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Snowmass Mountain from Snowmass Lake, (4/91).

This photo was taken during a 4 day ski trip in Colorado's Elk Range in late April, 1991 with Frank Robert and Don Aumann. We had big plans which were thwarted by high avalanche hazard due to nearly constant snowfall. We camped at Snowmass Lake, hoping it would stop snowing and stabilize for a ski descent of Snowmass Peak but it did not. Even our attempt at going out over Buckskin Pass was halted by the big cornice on the pass and potential for avalanches on the east side.

Tragically, Frank Robert (pictured here) was killed in an avalanche near Courchevel, France in the fall of 1991 (only 6 months after this photo was taken). He was wearing a beeper and dug out quickly but apparently was killed by trauma during the slide.

In 2007, Don Aumann died suddenly of an undiagnosed blood disorder at age 48. When I took this photo, I never would have believed that only 16 years later, both of my companions would be gone.

This photo appears in Lou Dawson's excellent book: Wild Snow.