Rod Willard
Obituaries
Vail Daily page A3 - January 7, 2002
Loveland man dies in Vail ice-climbing accident
Daily Staff Report
A 42-year-old Loveland man died Saturday from injuries sustained in an ice climbing accident in East Vail.
Rod Willard was belaying a friend who was ice climbing on The Fang, one of the iced waterfalls in East Vail, when another climber above him knocked loose a large chunk of ice and hit Willard on his face, said Mike McWilliam, Detective Sargent with the Eagle County Sheriff's Office.
The accident happend about 2 p.m.
Willard was wearing a helmet but the chick of ice was so big --witnesses described it as a three-by-three-foot chunk --that when it hit him it caused severe head injuries, McWilliam said.
Willard was taken to Vail Valley Medical Center where he arrived at 3:05 p.. He never regained conscience [sic] and died at 3:20 p.m.
The cause of death was multiple rib fracture and multiple compression fractures of the spine.
"It appears to be a tragic accident," McWilliam said. "He was with a group of five climbers who appeared to be experienced, and had the proper safety equipment."
Vail Trail page 11 - January 18, 2002
Climbing community loses a great friend
Willard a paramedic, climber and writer
By Tom Boyd
When Rod Willard began ice climbing, gear was in the stone age and only a few brave, strangely courageous men and women were involved in the sport. Ice tools and climbing equipment have changed dramatically in the 30 years since Willard began to climb, and nobody knew that better than Willard himself.
As a write for Rock and Ice Magazine, Climbing Magazine and Outside Magazine, Willard established himself as one of the gear gurus of the climbing world. His review of backpacking stove equipment is still on the shelves in Rock and Ice, and a quick Internet search brings up many photos and articles written by and about him.
But beyond his climbing prowess, Willard was a man who garnered respect from all who knew him. He left behind his wife of four months, Kerry Evans Willard, and a tight-knight group of friends he made climbing.
"Rod was a really passionate person," says Kathryn Grobusky, who knew Willard for 10 years and performed CPR and first aid on him after his accident Jan. 5. "He cared very deeply for his friends, and he was the kind of friend you could make easily and stay friends with for a really long time. He was a very open person, he had very high values and morals and stuck to them."
Willard was a paramedic at the Poudre Valley Hospital on the Front Range and also worked on the design board for the Marmot outdoor gear company. His climbing took him around the world: he climbed within 1,000 feet of the summit of Everest and to the top of the legendary Ama Dablam climb. His efforts on the ice cost him the tips of several fingers, which he lost to frostbite, but the added sensitivity to the cold did not deter him from further climbing. On the day of his death he climbed The Fang, a W15 climb well within his abilities as a climber and a belayer.
"Climbing was really important to him," says Grobusky. "It was a very big part of his life, and he has been a climber for the vast majority of his life. He's the kind of person I always felt comfortable going anywhere with because he was always doing things at the accepted level of risk that we all believed in--he never goofed around or did things that made us feel uncomfortable."
Willard developed a love of the people of Tibet during his time climbing there, and Willard's family and friends request that any goodwill or donations to his memory be made to the Friends of Tibet foundation.
