Photo: Garnet Canyon meadows covered in snow: Valhalla: Hall of Heroes. June, 2025, Grand Teton National Park.
I walk the dirt road leading to the Diamond Acre ranch which sits in a verdant meadow in Grand Teton National Park with the Grand Teton towering 7000 vertical feet above. The Sunday afternoon air is warm and scented with late spring flowers. Light shoots forth from the snowfields high on the Grand Teton and illuminates the green grass under foot. A soft breeze from the north keeps it cool. It is a perfect evening for a memorial service.
Ten days earlier I received a text from John Faraci telling me there will be a memorial service for Ron Matous on Sunday June 29th. John and I met in 1971 at the Grand Teton Climbers Ranch. I was a 17 year old kid from Minnesota. That summer we climbed the Exum Route on the Grand Teton and the South Buttress of Pingora in the Wind River Range. I have been climbing and skiing in the Tetons ever since.
In the 1990’s, John Faraci rented the Diamond Acre every summer and I was fortunate to stay there several times. Ron Matous worked for John at the Diamond Acre. As an Exum guide, Ron guided John on a number of big climbs including Mt. Cook in New Zealand. John arranged with the new owners to hold the memorial at the ranch.
Ron Matous was a true Renaissance man. He worked as an Outward Bound instructor, Teton Climbing Ranger, Exum Climbing Guide, ski patroller, and avalanche instructor. He climbed difficult routes in the U.S., Canada, South America, the Himalaya and Europe. Ron was a writer authoring numerous articles for climbing magazines and journals, and a column for the Jackson Hole news. He was a master chess player and two time Wyoming State chess champion. I met Ron when his wife Ruth was the manager of the Grand Teton Climbers ranch.
At first, I didn’t consider going to the service, but as thoughts do, the idea took shape and grew. On Friday, I left Minneapolis and drove 16 hours to the summit of Togwotee Pass. Rising at first light, I was hiking at 9 am to a campsite at the Platforms in Garnet Canyon. Just before the platforms you have to cross Garnet Creek. There are two sets of narrow wet logs crossing the cascading torrent. Tightening the straps on my 20 pound pack, I take a cleansing breath. Balancing on the wet, slippery surface, I make the crossing to secure ground. Battle over… I pitch camp and collapse.
The next morning I spend in hour in the Shadow Mountain cirque; a wild and unspoiled spot perfect for my troubled soul. Breaking camp I head down to the Diamond Acre. I survey the gathering of men and woman from 40 to 80 years old. They are strong and weathered, but quick with a smile. In their lives they have faced hardship and witnessed tragedy yet they hold themselves with peaceful confidence. These are mountain warriors celebrating one of their own in this beautiful setting. This is Valhalla: Hall of Heroes.
Looking for familiar faces, I hit a gold mine. There are three generations of Jenny Lake Climbing Rangers. The first is Tom Kimbrough, who gave me patient counsel when I was a 17 year old kid. In addition to Teton climbing ranger, Tom was fixture at the Utah Avalanche Center for many years. At age 86, he is still climbing. With a twinkle in his eye, he told a group of us he was thinking of lead climbing next year.
There is Renny Jackson, retired ranger and co-author of the Climbers Guide to the Teton Range. I shared a memory with Renny from the 1990s. I recalled asking him about route beta for an ascent of the Direct South Buttress of Mt. Moran when he became reflective and somber. He told me the story of a multiple body recovery. It still affects him to this day.
Finally there is Nick Armitage who, hanging from a helicopter short haul line, plucked me to safety off the Grand Teton after I had fallen solo climbing in 2014; one of the highest insertions/extractions in Teton park history. I reach out to Nick every year on my two annual trips to the Tetons. He is my hero.
There are others who have had an impact on me over the last 56 years. Rick Liu was the manager of the Grand Teton Climbers ranch in the 1970s. I spent many evenings talking to Rick on the steps of the office about climbing routes in the Tetons and Wind River Range. I met Brendan O’Neill, Exum Guide who took me on a ski descent of the East Face of Albright Peak in 2011. Brendan has made a number of first ski descents of 8000 meter Himalayan giants. I chatted with Mike Munger. We are the same age. I have always been in awe of him. In the 1970s he was doing big routes and first ascents. He and Ron Matous made the first American ascent of the North Face of the Eiger in 1977.
After remarks by close friends and family, I walked around the crowd numbering close to a hundred. I chatted with old friends and met people; my kind of people. I am part of this community and it feels good. We have all fought battles with the mountains… some of us have lost close friends and family. Many of us have fought even tougher battles in our mind. In the last ten years of his life, Ron fought the demons of drugs and alcohol. Ron was a warrior and he died fighting the toughest battle of all. Ron earned a spot in Valhalla: The hall of Heroes.
On the drive back to Minnesota, I reflected on my own lifetime of battles in the mountains. I too have fought the demons of alcohol and depression. I continue to climb, hike and backcountry ski. I am 12 years sober, but the demons will always be there waiting for moments of doubt and weakness. I am inspired by the life of Ron Matous and hope to meet him in Valhalla.