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dangle
Sep 28, 2005, 7:07 PM
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Sad news of Greg Smith.
He was discovered dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
There will be a memorial somewhere in the Reno area, details pending.
Greg was a great climber (FA Cerro Standhardt!) and record setting paraglider. A bon vivant he was always fun and will be missed.
Rest easy Smitty.
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boondock_saint
Sep 28, 2005, 7:44 PM
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Reast easy ???
If he was those things you just mentioned I think the last thing he'd wanna do in the afterlife is rest.
I'm sure he wants endless mountains waiting to be climbed for his afterlife ...
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reno
Sep 28, 2005, 7:45 PM
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I extend my sympathies to the friends and family of Greg.
May he find the peace that eluded him on this earth.
With a sad heart,
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epic_ed
Sep 28, 2005, 8:00 PM
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epic_ed moved this thread from Community to World Climbing News.
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epic_ed
Sep 28, 2005, 8:02 PM
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Sad news.
I've moved this topic to the World Climbing News in anticipation of further updates.
Ed
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j_ung
Sep 29, 2005, 6:58 PM
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Ugh. Best to you, dangle, and his family and other friends. :(
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cdb1386
Sep 30, 2005, 3:11 PM
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my condolences to his family and friends
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pheekin
Sep 30, 2005, 8:05 PM
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i am very sorry to here of this. greg was a friend of mine for the last few years, here in sun valley. he was a nice guy, and though he had not climbed in a while, he was a true hardman in his day. with many hard first ascents in the red river gorge and other areas. he will be missed.
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dangle
Oct 1, 2005, 3:09 PM
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Thank you pheekin.
My last extended time with Greg was in Sun Valley for a week. Yeah Greg was a hardman in his day. No way I could even dog the stuff he could onsight.
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mhh
Oct 3, 2005, 12:34 AM
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Greg Smith was one of my oldest and most admired friends. Greg was a member in good standing of a very close knit group of climbers, skiers and adventurers back in the 80's during our halcyon days at Seneca Rocks and Red River Gorge.
Greg was, in many ways, larger than life. He was the single most talented climber I ever met. He was intelligent, articulate funny and quite a thoughtful individual. His huge upsides were, unfortunately, matched by equally precipitous downsides. It was painful to watch how easily Greg was abandoned by many of his more affluent friends during some of his darker days, but clung to as if with vice grips by obsequious dirt bags. Sometimes I think if Greg had been a little more discerning in some of his choices his life might have taken a different tack. But who knows? And who am I to judge?
Easily some of the finest moments of my life were shared with Greg. Outside of the birth of my son a few years ago I can't think of anything better than some of the wild adventures I had with Greg, Grant Stephens and Larry Day and a few others. I admired and respected Greg tremendously. We drifted apart over the years in spite of the fact that we both ended up in Idaho - seems to be the way of the world sometimes. And now I wonder why?
To tell you the truth, I feel really bad right now.
Rest well, Greg.
Martin Hackworth
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overlord
Oct 3, 2005, 8:23 AM
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thats sad. condolescences to family and friends.
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dangle
Oct 4, 2005, 12:18 AM
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Still haven't gotten word on a memorial. Sun Valley? Reno? I heard some Kentucky relatives have surfaced so maybe something there.
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etchasketch22
Oct 7, 2005, 12:59 AM
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Greg's family is tentatively planning a memorial October 17 in Louisville, KY. That is the most I know to this point in time. Will post more as I know...
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flash5twelve
Oct 9, 2005, 4:36 AM
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It's always sad to hear of a death in the climbing community. It's quite shocking to read about the death of a man with the same name as your own. At first I read it as someone's sick joke, then quickly realized that it is indeed news of the tragic loss of a fellow climber.
My heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of this man.
Peace,
Greg "I'm not dead, yet" Smith
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alpineghost
Oct 11, 2005, 4:41 PM
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Here's a link with the info for the memorial.
nevadaappeal.com/article/20051005/OBITUARIES/110050057
Condolences to Greg's family and friends.
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etchasketch22
Oct 11, 2005, 10:00 PM
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Memorial in Carson City, NV. Monday, the 17th of October, 11:00am at the Chapel at Highview Baptist Church, 7711 Fegenbush Lane.
