Brad Washburn - RIP

[RR]

At age 96 Brad's heart gave out yesterday at his retirement home in Lexington. That's his 3-D map of the mountain in the lobby at Pinckham notch...oh, and he was director of the Boston Museum of Science for many years. His photographs of vast and wonderful places cannot compare to the size of his love for life and the mountains.

B&B chatted with me after a little talk they gave at EMS. I wanted to adopt them as Grandparents. What magnificent people!

God bless Barbara in this difficult time.

RIP:
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/city_region/breaking_news/Bradford-Washburn-2.jpg

[PWDR8S]

WOW..... I'm happy to have met them many moons ago and sad to hear of his passing. R.I.P. :(

[Castlerock]

I am not the man to write his obit, but his accomplishments and interests were fascinating. He was larger than life to me. I am in awe of what he did, and how he did it.

And his wife, damn, that man must have been a superhero to find her.

[pulverschwein]

WOW..... I'm happy to have met them many moons ago and sad to hear of his passing. R.I.P. :(
I met them just a couple of years ago and was astounded at his attentiveness, clarity of thought and lucidity at his advanced age. Though it's sad to see him go, at least we know he had the highest quality of life right to the end.

I lost my grandpa at age 94 last June and it was devastating, probably because he was still so sharp and astute. In the end, when critical decisions were being made, we told him it was his call, using the metaphor that he was still the captain of his ship. He responded by reciting Whitman's "O Captain, My Captain" verbatim, which he probably last read seventy years before.

It would be a lot easier to let go of some doddering old coot suffering from dementia than someone who still has so much to offer. It's selfish on our part, but I know I'd want to go when I still had my marbles. Bradford definitely did and shared his vast knowledge to the very end so while I'm sad to see him go, I'm grateful for having met him and benefited so much from his sharing his truly incredible work. R.I.P. indeed.

[jdw]

These are just spectacular.

http://www.washburngallery.org/

[scottie4183]

This is truly a great loss. I've always admired his photographs (being an amature b&w photographer). Just recently read his book Extraordinary Adventures of a Young Mountaineer. Never got a chance to meet him though. I envy all of you that have...he was a great man.

[Castlerock]

These are just spectacular.

http://www.washburngallery.org/

Yes, spectacular is an understatement. JDW you always seem to have the good stuff......For those of us with less disposable income, the Burt Ravine and Webster Cliff Photos are available in a promotional poster form from the MWO

http://www.mountwashington.org/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=108
http://www.mountwashington.org/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=107

[jdw]

Yes, spectacular is an understatement. JDW you always seem to have the good stuff......For those of us with less disposable income, the Burt Ravine and Webster Cliff Photos are available in a promotional poster form from the MWO
Ah - strongly considered it, but couldn't quite pull the trigger on one of those. Just browsing for now :)

[boardman]

The man was a GIANT in the mountaineering world. That he lived to be 96 is a credit to his energy and enthusiasm. Rest in peace, Mr. Washburn.

wow, just looked at the pics here:

http://www.mountwashington.org/photos/galleries/?g=5

and gotta know, are any of those gullies on Mt. Lafayette skiable? How about the snowfields in the Mt Lincoln/Mt. Lafayette pic?

[pulverschwein]

Just recently read his book Extraordinary Adventures of a Young Mountaineer.
That's a great read. I forget which book it's in, but the story of his first ascent of remote Mt. Lucania in the late 30s is amazing and probably my favorite Washburn account.

[RR]

...
and gotta know, are any of those gullies on Mt. Lafayette skiable? How about the snowfields in the Mt Lincoln/Mt. Lafayette pic?The snowfields are not all that big I was up for a hike and managed to poach an AMC snow shelter course on the summit of Layfayette one good snow year. We got some self arrest practice on the short South East slopes...maybe 90 meters.

The Student and his buds from Cannon (the oldest kid was maybe 15yo) have done a number of obvious lines on that range. They benefitted from getting an early morning tow up to Garfield and then slogged over. They did the big slide from the summit in a very good year and reported that the lower drainage gets to be slow going at times and pretty wild in spots. They were able to ski out to 93 and get to the snowmobile trail on the other side where they hitched tows back to the Cannon Tram base.