In the mountains it sometimes happens you loose people.
Alltogether the risk of dying in the Netherlands in a car accident is still higher than dying in the mountains.
Painful fact.
I also have friends and family whoâve died in car accidents.
Young people, people I loved and wish they still were here.
In the mountains, and actually all âadventurous terrainâ there is a risk. A risk that is always there. A risk you canât calculate, you canât predict.
Eventhough youâve calculated every single step in your climb, every single, tiny little move, there still is this factor you canât calculate.
The rock that suddenly breaks loose, the snow that suddenly slides down, that storm that wasnât forecasted or your own pride: ignorance for calculating risks and therefor getting yourself in stupid situations and with your own stupidity getting other people in danger.
Yes, that also happens. Altough many people donât dare to talk about that part…
Basically, wherever it happens, whatever the reason, it happens… dead is everywhere.
Personally, I hope my idols, heroes, acquaintances, friends, family, me, everyone, all die in peace, surrounded by their own friends and family, warm in a bed when old and done with all they wanted to do in their lives. So dead can take them and we, the living, can accept the loss.
But sometimes dead comes up where you donât expect it…
Philip de Roo was my partner on Expeditie Geluk, the tour around the border of the Netherlands. Philip actually asked me to join him on the hike.
I accepted the âexpeditionâ and for a couple months we spent every day together.
We visited every major of every city we crossed. Carried a letter from city to city from major to major to make a chain of âhappinessâ around the country. Happiness for children. Because as rich as the Netherlands is, there still is quite a lot of poverty under children. Parents that canât pay school-fees, canât pay the bike for their children to actually get to the school. Strange, a country as the Netherlands…!
Philip was part of the team that invented âExpeditie Gelukâ (Expedition Happiness). In expedition style we traveled over the border of the Netherlands. Expedition style, like Philip traveled the North Pole.
It was a very intense time in which I got to know a lot of people. Intense also because being together with Philip wasnât always as easy. He was a very passionate person, going far to reach his aims and goals.
Philip wasnât much of a climber, but was truly interested in the adventure we often associate to climbing. But adventure can go much further than just climbing.
Philip and Marc traveled the Pole again this Spring. On the way they also collected data to share with researchers about the conditions of the ice.
Philip was very passionate about nature and care for nature. As a young boy he was invited by the WWF (WNF) to travel to the Arctic to see what the nature and wildlife really is over there.
Marc is an very experienced pole-traveler. Together with Wilco they were the first Dutch to reach the North Pole and heâs done more similar trips since.
Together Marc and Philip both were on the right place, sharing passions.
I didnât knew Marc very well and only met him a couple times. Of course I heard about him, but thats not the same as knowing someone.
Last week the old team of Expeditie Geluk called me.
And texted me, as I didnât have proper cell-phone reception on the ship.
The message: there has been an accident with Philip and it doesnât look good.
To me this said: Philip is dead.
I could just read it between the lines.
Online and in the talks they were saying both Marc and Philip were missing.
And when they said âmissingâ I knew enough. You canât get lost that easily in this world. Especially when you donât have the intention to get lost.
The news went on; apparently something/someone had broken through the ice layer. Later it came clear the Canadian rescuers couldnât do much. They were lost…probably drowned in the water.
I had to think about that for a while.
We stopped driving. And I went for a walk. Alone. For a while.
What exactly happened there far away on the ice will always stay unclear. But clear now is: they both drowned, crushed through the ice layer. The ice that was too thin.
And over there in the cold water, you can hardly survive…
Philip sometimes discussed this issue when we walked. The worst that could happen.
And it did happen.
Philip, you were a passionate Ranger. Active. With a very strong will. Going far to reach your goals.
I hope you find your place, in the âsomethingâ as you called it. As you werenât sure what it would be like âthereâ.
Philp, Marc: Rest in piece.
Philip de Roo
In the mountains it sometimes happens you loose people.
Alltogether the risk of dying in the Netherlands in a car accident is still higher than dying in the mountains.
Painful fact.
I also have friends and family whoâve died in car accidents.
Young people, people I loved and wish they still were here.
In the mountains, and actually all âadventurous terrainâ there is a risk. A risk that is always there. A risk you canât calculate, you canât predict.
Eventhough youâve calculated every single step in your climb, every single, tiny little move, there still is this factor you canât calculate.
The rock that suddenly breaks loose, the snow that suddenly slides down, that storm that wasnât forecasted or your own pride: ignorance for calculating risks and therefor getting yourself in stupid situations and with your own stupidity getting other people in danger.
Yes, that also happens. Altough many people donât dare to talk about that part…
Basically, wherever it happens, whatever the reason, it happens… dead is everywhere.
Personally, I hope my idols, heroes, acquaintances, friends, family, me, everyone, all die in peace, surrounded by their own friends and family, warm in a bed when old and done with all they wanted to do in their lives. So dead can take them and we, the living, can accept the loss.
But sometimes dead comes up where you donât expect it…
Philip de Roo was my partner on Expeditie Geluk, the tour around the border of the Netherlands. Philip actually asked me to join him on the hike.
I accepted the âexpeditionâ and for a couple months we spent every day together.
We visited every major of every city we crossed. Carried a letter from city to city from major to major to make a chain of âhappinessâ around the country. Happiness for children. Because as rich as the Netherlands is, there still is quite a lot of poverty under children. Parents that canât pay school-fees, canât pay the bike for their children to actually get to the school. Strange, a country as the Netherlands…!
Philip was part of the team that invented âExpeditie Gelukâ (Expedition Happiness). In expedition style we traveled over the border of the Netherlands. Expedition style, like Philip traveled the North Pole.
It was a very intense time in which I got to know a lot of people. Intense also because being together with Philip wasnât always as easy. He was a very passionate person, going far to reach his aims and goals.
Philip wasnât much of a climber, but was truly interested in the adventure we often associate to climbing. But adventure can go much further than just climbing.
Philip and Marc traveled the Pole again this Spring. On the way they also collected data to share with researchers about the conditions of the ice.
Philip was very passionate about nature and care for nature. As a young boy he was invited by the WWF (WNF) to travel to the Arctic to see what the nature and wildlife really is over there.
Marc is an very experienced pole-traveler. Together with Wilco they were the first Dutch to reach the North Pole and heâs done more similar trips since.
Together Marc and Philip both were on the right place, sharing passions.
I didnât knew Marc very well and only met him a couple times. Of course I heard about him, but thats not the same as knowing someone.
Last week the old team of Expeditie Geluk called me.
And texted me, as I didnât have proper cell-phone reception on the ship.
The message: there has been an accident with Philip and it doesnât look good.
To me this said: Philip is dead.
I could just read it between the lines.
Online and in the talks they were saying both Marc and Philip were missing.
And when they said âmissingâ I knew enough. You canât get lost that easily in this world. Especially when you donât have the intention to get lost.
The news went on; apparently something/someone had broken through the ice layer. Later it came clear the Canadian rescuers couldnât do much. They were lost…probably drowned in the water.
I had to think about that for a while.
We stopped driving. And I went for a walk. Alone. For a while.
What exactly happened there far away on the ice will always stay unclear. But clear now is: they both drowned, crushed through the ice layer. The ice that was too thin.
And over there in the cold water, you can hardly survive…
Philip sometimes discussed this issue when we walked. The worst that could happen.
And it did happen.
Philip, you were a passionate Ranger. Active. With a very strong will. Going far to reach your goals.
I hope you find your place, in the âsomethingâ as you called it. As you werenât sure what it would be like âthereâ.
Philp, Marc: Rest in piece.
Related