Another in Hailey, ID...being planned by Patricia Weaver (208-788-4929).
Inurnment will be in Rest Haven Memorial Park in Louisville, KY.
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gulliver
Oct 12, 2005, 11:49 PM
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This was posted on redriverclimbing.com and may clarify Greg's memorial in KY. The Fegenbush Lane address mentioned above is in Louisville.
SMITH, WILLIAM "GREG" GREGORY, 45, of Ketchum, Idaho, died Tuesday, September 27, 2005. He was a native of Louisville. He was a world renowned rock climber and paraglider, an entrepreneur, a carpenter, and a Mason. He is well-known in climbing circles for having made many first ascents in the Eastern United States including Red River Gorge, Seneca Rocks, as well as in Patagonia. He was a member of the American K2 Expedition. He was the North American Paragliding Champion in 1988, a USHGA Class III Paraglider Instructor, a member of the 1989 US World Team and the #1 US pilot in 1993. He was the former President of the EDEL USA, a distributorship and the former owner and operator of Sun Valley Paragliding. He is survived by his mother, Mary Smith; his father and step-mother, Coleman and Jean Smith; his sister, Kelly Cowles; his nieces Whitney and Rachel Cowles; and his step-brother, Jack Baldwin. He will be missed by his family as well as an immeasurable amount of friends world wide. His memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday, October 17, 2005 at the Chapel at Highview Baptist Church, 7711 Fegenbush Lane. Another memorial service is scheduled for Saturday, October 29, 2005 in Hailey, Idaho. Memorial gifts may be given in Greg's name to Highview Baptist Church, Whitefield Academy, or to the Idaho Youth Ranch 7025 Emerald Boise, ID 83704.
Published in The Courier-Journal on 10/8/
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hypoxic_avenger
Oct 15, 2005, 1:28 PM
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Someone once said life comes down to two things: Making stories and telling them. I'm glad I was able to be a part of a few of the perhaps 100,000 stories that include Smitty as the protagonist hero, hardman, bandit or Casanova.
RIP Smitty Fugate
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sweetwine
Oct 25, 2005, 7:51 PM
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Why did Greg die?
How else could ZEN get from Greg's hometown to the Vatican?
If only Greg hadn't married that black horse back in 1988...but it did help him to become a "success" economically...
Watch and Listen to this music video
http://www.contactmusic.com/new/home.nsf/webpages/kttunstallx02x03x05
and Read between the Lyons (http://www.merton.org/visit.htm)...
Greg was my spiritual guide and forever faithful friend, a true Saint for the 3rd Millennium. -- Sherri McFerran (Russo)
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sweetwine
Oct 28, 2005, 7:59 AM
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Haiku Route Memorial for Greg Smith
This coincidence
http://xoomer.alice.it/...on/DualeUnohaiku.jpg
the first Haiku poetry route taped on a gym wall in Rome, Italy -
on Greg's Birthday last year -
gave me the idea to start this Memorial for him. Please write a poem and tape it to a rock wall, climb it, then take a photo of it and post it here (for example, one word on each piece of tape for every movement, two words in the case of "match hands").
It will be an honor for me to print these and place them in albums for his closest family members.
Peace,
Sherri McFerran (Russo)
(This post was edited by sweetwine on May 4, 2007, 1:34 PM)
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granitegod
Nov 9, 2005, 11:51 AM
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And if I go, while you're still here,
know that I still live on,
vibrating to a differeint measure,
behind a veil you cannot see through.
You will not see me, so you must have faith.
I wait for the time when we can soar together again,
both aware of each other.
Until then, live your life to the fullest.
And when you need me,
just whisper my name in your heart,
I will be there.
-- Paula Hitchcock.
Someone copied that poem for me after my Dad died. It still makes me cry. Could someone post a photo of Greg? Though I don't think I knew him....I wonder sometimes when I read about climbers' deaths....was he that guy I met at the belay on Yellow Spur? Or at the Glacier Gorge Trailhead? Or a chairlift on some powder day?
Hope I'll get a chance to rope up with ya in the next life, Greg. Climb on!
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