9 May 2001
Dmitry Eremin, a copy from letter to CMC:
The weekend of April 27 would have been 25th birthday of my friend
Konstantin Buryak, gifted climber and guitar singer. To our grief Cat
(that was his nick-name) passed away after the skiing accident last
Christmas, so I invited his friends with whom Cat climbed to honor his
bright but short life with what I believe was the best way: climbing. I
would like to thank Board members of CMC for their kind permission to
use CMC campsite for this event.
When I arrived to the campsite I was surprised to see how many people
responded to my invitation: not only relatives and friends from Chicago
and Madison were at the meadows, but also five people [guys] from
California [I am not sure Julia can be called guy, though], two from NY,
three from Ohio, one from Alabama, three from Indiana, including Faculty
Advisor of Purdue Outing Club. Many brought their children - that was a
real proof that climber brotherhood and spirit of camaraderie exists.
So on Saturday I set climbing from "Lost Face" to "Great Chimney" with
all possible types of climbing: top-rope, fixed ropes, leading. People
could practice different aspects of rock climbing and mountaineering at
their individual levels. Some people were first time introduced to
climbing gear and ropes, others were mastering their skills, some
people came to Devil's Lake for the first time. For everybody it was a
real exchange of experience. That evening everybody gathered around the
group campfire to give hugs to Cat's parents and to each other, drink,
sing (my apologies to unaware CMC campers, I know it was louder that I
wish) and remember short life that touched so many of us. On Sunday we
had a similar program: early in the morning cleaning up after party, and
more climbing around "Birthday Rock".
I would like to express the gratefulness from all my friends and myself
to CMC Board and club members for allowing us to camp at CMC site and
for tolerating unexpectedly big company.
DE
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