Just heard that longtime Gore Mountain fixture Rick Beardsley passed away over the summer. Hadn't seen anything mentioned here. I knew he was sick, and that he had moved to North Carolina a while back. He was a pretty far out dude.
Carpenter/builder, ski patroller, gear shop owner, wood shop teacher, father, gadfly, freak, good influence, bad influence, seeker. I'm glad to say we were friends for a very short while... and I know I'm not alone having found myself skiing into a trap of balsam regeneration or using a sapling to rappel down a cliff face while following him around "the general vicinity of Gore Mountain."
He was fun. And full of wonder. And he refused to color between the lines. Peace Rick... see you on the other side of the ridge.
There are a few lines at Gore that I'm sure no one has skied since Rick left for NC. Snow was completely optional for him, if the ground was at least mostly white, he'd ski it. I consider myself a pretty adventurous off-piste skier, but more than once at the end of a Beardsley adventure I'd find myself checking out my bases, nursing some minor face laceration and say umm... I think I'm gonna do a run on Hawkeye.
Briefly met Rick some 15 years ago. From time to time there after would run across him in my adventures in the ADKs. He always had a smile and a nice greeting. I did not know he was sick nor did I know he had moved. Sorry to hear of his passing, he was always so friendly when we crossed paths.
Don't ski the trees, ski the spaces between the trees.
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