I'm not sure how else to put this.
Hans Berg died in an avalanche off of Jones Pass near Hwy 40 in Colorado last week. I did not know him although I know that region a little bit. Like so many people who are lost in these events he seems like an exceptional person .. although also exceptionally driven toward adventure...
The reason I bring him up here on Ski Southeast is because of a well written post that Joel Gratz, founder of Open Snow reposted. This must have been written during the low snow year Colorado recently had but his advise and spirit is so appropriate to our area. Anyway Hans Berg seems like a great guy, I wish I had met him:
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The Passing of Hans Berg (@wildisreal)
As I mentioned yesterday, I am sorry to share that Hans Berg, who commented using the handle @wildisreal, died in an avalanche on Thursday, March 7th. More here and here. Hans was both an active commenter and was a thoughtful and happy soul who added incredible energy to this community.
On December 12, 2017, I posted a comment of his on the Colorado Daily Snow, and I’ll re-post it here. Hans’ comment was in response to a reader who was concerned about a lack of snow at that time. Below is the comment, which perfectly captures Hans' perspective and positive energy.
"You have made a great decision introducing your family to this fine sport and clawing your way back in as well. For the skill levels you describe conditions are completely irrelevant, the only thing that matters is they have a good time. Strategically your job is to maximize stoke and smiles because it will mean more trips with better conditions down the road. You already know this, but it is 100% true.
That effort begins today. The very worst thing you can do is bemoan forecasts. Your family will pick up on this and imprint skiing as an unpredictable and stressful activity. The conditions are likely to be well below average, yes. Own it, anticipate it, and then let it go. Look forward to skiing groomers in the Colorado sunshine and most importantly mentally itemize other possible activities (drive to road closures and hike/snowshoe around the glory, take in some hot springs, spa, etc...)...
Bottom line is your vacation can no longer be about anticipating skiing, it must be about enjoying the mountains with your family. That will serve you well in the long run. ENJOY!!!"
Hans’ clarity and positive energy will be missed.
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I find as I keep doing this it's easy to spot the great ones.
The End of an Era...We are Shutting Down the Messageboard
The messageboard is now in read-only mode and no new posts or topics can be created. We will leave the messageboard up for historical purposes, but you will not be able to make new posts or comment on existing ones.
We have started a Discord server and hope that you all will join us on there. Technology has changed over the years and maintaining the messageboard has become somewhat of a pain in the butt and Discord offers many features for users, the main one being a very polished mobile app.
We really hope you all will join us on Discord and think you will like the platform. Use the invite link below to join.
https://discord.gg/skisoutheast
The messageboard is now in read-only mode and no new posts or topics can be created. We will leave the messageboard up for historical purposes, but you will not be able to make new posts or comment on existing ones.
We have started a Discord server and hope that you all will join us on there. Technology has changed over the years and maintaining the messageboard has become somewhat of a pain in the butt and Discord offers many features for users, the main one being a very polished mobile app.
We really hope you all will join us on Discord and think you will like the platform. Use the invite link below to join.
https://discord.gg/skisoutheast