Memories...

 
 
“…the butterflies flitter, then flutters then fly…”

This will be one of my lasting memories of Bic, he was sat reading a bedtime story to Harley, it is so appropriate if you consider ….

A butterfly can light up like a sunbeam beside us and for the briefest of moments its glory and beauty belong to our world but then it flies again, although we wish it could have stayed.... we feel lucky to have seen it.

So today is our chance to say thank you to Bic for the way he brightened our lives.

Bic lived a truly amazing life, and it is only natural that we will all feel cheated by the way he was taken from us while he was still so young but we must also learn to be grateful that he came along and somehow touched the lives of each and everyone of us.

It is important that we don’t consume ourselves with the “what if’s” and questions like, how or why did he die, we should ask and remember … how did he live?

I personally only knew Bic as a close friend for 5 years although at the Tower I knew him for a lot longer, but in what feels like a life time, we became very good friends and climbing partners.

Initially he was always asking advice on routes/kit etc, then we went climbing and just evolved….

As a climbing partner he was 100% committed, 100% trustworthy and when it was going wrong on a route he knew 100% when enough was enough and it was time to bail. But when we climbed together we were kings, we could try anything and knew that we would be man enough to walk away if we needed to.

Helping out at comps or weekends away with the team and squeezing in time for our personal climbing

I was thinking about some of the last climbs that either we did or I was around for, after looking them up in guide book I began to saw a common theme…

Suspense; fine climbing with just enough rests to make you appreciate the fine position even more..
Wuthering; a devious but classic exposed solution to this fine buttress
Archangel; one of the greatest rites of passage for any ambitious gritstoner, where total commitment and faith in ones technique will bring fourth unforgettable success…
Two Step Corner A superb Ice Climb which has a reputation for being considerably steeper than it looks!
Orion Direct; One of the finest winter climbs in Scotland with all the atmosphere of a major alpine face…

… the common theme being these were all inspirational routes … routes with meaning, where you had to have total trust and belief in the people around you, this was the effect of Bic, for me, he was there either on a dash out climbing or when everybody else was on a rest day we could go off and do something hard, which the group were generally thankful of! For others he was a leader and an organiser, he was last to bed at night and up at the crack of dawn making the porridge and tea for everybody to hustle people out to get to the hill…

One of the most memorable of routes for some would be;

Great Gully; A route of tremendous character, old fashioned in everyway and all the better for it, do not be fooled by the grade, this is a beast in all but the driest conditions…

So on a horrible wet welsh weekend, with a large group of us, someone decided it would be a good idea!! Yup … Bic!

He loved life, lived it how he wanted, and lived it to best of his abilities he always weighed up the positives and negatives in life, and being the kind of person he was he chose life, he didn’t give in to his epilepsy and didn’t want to sacrifice the things he loved to do.

Bic’s death was sudden – so sudden that I couldn't even believe it, it didn’t register when Charlie told me. He was too young too die but thankfully he lived his life wonderfully and managed to cram more into 35 years than most people do in a life time.

I am sure we will all have many opportunities in the coming days, months and years to remember Bic, whether its climbing some grotty chimney or gully in Wales, out walking in the horizontal rain or even in the house doing diy, remembering him for all that he meant to us, if we can each have a quick think about a moment we shared with Bic however silly, funny, insignificant or special… the first thing that comes into your mind about him, remember that day, where you were and what you were doing….

…we've all lost a friend, a champion and a leader and we are going to take some time adjust to that but Bic has left legacy which will continue to inspire in the tales that we all can tell and the memories we all have. These memories will grow, the tears will turn to smiles and the memories will be forever cherished and remembered by each of us, as he will live in my memory forevermore.

I trust that some day I will meet Bic again and once again we'll be climbing in the clouds and laughing so hard that we cry.

Do not stand at my grave and weep, I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glint on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you wake in the morning hush, I am the swift, uplifting rush of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft starlight at night.
Do not stand at my grave and weep. I am not there, I do not sleep.

~ Mary Elizabeth Frye