In 2001, when we bought our timber property, I met a guy named Jim Jack. He was one of the many big-hearted local people who offered their expertise and service. Jim's summer business was to maintain the FireWise defensible perimeters that protect homes from forest fire.
Pruning, piling and slash disposal are hard work, and Jim was enthusiastic about it. To him, protecting your home from fire was something you simply
had to do.
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| Jim Jack 1964-2012 |
He did other stuff in the summer to fund his adrenaline-fueled winters of extreme skiing. He sold bundled firewood, managed an inmate crew that pulled noxious weeds, and even drove whitewater-rafting shuttles. Everyone around Leavenworth knew Jim. Through the years, he and the people we met through him continued to help us to learn forest stewardship.
Jim and two other skiers died Sunday 2/19/12 in a large avalanche in the Tunnel Creek drainage on the back side of Stevens Pass ski area. After a long dry spell, a big storm had delivered two feet of new powder in two days. It was something he simply had to ski.
Video profile of Jim Jack
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