Last June 2009, climbers Jonny Copp and Micah Dash along with cameraman Wade Johnson died in an avalanche while attempting the first ascent of the huge South Face of 22,368-foot Mount Edgar in the Gongga Shan massif in the Chinese province of Sichuan. A few days before he died, 35-year-old Jonny wrote a last poignant entry in his journal--a poem he entitled Border Country.
Climbing artist Jeremy Collins, a good friend of Jonny Copp, got together last year with photographer and Patagonia Ambassador Mikey Schaefer and made the first ascent of a new route on Middle Cathedral Rock in Yosemite Valley, naming it Border Country as a memorial to Jonny, Micah, and Wade. They had previously bolted much of the route before the Chinese tragedy. After free climbing the route from bottom to top, Jeremy and Mikey tossed some of Jonny's ashes into the sky. "Jonny took flight over the Valley, like the birdman he was," says Jeremy.
Jeremy also made Border Country, a short creative film about Jonny and the Yosemite first ascent that merges video, photography, painting, and animation. View the film, sponsored by Patagonia, at the Tin Shed. It's a great tribute to Jonny, Micah, and Wade, and a creative view of the climbing experience. Jeremy, great job!
View Border Country at Patagonia's Tin Shed.
Read Border Country poem by Jonny Copp.
Photograph above: Jonny Copp and Micah Dash at a snowy bivouac in the French Alps in 2008. Photograph courtesy Micah Dash
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