James
"Kyle" Jefferies
Mission
Ridge Memorial
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"Kyle, we scatter your ashes back to the earth from which all life has come. You can mingle with the flowing water, stir with the breezy air and night sky, and nestle in the rich brown warmth of the earth itself.... ...on Mission Ridge where you tumbled in the snow, glides over the runs, jumped and spun in the air like magic on your board. Let the white softness remove any restlessness and give you peace on your journeys." |
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From the time we moved to Ellensburg in 1986, our family regularly spent winter weekends up at Mission Ridge. Kyle first learned to ski when he was about 4 years old at Mt. Bachelor in Oregon. After that he and sister Meredith regularly skied at Mission until Kyle switched to snowboarding when he was about 11 years old. He never went back to skis. He taught himself how to board and loved to go off by himself. He would usually choose runs that were too scary for the rest. Sometimes he'd let us begin to follow him then point his board down and lose us The photo opposite is also in the "Adult" photo collection. He boarded with an elegant grace that made the runs look easy until you tried them yourself! |
| Described elsewhere on the site is the snowshoe hike that Kyle and Steve took in the spring of 2001 from Coleman Canyon, north of Ellensburg, up to the Mission Ridge ski area. In spring, 2002 Toni, Steve, Devin, Jeff Houck (who teaches with Toni), and Nick Newton (Devin's friend) repeated the hike. It was a beautiful sunny day which unfortunately meant the snow was very soft. It was quite a long hike but we arrived about 7 hours later at the top of the Ridge. |  |
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We scattered some of Kyle's ashes and pinned a memorial photo on the stump of a tree overlooking the ski area and Wenatchee Valley. This spot is called "Windy Ridge" and is at the top of one of the steepest runs. Kyle has a wonderful view. |
| View east from Windy Ridge. We now plan to repeat this snowshoe hike annually at the end of the ski season as a memorial to Kyle. |  |