It has been just over a week since our friend Ryan Hawks was taken off the hill at Kirkwood in a sled. Tomorrow will be a week from when Ryan passed in a Revo, NV hospital due to the injuries he sustained that day on the hill. Yesterday there were services held for him in a Vermont church and his friends and family talked of his life and how he touched people. Read article. Today I am sitting in front of my computer trying to figure out what I can do to honor my friend. I didn’t make it to Vermont like many of the other guys from the tour, so the best I can do is create a memorial on UnofficialSnowbird. The photos below come mostly from Ryan’s friends via his Facebook page.
Always smiling. Always in a great mood. Always a blast to be around.
This is the General. Home to Ryan and his long time friends Lars and Silas Chickering-Ayers for the last couple ski seasons. How three guys and all their gear could fit for months at a time amazes me still. Close quarters for close friends.
Ryan at the Revelstoke comp meeting this year. I was luck enough to ski one of the coolest runs ever with Ryan at Revelstoke. It is called Kill the Banker and we crushed some serious pow that day on the pillows and in the trees.
This photo is East Coast to the core. Ryan never forgot where he came from and still had loads of love for his old stomping grounds. He represented the East as hard as anyone ever will.
Thumbs up to you too buddy!
Ryan made loads of friends everywhere he went. This is a photo from South America last summer with North Parker and Richard Small.
Ryan and I got our asses kicked by Lars and Dylan Crossman at foosball in Girdwood, AK in April 2008. This photo was taken the day before John Nicoletta was killed at the Aleyeska comp.
Our friend Devon Balet got this shot of Ryan at the Crested Butte comp a couple weeks ago. Steeze and more steeze.
Ryan got some amazing shots with Mr. Frank Shine in SA last summer. Ryan could send it with the best of them.
Flyin Ryan in action.
I don’t know Ryan’s family, but I do know they lost even more than the rest of us. I am so sorry for their loss and I wish them the best in the upcoming difficult months. This is a shot of Ryan and his dad. Ryan’s father taught him how to ski when he was 2 years old.
We will all miss you so much buddy. Keep sending it up in the clouds.