In memory of Bryan Ludwig

My friend Bryan passed away last week in a fall on 13er Pico Aislado. Bryan was the most wonderful person that I’ve ever had the pleasure of sharing the mountains with. He was one of the best friends that I will ever have in my life. I can’t even count how many peaks we’ve hiked together.

I know many of us had the pleasure of meeting or interacting with him, but for those who haven’t, I hope this report shows you just how amazing he really was.

I met Bryan at the trailhead of Culebra Peak by random chance. I usually hiked alone, and only had 1 or 2 mountain friends before I met him. I remember there was a group of people in a circle chatting about mountains and I joined the group while eating my dinner. Everyone was complaining about how much snow there still was that season, except for Bryan. He was saying how much fun he had climbing La Plata Peak with snow even though it took him several tries. Bryan’s enthusiasm about the mountains was contagious, and you could hear it in his voice how much he loved these peaks. At the time, Bryan had a pretty useless vehicle so I offered to drive him to the 4wd trailhead. At the trailhead we decided to partner up along with Joel, who we also met at the trailhead, to Culebra’s summit.

The entire summer, Bryan and I continued to hike together. During this time, we picked up so many friends along the way. This was all because of Bryan’s remarkable enthusiasm and infectious attitude about these mountains. He was the only person I knew who could start a hike with total strangers, and end the day with an entire group of lifelong friends. He was the ultimate uniter of people in these hills. I’ve never seen anything like it. On Handies Pk we hiked with Liza and Scott and on on Uncompahgre Peak we teamed up with Kyle W, Ryan, and Gintus for what turned out to be some truly unforgettable days in the San Juans.

Our Labor Day weekend in the Wilson group will always be on of my best memories. Bryan, Kyle F, and I started out that morning up El Diente Peak and then added Greg to our hiking group after Bryan found out that Greg was from his hometown of Rochester NY. Bryan and Greg hit it off immediately after talking about a French fry-chili dish served at some random restaurant in Rochester.

In the middle of the traverse to Mt Wilson, we met Courtney & Megan and Bryan added them to our hiking group for the day as well. Both Courtney and Megan carried an infinite supply of gummy bears with them that day. Bryan, realizing the importance of such a sugar source, quickly insisted that they join our group for the rest of the traverse.

The next day on Wilson Peak, Drew joined our team as well after meeting him in the parking lot. I was too tired to make it all the way to Wilson Peak so I stopped near the rock of ages saddle and took a nap. I was awakened later that morning by laughter of the whole group coming down from a successful summit. Bryan was telling all sorts of silly jokes and spreading his love of the hills to everyone within a 100 mile radius. From that weekend onwards, we were all friends for life.

One of my favorite memories with Bryan was on an attempt to summit West Spanish Pk in March 2020. At the time, I was working oil and gas in TX, so I flew into the Springs the evening prior and Courtney, Megan, and I spent the night at Bryan’s apartment. We met Greg the following morning, and drove to the bottom of Cordova pass to hike West Spanish Pk. After getting Greg’s car stuck in the snow we eventually started our way on the hike. We postholed for hours, and by mid afternoon we turned around after making it just past the summer trailhead. At this point we pretended that reaching the summer trailhead was our goal all along. Mission accomplished!

From the point forward, we called ourselves “Team Mission Accomplished” for failing our objective successfully. That evening we all ate a disgusting amount of pizza in honor of our victory.

Team Mission Accomplished was always a growing team, and that was all because of Bryan. Everyone who met Bryan in the mountains had a better experience because of him. In an attempt to recreate our West Spanish Peak experience, we opted for an attempt of Colony Baldy this March. This time, Will & Ana also joined the team. The postholing was again a nightmare, but our team of 7 put in a mega trench. This time we made the summit!

Bryan was never shy about trying new things in the mountains. This year, he started to learn how to ski and spent a total of ~4 days at Loveland. He told me he was partially proficient in skiing blue runs, and was eager to ski a 13er. Therefore in May, Bryan and I decided to ski off of 13er Jacque Peak’s summit. This time Ross joined us, who we met on Gladstone Peak’s ridge the year prior. The three of us made a great team that day.

While Bryan’s skiing technique certainly left something to be desired, he made it down and earned that red skier icon. He might be the worst skier on this website to ski from the summit of any peak, but his passion and stoke levels were unmatched!!

My last hike with Bryan was on Memorial Day this year in the Elk Range, just the 2 of us. I never would have thought this would be our last adventure together, but I’m so grateful for the time with him that day.

Bryan, you really were the best ever mountain friend. We will miss you so much. I promise to carry your spirit with me in the mountains for the rest of my life.

Climb on Buddy

I've also included several more pictures of memorable times with Bryan