[大濟]

謝謝阿勇和貫中。對我而言，您的回音帶來很多的回憶，很多的溫馨。回憶和溫馨也許是我現在所能、只能擁有的。我很珍惜它們。

以下是 Jim 的唁文。追思禮將於下星期三，在 Sinks Canyon，也就是 Jim 最常去、最後去的岩場舉行。文中可以看到他，一位畢生投入攀登生涯的攀岩者，種種的腳跡和對這個運動和社會的許多貢獻。

﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣﹣
A memorial service will be held Wednesday, May 11th at 2pm at the
warming hut in Sinks Canyon, Lander, Wyoming, for Philip James (Jim)
Ratz. A reception will follow the memorial. Jim, age 52, died in a
climbing accident in Sinks Canyon May 4, 2005.

Jim was born June 14, 1952 in St. Louis, Missouri, and was raised in
Kirkwood, Missouri. He attended Kirkwood High School, the University of
Wyoming 1970-1971, and graduated from the University of Missouri in
1974 with a Bachelor of Sciences degree in Fisheries and Wildlife
Biology. Jim married Gladys Lantien Chu (from Albany, New York) on June
28, 1986. Jim and Lantien have two children.

Jim was a co-owner of Jackson Hole Mountain Guides and an avid climber
and guide. Besides pioneering many climbs, he climbed the highest peak
on three of the seven continents (Denali, Aconcagua, Kilimanjaro). He
loved spending sunny afternoons with his climbing friends in Sinks
Canyon where he made numerous first ascents.

Previously, he was employed by the National Outdoor Leadership School
(NOLS) as an instructor from 1973-1978, Alaska Director from 1979 -1983
and Executive Director from 1984-1995. Under Jim's leadership, NOLS
grew in both size and scope; he opened the Patagonia, Southwest and
Canada programs and published Soft Paths, the authoritative book on
minimum impact backcountry travel. Jim was also instrumental in
starting NOLS Leave No Trace, research and public policy programs, the
program for local outdoor educators in Kenya, as well as scouting for
NOLS India. Jim also led the way as NOLS established relationships with
its graduates around the globe. Alumni reunions reconnected graduates
and paved the way for development efforts to support the school’s
scholarship and facility needs.

Near the end of Jim’s service to NOLS he joined then chief
mountaineering instructor Phil Powers to lead a successful NOLS Denali
Expedition, a trip on which their friendship and interest in working
together grew. In 1999 Jim joined Powers and Rob and Kathryn Hess in
purchasing Jackson Hole Mountain Guides. Jim was the obvious choice as
president of the new corporation. Under his leadership the business
grew, opening offices in Moab, Utah and Cody, Wyoming, in addition to
its main offices in Jackson and Las Vegas. Along with his office
responsibilities, Jim took clients into the mountains. Guides and
clients were extremely fond of Jim as an employer, mountain guide and
friend.

Jim was very active in civic leadership and involved in many
organizations. He was instrumental in the Lander swimming club and
teams. He devoted himself to the Lander Valley High School swim team,
was Director of the Lander Swim Club Board, an official of USA
Swimming, and on the Board of Review for Wyoming Swimming Inc. He also
served as Director of the American Mountain Guides Association,
beginning in 2000 and serving as the board’s Vice President since 2002.
Other organizations he was involved with include: Chairman of Leave No
Trace, Inc; Advisory Board of the World Wilderness Congress; Rotary
International; American Alpine Club; Natural Resource Council;
Association for Experiential Education; National Speleological Society;
Advisory Board of the Rawlins District Bureau of Land Management;
recipient of the first National Partnership Award from the US Forest
Service and Bureau of Land Management; member of the Wilderness Working
Group of the Society of American Foresters; Founder, NOLS 1994
Wilderness Risk Management Committee and Conference; Founder, NOLS
Wilderness Medicine Symposium 1986; Founder NOLS Wilderness Education
and Leadership Symposium 1985; and Co-founder NOLS Wilderness Research
Colloquium; he was also an Eagle Scout.

Survivors include his wife, Gladys Lantien Chu; daughter, Mei Loong
Chu-Ratz, 16, and William Morgan Chu-Ratz, 12, all of Lander, Wyoming;
his mother, Mary Margaret Ratz of Pacific, Missouri; sister and
brother-in-law, Trudi and Theodore Rammelkamp, Jr. and nephews Theodore
Rammelkamp III and Jay Rammelkamp of Jacksonville, Illinois.

He was preceded in death by his father, William Alan Ratz, of Pacific,
Missouri.

While Jim dedicated his life to outdoor education and the preservation
of wilderness, he was above all devoted to his wife and children.

Friends of the family have organized a memorial fund as a college fund
or for other needs for Jim and Lantien’s children, Mei and Willy.
Donations, in lieu of flowers, may be sent to The Jim Ratz Memorial
Fund at the Wyoming Employees Federal Credit Union in Lander, Wyoming.