A Climber We Lost: Ryan Wong
Each January we post a farewell tribute to those members of our community lost in the year just past. Some of the people you may have heard of, some not. All are part of our community and contributed to climbing.
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Ryan Wong, 27, February 24
You can read the full tribute to Climbers We Lost in 2023 here.
Ryan Wong was a 27-year-old Texas native whose enthusiasm for the mountains led him to Fort Collins, Colorado. Wong had a lighthearted personality and an ability to joke with strangers that was infectious—rivaled only by his excitement for ice climbing.
“I knew the minute I met him at the trailhead parking lot that he had a lot of will and really wanted to learn,” said Patrick Jacques, his mentor and climbing partner. “I introduced him to a couple of my friends and they all loved him instantly. He had the spirit of freedom and was excited about getting out on ice.”
Jacques quickly threw him into the metaphorical fire, bringing him to The Crypt, a WI 4 ice climb in Colorado’s Loch Vale. Wong had only ice climbed a few times prior on Colorado’s popular and often picked-out Hidden Falls—a stark contrast to the virgin ice he found on The Crypt. But Wong quickly found his flow thanks to his partners’ encouragement. “Going out with you, I know I’m going to work really hard today,” Wong once told Jacques ahead of a big day in the mountains. But Jacques noted that, despite this, Wong always came back, asked questions, tried hard, and showed a true desire to learn and get better at the sport.
Wong discovered his passion for the outdoors and the greatness it can bring out in individuals in 2016, when he took a gap year from college to hike 870 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), starting on the Mexican border. “The PCT is such a magical place; it brings out the best in everyone and shows how amazing people can be,” Wong wrote on his Instagram. “All PCT hikers know this—it doesn’t matter if they hiked 2,600 miles or 100 miles.”
Wong graduated from Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, in December 2019 with a BS in Forestry. He moved to Colorado in 2020, and proceeded to climb 34 14,000-foot summits during the 18 months he lived there.
“Ryan lived for the mountains,” said his mother, Renee Novotny, who remembered how often he’d wake up at 2 a.m. to bag a summit. “He once wrote ‘I won the lottery and found a group of friends who are just as crazy about 14ers as I am.’”
In addition to climbing in his colorful Pit Viper sunglasses, Wong loved camping, video games, off-road adventures with his Jeep, watching Formula One races, and scuba diving.
Wong died while toprope soloing on February 24 at the Ouray Ice Park. The exact circumstances of his death are unknown.
Wong continues to positively impact others with organ donations, saving the lives of five people including a 36-year-old family friend.
“I still think of him every time I’m in the mountains,” said Jacques. “I know he’s up there running free, climbing, constantly looking down on us, laughing with us and laughing at us. ‘Ryan with the good hair,’ as he went by on social media, will be deeply missed in the community.”
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