Update to this weekend's events

March 13 - 6:30 a.m. tram at Snowbird

March 13 Life Celebration - food will be provided. Please bring beverages!

From Peter Frew

Cards

I met Ricardo at Middlebury the first week of school, September ’76. It took us two smiles and five seconds to realize we had way too much in common, and we bonded hard and fast over music, hiking, and a hedonistic devotion to make the most of every minute of life. Midd in ’76 was chock full of extraordinary people, and we reveled in the circle of wonderful friends that grew wider and wider. So many good people threaded that fabric; Dave Burnham, Rich Lennon (proprietor of the Simian Lounge), Chien Randalou Hagenstein, Cindy Buzby, Barb Yahr, and so many others, and it is hard to imagine a better time of life. Ricardo was always the axis of the centrifuge, beaming joy and kindling fun.

All freshman fall, the baby blue Volvo (later the brown “Arbito” as he called his VW Rabbit) zoomed in front of Battell North, and Cards hauled us up to the Greens for afternoon hikes through the orange and red leaves of Rattlesnake, the Cascades, and The Hump. In a pattern that would continue for decades, Cards would explain the geology of the mountains with incredible insight, and I’d throw in a line or two of Frost. Needless to say, his rock savvy became world famous.

After fall term in Allen and Batts, respectively, Ricardo and I moved into a tiny room in Milliken together, and cranked a lot of vinyl: Miles Davis (Dr. Presnell Senior purposefully gave his son a righteous middle name) Coltrane, occasional Beethoven, Francis Vincent Zappa, and early George Clinton (What’s happenin’ C.C.?). As the snow fell freshman winter, off we flew to ski at the Bowl, before we discovered General Stark’s gem of a mountain one hour north on the Long Trail.

Junior year, so many ridiculous memories from Lang emerge, including Peter Walker’s artful arrangement of Dog Doo Rockwood’s bills from the ceiling, but 98 in Rich and Ricardo’s room keeps bobbing to the surface. Did I say 98? Question penalty! 89 posed even greater challenges, and Cards would always be doing pull ups as newcomers to the game arranged their cards, and struggled vainly to understand the rules. Weather Report, Stanley Clark, and P-Funk cranked from Rich and Ricardo’s room, and spirits cranked even higher. As Rich memorized hundreds of characters for Chinese class, Ricardo maintained a brilliant commitment to geology, and his scholarship was inspirational.

From those funky roots at Middlebury, we chased graduate degrees, and Ricardo’s Mo’ (and his Mo’ was always Mighty) took him all the way to a PhD. During this time, I was lucky enough to spend countless days, the very best days, with Cards in the icy, tight-treed Greens, the fluffy Wasatch, the Tetons, and the Selkirks. No small bonus was getting to hang and ski (see pal Rich Lennon’s mention of the bro’s) with Card’s Western friends Lee, Lori and Carlos, Lars, Rich, Tom, Sarah, Scott, and so many others whose faces are strong, but whose names have faded thanks to long days spent chasing Ricardo up and down, too little sleep, and Ricardo’s infamous early starts. Best of all, I got to know Ricardo’s bride and soul-mate Caroline, who put up with way too many March weeks of Rich and me crashing there, of our late night antics, and our dawn pre-flight coffee scrambipulation. Calm and grinning her beautiful grin in the midst of our maelstrom, Caroline’s love for Ricardo was apparent not only in her tolerance for us, but in every stitch of the incredible, custom made Gortex clothes she made for him. I’m pretty sure it was Caroline’s perfectly tailored ski clothes, not Ricardo’s outrageous level of fitness, that enabled him to break trail for us in the deepest snow. Either way, Rich and I were frequently the beneficiaries of Ricardo’s lungs, thighs, and “great big bottom, up and up, a beat without a drummer…” Thank goodness for the spiritual bungee cord he threw to us as legs and lungs wobbled.

