by Dani Snyder
A few of us here in Sitka had the privilege in the past few years to spend time in the mountains with Rob Coppolillo of @vettamtnguides, both here on Baranof and on a recent AIARE 2 class he led in Canada, while other Ski Sitka folk have read his book and heard his wisdom coming out of their tour partners (we can imagine Rob's commentary about that statement, ha). We, along with so many others, were shocked and saddened to hear the news that he died last week. He was an incredibly special man who created a wonderful culture of learning and support for the people who looked up to him. He was generous with his time, knowledge, and stoke, and we are forever grateful for all that he shared with us. There really aren’t words to do him justice. We know there are many pockets of folks like us scattered around the globe missing him and trying to wrap our heads around this unexpected news. We are sending our thoughts out to everyone, but thinking most of Rob’s family, whom we all heard so much about from him--we hope you feel the love being sent your way from all over. We just wanted to share some of our photos of him here, and let anyone else know that if you happen to ever find yourself in Sitka, Alaska, look us up-- we’d be glad to share a few moments with others from his tribe.
We will miss you, Rob.
