Vibes needed

[ex-powderbroker]

In continuing my trend of adding zero stoke this season, one of my closest friends passed away guiding white water in Costa Rica yesterday. He entered a tricky rocky section in front of his clients and his kayak got stuck under the water somehow and he never came back up, perishing in front of a helpless group. Search and rescue was called off at nightfall, so hopefully they recover his body today. Even better would be finding him somehow on a bank, downstream, breathing. I just can't help but feel like there must be a chance until proven otherwise.

He's been all over the world guiding; CO, CA, WV, Costa Rica, Chile, Norway, New Zealand. I really didn't think it was possible to drown a fish, much in the same way as hearing about a ski accident taking out someone like CR.

The world is so much worse today than it was yesterday, but I have to lie through my teeth and say good morning to everyone at work, like nothing ever happened.

We had always talked about getting him up to speed on skis, so we could do some NH white water and MTW descents on the same day. Well, we talked about a lot of stuff. Fortunately, he was a compulsive writer and I hope that some of it can come out to give some people some comfort after this, because the guy really died doing what he loved. I'm going to guess that references to Point Break won't be taken in stride at the funeral, but I hope I can figure out a way to go down.

Thanks for all the memories dude. You are going to be really really missed by a lot of people.

[TheRealPoop]

I truly hope this does not sound insensitive but, Only the good die young.

Best of wishes to you and all of your crew.

[BigDaddy]

Sorry to hear that, Matt. It's always shocking and unbelievable this happens. Seems completely unfair. You have my sympathies and thanks for sharing.

[shredGenius]

Sorry to hear about your loss man, I could only imagine what you are going through. May you live out the ski/kayak same day goal in his memory. My condolences to you, family and friends. Vibes.

[njfreeskier]

++++VIBES++++

Hoping for the best possible outcome in all of this.

[GetAmped]

My condolences Matt, to you, his family and your friends. It hits to the core when you suddenly have to come to terms with how tenuously each of us treads this Earth.

[ex-powderbroker]

Well, this very poorly translated article says there is someone guarding his body.... so i guess no hope for a recovery involving an ambulance.

http://translate.google.com/translat...hl=en&ie=UTF-8

[strawjack]

so sorry man. condolences to all his family and friends. i hate this...all these guys/girls with such passion for life that pass way too soon. not fair.

[ex-powderbroker]

It sounds like it was a river he'd done a million times, the guys just couldn't pull him out. Wtf..............

[akokskis]

So sorry to hear dude. Always tough to hear about these sorts of things.
+++vibes+++

[JerseyDave]

Sad news. Sounds like he lived more in his short life then many folks ever will.

[ex-powderbroker]

Mau was definitely the worst roommate I ever had but one of my best friends. It seemed like when we were together we laughed or got into trouble, but usually it ended up being both. He had the best sense of humor of anyone I've ever known not only because he laughed at all my jokes but because he could laugh at himself for everything I could throw at him. He was always either the voice of reason or the first person to get into a fight. He loved his friends but couldn't wait to stick his face in a book. He wouldn't let me speak any english when I visited Costa Rica because it embarrassed him, but he still ended up miscommunicating with the fishmonger when we got stuck with almost ten pounds of delicious mahi. We could talk forever when it happened, which it rarely did lately with him living abroad. And now I can carry his contradictions in my life, like how I'm proud to have given him a ride to the airport on his last day in nyc, but a little resentful that it can't happen again soon.



I'll miss you forever, dude.

[SB]

Sorry for your loss, no one really dies.

[PASKIINGSUCKS]

Amazing how fast it happens. Here today gone tomorrow. They live on in our memories and inspiration, it's cliche but sometimes that's all ya got to go on. Best of luck to ya dealing with the loss of a friend. Prayers to his family in what's sure to be the hardest of times.

They're with us all the time now is how I like to think about it.

[ex-powderbroker]

stole a few stoke shots off the facebook.



as a skier, i love this one:




norway:



Going big:


Going HUDGE:


chilling with his niece

[RootSkier]

Sorry to hear about your friend. I lost a friend kayaking a long ways from home, too. It's no fun but it gets better with time.

[jm2e]

Horrible. Too sad.

[nbt]

So bummed to hear. Sending my Vibes and hopefully absorbing some of a fellow WW brothers love of the River. I have lost a few friends to the river and I can say it does not get better with time, it actually gets worse. In the beginning it is easy b/c you can let it out and cry about it. What I have done that helps is to just let the memories of the person come when they want to. I did'nt try to put any thoughts or memories of the person aside when they came into my head, I just embraced them. Then everytime I am in the eddy above a big drop with that intense adrenaline pumping, I say "here we go bro" and pull out. They become a part of my religion and are my prophets. I don't believe in any of the manmade religions in the world. The only force I have encountered that is always stronger than me is nature. The mountains, rivers and oceans are always more powerful than us. I have never seen Jesus, Mohammad or Budha be more powerful than me. I have had many experiences where the mountains and rivers overpower me. The ones it takes are the prophets.

[G]

Keep paddling, Mau mau.

[skinipenem]

Lost to the river too.

Vibes.

[ex-powderbroker]

I can’t say that Mau and I always had an “easy going” friendship in college, but because we studied different subjects we tended to keep things more lighthearted than scholastic between us. One morning however, I woke up and began making breakfast, and he came out to join me. Between bites of scrambled eggs I very casually mentioned to him that I had a dream where I was supposed to read Siddhartha, by Herman Hesse. He just about threw his fork and plate into the sink (the only time either of us ever put a dish in the sink, i remember) to grab me and say, “Matt, this is very important. That was a prophetic dream, this is an important book and you must read it immediately.”

Well, I did read it after that and then several other Hesse books which I'm probably mashing together here. But they were important to me and they illuminated life in a way that made things make a little more sense. Now, because this is one of my strongest memories of living with Mau (besides the $1200 phone bill to Spain!) it’s really easy to cast my understanding of my friend against this book, which he also held dear. Siddhartha is a story about a young man who hundreds of years ago headed out into the wilds of India to gain enlightenment.

To do this, there wasn’t one thing he had to master, but it was the sum of all of his experiences like Studying, Begging, Loving, and Seeing the World that made him a great and enlightened Buddhist. Much the way one activity couldn’t define or explain Buddhism to Siddhartha, it’s impossible for one event to characterize my friend.

Mau had seen the whole world guiding people safely down rivers. He was planning to attend graduate school for political studies. He spent a considerable amount of time writing poetry, and between all of these activities he was trying to figure out more ways to feed hungry people in the world through charity.

Mau wasn’t a Buddhist, and he wasn’t a Jew either, but there is a very high compliment that I can pay him in Yiddish, which is that he truly was the embodiment of a Mensch. Like pretty much any Yiddish word, we could probably find a hundred definitions but it can be roughly translated with Rabbi Wikipedia’s help as “A good person, worth emulating”.

And while it’s obviously of the deepest tragedies to lose a friend or loved one so young, many people will inevitably say “He Died Doing What He Loved”. I say to hell with that. A single event can’t come close to defining the life of someone with such diverse interests that pursued them so aggressively; and spread so much joy in doing so.

Like Siddhartha going out into the world to become more like the Buddha, we should all be lucky to go out and be a little more like Mauricio. True enlightenment might not be an attainable goal for any mortal, but in pursuing your dreams you live forever, always inspiring those who knew you.