When Rich Lennon called me the afternoon of the avalanche, the third rock stopped spinning, both bindings released, wheels fell off. Inconceivable. It seemed like nothing could ever stop Ricardo. I can’t believe he is gone. I look back on so many of the best days of our lives, the deepest snow, the most outrageous rides in Moab, the most SHEER FUN on so many occasions (watching sunsets over the Addies, and yes, so many of you have mentioned Stark’s Nest) and I feel so lucky to have been there with him. May we always “Go big or stay home!” What a great, great spirit has passed through us.

Events for the weekend of March 12-13

Friday - Open Dinner for the Tribe

Please join hostess Sarah Bennett for dinner and good company on Friday, March 12 at 6:30 p.m. Lasagna and salad will be the fare, and please bring the beverage of your choice. Everyone is welcome, and this event will be an opportunity for locals and out of town guests to connect.

For directions and further details, please email sarah8144@msn.com or nataliemcintosh@yahoo.com

Saturday - Celebration of Life for Ricardo Presnell

The celebration for our dear friend Ricardo will be held at the home of Dan Knopp from 4-8 p.m on Saturday, March 13.

From the intersection of Wasatch Blvd. and Fort Union, head up Big Cottonwood Canyon (going to Solitude or Brighton) 11.1 miles. Dan's house is on the left and there will be parking available. If you get to the Solitude Ski area, you've gone to far!

Light appetizers will be served. Everyone is encouraged to bring other finger food, beer, wine or tequila. Information about the Dr. Ricardo Presnell Scholarship Fund will be available. Carpooling and the assignment of a designated driver is strongly encouraged.

Please check the blog between now and Friday for additional updates!

An Alaskan Farewell from Kate Bull and friends

Last Saturday, February 27^th, a group of us gathered in Girdwood, Alaska, to honor Ricardo. Most of us in Alaska who knew Ricardo will not be able to attend the gathering on March 13 in SLC, and we wanted have a few ski runs and tip a glass or two for him. Rob Retherford generously organized Cathy Frost’s Raven Glacier Lodge in Girdwood for post-skiing events. The day could hardly have been more perfect.

Saturday morning began on the slopes with a friends’ farewell to Ricardo. Nick Enos, my husband-- Terry Honeysett, and I went to the top of Christmas Chute, a favorite run of Rico’s at Alyeska ski resort. Nick and I each took some of Ricardo’s ashes and tossed them together into the air with fond farewells. Caroline had asked us to spread Ricardo in spots he loved in Alaska, and we were only too happy to oblige. We didn’t get the 1^st chair, as Rico would have, but the sun came out just in time… he’ll guard the top of the chute for us now.

We spent the rest of the day skiing the hill with more friends, such as Rob Retherford, Stan Foo and others—way more low-key than a Presnell ski day, but just what we all needed, and a great way to recall the fun we’d all had on various slopes with Rico.

The evening festivities at the lodge included fresh-lime margueritas, incredibly good food, old friends, slides and stories. Nick and I shared slides of a ski trip we took with Ricardo into Fairy Meadows Hut in B.C in 1999, Terry and I shared photos from one of Ricardo’s visits to Fairbanks last summer, and Trisha had set photos from the blog to music for all to enjoy. And, we can faithfully report to Caroline, that we (at least those of us who didn’t drive back to Anchorage) danced! It had to be done.

Raven Glacier Lodge

Dessert!

Joe Kurtak and Trisha

To me Ricardo was the glue holding so many together, an hysterical bright spot in my life and in any gathering. His optimism was contagious. He was also one of my most loyal friends—always calling to check-in, visiting me in Tasmania where I schooled for 4 yrs, making sure to stop in Fairbanks whenever he could. He always supported me in my work, and encouraged me to return to exploration when I was ready. Ricardo was a friend forever.

Everyone at our gathering last weekend noted that it was so wonderful to see eachother again--- what a sad thing that it took such an excuse to get together… we need to try harder to come together without the loss of good friends. Still, Ricardo is a great excuse to laugh, ski, eat and dance. He’d have had it no other way.

6/09 Fairbanks, AK