Jonathan "Jonny" Copp, one of our past UWOL judges, who also projected several UWOL films in his Boulder Adventure Film Festival film producer's workshops and also at his regular First Monday film events (six UWOL films in all have been publicly screened as a result of his generous inclusion of our contest in his events), has been positively identified as one of the American climbers caught in an avalanche on a big peak in a remote region of China.

The motto of his Adventure Film Fest is "Make Your Own Legends" and he is a big believer in the power of all of us, no matter how young or old, to get out there and shoot something, to share in all of the adventures, great and small, that our planet has to offer us, regardless of age or skill level or fitness. He is an amazing photographer in his own right and has served as an agent for the work of many, many others, including UWOL.

Jonny has been a friend of our contest and also a friend to me, personally and professionally. He is one of those people whose spirit transcends his physical accomplishments, and all of our communities, both global and local, are diminished without him.

Please keep him and his family in your thoughts and prayers.

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My thoughts go to his family :) Those remembered fondly never truly pass.

That's really sad news Meryem.

That very sad to hear, my thoughts and prayers to him and his family.

I'm very sorry to hear. He judged the only other UWOL I was a part of - and I've heard only good things about him, and love his attitude on life. He will surely be missed. Meryem, I'm sorry for your loss of who must have been a great friend.

Very sad news.
My thoughts are with him and his family.

My thoughts, sympathies, and condolences go to the families and friends of all three of these folks.

Bruce Foreman

Though I never knew him, his death, as so many before him in outdoor endeavors are at the same time sad and an exclaimation of the ragged edge of the wonders of nature and the price she can exact... sometime unfairly and unexpectedly.

The best light in those passings is that those who paid the ultimate price went in their prime doing what they loved. I am sure that was the case here.

I know those close to him will miss him..but I believe that he is not truly gone...I like to think of those souls as being in the wind. As I age I hear more and more in the wind at night on those occasions when it blows... I find that comforting. Especially in the wilderness.

Chris Swanberg