I’m just kidding, rock climbing is a dangerous sport just like any other. But after having two friends that died from rock climbing, I have to at least say this. But when a roommate dies, what do you do? The hardest part is moving on, but the most necessary thing for you to do is to move on. You’ve gotta keep pushing, you’ve gotta keep doing what you’ve gotta do to survive. I can’t believe my friend of one month, Bryson Allen, is never coming home again. He’s gone, and I guess that there’s nothing that I can do to change that. It’s hard to grieve over someone you only knew for a month, but there’s still an emptiness, a void…. That person’s never coming back. That’s something you’ve just got to get over, as harsh as that sounds. I’m not sure how to process the death of someone I hardly knew. It kind of hurts, but at the same time, I hardly knew him.
What I can say about him is that he was a cool kid, he seemed adventurous, he loved spending time outdoors– and he apparently died doing what he loved. He was a nice kid, he was always polite, and for the most part he cleaned up after himself. He was a cool roommate that kept to himself mostly, didn’t speak unless spoken to, but seemed to have a lot of fun being himself. But keep in mind that I didn’t really know him whatsoever. I am only going by what he’s shown me.
The other person that died rock climbing that I knew, I knew him for even less time. I actually went to his funeral though, and it was hard. They had already cremated him and put his ashes in an urn. But what really kept tugging at me was his photo there next to his ashes. He could have been alive for all I knew. There were lots of things that pointed to him still being alive. But, there was no way of knowing for sure, and there wasn’t much support either way. I cried. I cried at this kid’s funeral, and I hardly even knew him. Even if he was still alive, I was 100% invested into the situation that was the funeral.
I don’t mean to make claims that people aren’t really dead that could have died, but with the way my whole life has gone, until I see solid proof then nothing is ever 100% with me. Of course I will go through denial, but everyone does. It’s hard to believe when someone dies. So maybe you’re sitting there reading and wondering what this has to do with rock climbing, maybe you’re just reading to try to kill time, but let me tell you the story of rock climbing and why I titled this about it.
Bryson Allen was here working for the summer like he’s done for a couple years,And when Bryson went rock climbing, his anchor allegedly slipped and he fell to death. Now, my friend from Vegas that was climbing was climbing with no gear and fell to death too. Two people I knew of that died rock climbing unsafely. This is where I question coincidence. What are the odds that two young guys that I hardly knew would go out rock climbing and not come back? I wasn’t living with my friend in Vegas, but he would never be coming around to the concert afterparties anymore. He wouldn’t be in any of the photos of the band’s fans anymore. It was hard to swallow.
One friend died around the same time. His friend was driving his jeep, flipped it, and a friend of a friend, Nik, had died. Another friend around the same time as all of that had happened had died from riding on a motorcycle and wrecking. Lots of friends around me were dying at the same time and I had had enough of the band scene. I couldn’t take the ‘you’re here one minute and gone the next’ every time I turned around. Being in a band or working with a band is a major turn–and–burn scene, people come and go in the blink of an eye. You never knew what was going to happen from one moment to the next. That’s why I had to get out of it, and why I don’t really like to attend concerts much anymore. But it is also why I do not rock climb, and never will.
I just wish that I could give you more about Bryson Allen for you to remember him by. But, since I can’t…. I just want to say thank you to Bryson Allen for being a really cool roommate, even if it’s only for the short amount of time he ended up spending here.
If you’re going out rock climbing with friends, please, be careful.
