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for Roger Buick
I first met Roger in the winter of 1970, when I joined the Thredbo Ski Patrol.
We were all young bucks eager to prove ourselves in the great game of life. We skied hard, played hard, and enjoyed each others company. As time progressed we kept in touch with each other, in spite of not seeing each other as often as before. Wives, kids, and Businesses took up our time, but the friendships forged in the Australian Alps endured these distractions, and we kept in touch. More recently we started to find the space in time to fill the yearning in our hearts to go adventuring again. We began to go caving, and skiing and as we reestablished our contacts with each other on a weekly basis we discovered that each of us had something new to offer the group. So it was that we discovered Abseiling, Caving, Canyoning, Mountaineering equipment, Snow caving. We found that we could make some of our own equipment for these activities, and we shared our discoveries eagerly.
As we became more proficient, and our enthusiasm grew we all introduced other friends we had to our central group, and finished up with a great group of people, all of whom had that special zest for life and adventure.
It was the lust for adventure that drove us ever deeper or further afield in our adventures, and we shared many experiences.
In 1994 I had the great experience of sharing a trip to the USA with Roger. We hired a car and traveled to 22 different ski resorts in the month.
John Griffin took his turn with Roger in 1996 and toured many resorts in Canada.
Gill and her daughters shared many ski trips to the USA and Canada as well, as did Peg and lots of other people.
Roger climbed Denali
Roger climbed Mount Cook
Roger decided to climb Everest.
On the 25th of May this year (1998) Roger was climbing up a fixed rope at 7400 meters in the early evening in an attempt to reach his next camp above. He stopped and removed his pack, which he wedged in the snow in front of him. He took out his thermos no doubt to have a bit of tea laced with the inevitable Cointreau ........
The next day as he was descending from the summit with a companion, Russell Bryce, a professional climber of high repute, found Roger ( whom he knew) frozen on the rope and slumped over his pack, with the thermos still in his hand.
Russell descended to his next camp and returned the following day and performed the Everest ritual for Roger.
We his friends will grieve for Roger, our companion of so many adventures, and we as we explore Canyons, ski mountains, and enjoy the outdoors that Roger loved so much, we will remember his zest for life and his enthusiasm.
We will surely share our adventures with his spirit which is now free to roam the wilds he so loved, as he wills.
