Sunday, March 28, 2021…
began as a normal Sunday during the final weeks leading up to opening Alpine. We were exactly 4 weeks away from Day 1 for our Founding Members…. Things were chaos, the list was long, but the psych was high, anticipation was building, and we were excited to finally open the doors after years of work.
I vividly remember heading to the gym after church, standing in the Adventure Center talking to the Walltopia guys when my phone rang. My little brother from another mother, Kevin was on the screen. We hadn’t spoken for a while so was eager to talk to him, but was literally buried at the moment.
“Hey Lil Bro, I’m in the middle of something. Can I call you back in 20?” I said before he could get a word out.
“Yup, that’s fine.”
Diving right back into the details, I didn’t think twice about why he was calling. We made some final decisions on site so the crew could keep working, then headed home.
I called Kevin back.
“Dude, what’s up man! We haven’t talked for a while. Miss you. What’s new?”
“I don’t know how to tell you this, but Jeff died in a car accident this morning on the way to work.”
Jeff was driving on Interstate 5 in East Los Angeles around 5:30 a.m. when his car was struck by a front tire that flew off a Toyota Tundra from the other side of the freeway. The tire hit the roof and windshield of Jeff’s car and he died instantly. He wasn’t scheduled to work that day, but switched shifts so he could get more time the coming week to spend with his family over spring break.
Even typing the words a year later, still takes me back to that moment. Heart sank, complete shock, speechless.
You see, Jeff was one of my closest childhood friends, the best man in our wedding, and one of MY OG climbing partners.
We had years of memories driving up and down 395, summiting numerous California 14ers, summited Mt. Rainier raising funds for Big City Mountaineers, weeks of our lives in Joshua Tree, Big Rock, and climbing Snake Dike on Half Dome in 2007. We spent the night after Snake Dike and my then ‘girlfriends’ Grandparents cabin celebrating with pizza and margaritas on the deck. This is the same cabin, my wife and I now own and still enjoy our pizza and margaritas on the deck. After we moved to Nor Cal, we didn’t keep in touch nearly as often as we should have. Life/kids/distance, the typical reasons why people lose touch.
We flew down for the funeral on April 17, exactly one week before we opened Alpine on April 24. Jeff was an LA County Sherriff. (My memories of his academy were long days followed by climbing in the late afternoons or evening sessions at the gym.) It was incredible to see the department and other first responders come together to honor him. A long processional weaved through the City of Norco eventually making it to the church.
During the funeral, several people spoke including his three brothers (all friends growing up) and several officers. His youngest brother Jeremy spoke about the many great qualities and memories of Jeff, including teaching him how to rock climb. One of the officers talked about “The Cowboy Code” that Jeff referenced in the workplace and a code he lived by. As he read the code, it was so representative of Jeff and the way he carried himself.
Prior to Jeff’s death, he had been on my mind, a lot. You see, I hadn’t yet told Jeff about Alpine; how the years of adventures in the mountains helped shape the foundation of what we were building in our new home. As we neared the end of construction, I had it on my list to call him and break the news, invite him and his family up for a visit and log a session in the gym. After the funeral, the weight of regret for not making that call sooner became evident.
Now, on the one year anniversary of his death, I share the Cowboy Code and Jeff’s story with you and the following lessons I’ve learned over the past year:
- Don’t wait. Life is a mist and while we get so caught up in the day to day, the reality is you don’t know when your time on this earth is done.
- Go hard, in all areas of your life. Family, friends, business, your hobbies, etc.. Don’t leave anything left in the tank.
- Cherish the moments. Not just the big ones. The small ones, the simple ones, the ones you most likely take for granted.
- Make that phone call. Don’t tell yourself you’ll make it next week, or when you have more time. Make the time today.
- What impact are you making? If you’re gone tomorrow, would anybody notice or care? If you don’t like that answer, make a change today.
- Love God and Love People. In the end, that’s all that matters.
One of the things I love most about climbing and the mountains are, for the most part, the rocks and formations don’t change. They were the same yesterday, today, and forever. I have many routes I can go repeat that Jeff and I have had countless laps up, and while he’s not with us today, his hands were once on the same holds we can still climb today.
~Jonathan
