R.I.P. "Captain" Jack Carey

[alto]

I met him when he was the starter of the Telluride comp is 06. Definitely a guy you meet once, and remember. I'm proud to have had the honor of meeting him, albeit for a short time, but in the spectacular setting of the Kachina Peak ridge.

[Z]

Palmyra peak, alto.


Definitely remember him up top, and downing coronas at the bar. Inspiring for sure. One of a kind. rip.

[karpiel]

Sucks ass, but I see road bikers pulling the "look back swerve" all the time. Feel really sorry for the life he traumatized.

[squaretail]

It was a privilege to have Jack as a member of the Völkl/Marker family. Through 15+ years in this business, I've never met anyone with as much passion for skiing, the mountains, or life in general, as Jack Carey.

There will be a public memorial for Jack this Saturday in Telluride Town Park from 1 to 3 PM.

Jack's family has established the Captain Jack Carey Memorial Fund for nurturing and supporting young athletes in the Telluride Ski & Snowboard Club. If anyone is interested in knowing how to make a donation, please PM me.

Squaretail

[MMP]

heartbreaking story. I can imagine him riding along and then doubling back to be with his wife. it's very sweet. he died trying to spend more time with his bride. very sad story.

[snoboy]

Huh. It's gonna be a just a little bit more subdued up on top of Robbie this winter. However - I'm sure Jack would want us all to party even harder in his memory. I'm going to drink a beer or two for him this winter for sure...

[Particle]

Ugh. One of the good guys for sure, he was a fixture on the freeskiing circuit back when I competed, always seemed like a great guy.

[JohnnyTalbs]

So sorry to hear the bad news about Captain Jack. He was a cool guy and a free spirit.

My wife and I met him only once, in a bar in Telluride, in 1986. (Testimony to how memorable a guy he was, seeing as how I met him once, 23+ years ago.) My wife and I had just moved to Georgia from New Hampshire and were in Telluride to ski with other NH friends.

We got to yakkin' with Captain Jack and found out he was not only from Keene, NH but that he'd dated my college roommate's sister, who was also from Keene.

I remember Jack telling us that one day he took off on a flight and when he got to a high enough altitude that he couldn't get down from easily, he discovered that he'd forgotten to hook his harness from himself to his glider. Which it was too late to do now that he was airborne. Which meant that he had to hold on literally for dear life because if he'd let go, he'd have plunged a thousand feet to his death. As he tried mightily to get down to earth as quickly as possible, some "beautiful" thermals kept him aloft for longer than he wished. But he finally got himself back on terra firma, and collapsed to the ground utterly exhausted from what was the equivalent of hanging on a chinning bar for about 45 minutes with no options but just to hold on or die.

I'm sure you all know this story. I hope I remembered it right.

As we talked he noticed I was wearing a recently bought, emerald green Boston Celtics T-shirt under my over-shirt. He lusted after the Celtics shirt and he proposed a trade. I asked him "for what," and he said "a beautiful new Telluride T-shirt." I took him at his word and the next day showed up for our trade at the same bar. I presented him with my Celtics shirt and he handed over one of those shirts that the screen printers use to "proof" new silkscreens. It had about ten overlapping designs on it, none of them all that pretty. I swallowed hard and said, "Gee, thanks, Jack."

I'm sure that Jack's circle of friends includes another old friend of mine, Bill Sloatman, with whom I grew up and went to high school and was one of Colorado's pioneer hang-glders along with Jack.

Anyway, bon voyage, Jack. I'm sure he will be missed by his many loved ones, including his circle of Colorado daredevil friends. He was one-of-a-kind.

Johnny T from Georgia