did not know. I wish that I could have provided him the solutions to the things that most troubled him.

Terry was know to many. He told me of arriving in Chicago Basin to loads of campers everywhere. While searching for a “compliant” campsite,Terry or someone in his party, was “pacing off” the distance from water when a ranger approached and asked “are you Terry Matthews form 14ers.com?”.
A bit embarrassed Terry replied “yes....yes, I am.”

“You can camp wherever you want” the ranger replied.

Terry, I’m going to miss you
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jam6880
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Re: Rest in Peace, Terry Mathews

Post by jam6880 »

lbblancatraverse69 (2).jpg
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This is Terry after a couple of dozen class 3/4 with me. He learned so fast he surpassed my ability of climbing. This pictuce is of him walking on a section of the LB blanc traverse, he made it look so easy.
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Picucci
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Re: Rest in Peace, Terry Mathews

Post by Picucci »

I have had a hard time the last few days coming to terms with Terry's passing. Our last ascent together was 4 weeks ago, Mt. Lindsey. My first 14er since my second knee surgery . I had not been on a summit in year and was not sure of how it would go. On the decent when I was having some trouble with pain and lagging behind the group, Terry continued to wait for me to catch up. When I told him to go ahead and he didn't wait, he told me "we leave the car together we return to the car together". This was not the first time that Terry had been there for me on a Peak. I only wish I could have been there for him when he needed A helping hand.

I met Terry 4 years ago on hike of Columbia. I did not reach the summit that day but found a friend instead. In the four years since Terry help push me and is partially responsible for my growth a hiker. He new how to push my boundaries without going to far. Although we all push for the summit, his death has made me realize the people along the trail are the real Prize. I will miss him and can only hope in the end we all return to the car together.
" The suns not yellow its chicken" Bob Dylan
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mattpayne11
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Re: Rest in Peace, Terry Mathews

Post by mattpayne11 »

anna wrote:Perhaps those of us who've written TRs from trips with Terry can post links to them on this thread for his family and friends.
Here are mine:

Blanca and Ellingwood: http://www.100summits.com/trip-reports/ ... ngres.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Crestone Needle and Crestone Peak: http://www.100summits.com/trip-reports/ ... creek.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Challenger and Kit Carson: http://www.100summits.com/trip-reports/ ... round.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Sigh. I miss seeing his posts here. They were always fun. He really was a fantastic dude. When we were driving back from Kit Carson, I was super tired, could not stay awake... so Terry drove my car the rest of the way while I dozed. We had a very similar philosophy when it came to climbing. I wish he was still here in our community.
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Louis Mathews
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Re: Rest in Peace, Terry Mathews

Post by Louis Mathews »

Here is the Legacy Guest Book for Terry. You can leave messages and photos for all to see. I hope to have it preserved permanently. You can also order a bound hardback book of the messages and photos when complete. Please don't order the flowers listed, if you feel a need to donate something in remembrance of Terry please send to 14ers.com

http://www.legacy.com/guestbooks/gazett ... referrer=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Louis W Mathews
Louis W Mathews
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Louis Mathews
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Re: Rest in Peace, Terry Mathews

Post by Louis Mathews »

Thank You for sharing Terry's trip reports. I don't have access to the ones he has saved since he gave computer to a friend. There is a great need by 14ers .com to get trip data as well, maps, routes, tips, etc.
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klinger
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Re: Rest in Peace, Terry Mathews

Post by klinger »

Mr. Matthews thank you for so quickly becoming a part of this family. Usually there is some kind of vaccuum left after a tragedy and it seems like the closure and openness that you are bringing is some sort of vehicle for healing all around. So, so sorry for your loss and again thank you for letting us all grieve together with you.

RiP Terry.
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