Ten years ago today, Chris pinned on a rapid in the LaGrande Canyon of the Nisqually and drowned. Chris was a great guy. He had not been in Washington long, but everyone who paddled with him loved him. He was a great paddler, incredible skier and humble person. Chris moved to Washington from Minnesota where they now hold a memorial ski race for him. There is a scholarship set-up in his name for Junior Olympic skiers. Here is a brief summary of Chris' life:
Christopher Michael Ringsven 1973 - 2000
Christopher Michael Ringsven was born January 29,
1973, in Sydney, Australia, to the parents of Arthur and
Renata. He moved with his family to Minnesota in 1974,
where he graduated from the Hopkins school district in
1991. He then graduated from Williams College in Williamstown,
MA with a B.A. in music. Christopher returned
to Minnesota and received his teaching certificate
in music from the University of Minnesota.
Christopher quickly found that he had two loves above
all the rest -- one was sports and the other was music.
His love in music began with the piano, and under the
guidance of his mother, he discovered that composition
and the mechanics of playing came very easy for him,
leading to local and national awards. The piano continued
to be his first love, but he also found himself enthused
about voice and choir, helping to point the way
to receiving his B.A. in music, and subsequently his
teaching certificate. He then spent ½ year in Cambridge,
MN, teaching band and choir, before accepting a similar
music position with the Cle-Elum-Roslyn school district
of Washington state.
His other love was sports, where he found that he enjoyed
the endurance sports of cross country running,
cross country skiing, and track. Throughout his high
school years he achieved a high level of success, leading
to his being named Hopkins Male Athlete of the
year in 1991. He continued his cross country skiing at
Williams College where he was captain of his team his
senior year. For two years while getting his teaching
certificate, he was the Hopkins cross country ski coach.
Along the way, Christopher discovered he was fascinated
by whitewater kayaking, but had little time to get
involved. That changed after college when he found the
time. For the next six years he found himself going with
his fellow kayakers to tackle the north and north shore
rivers. His dream became the mountains and rivers of
Washington state and he was able to fulfill that dream
when he accepted the music teaching position at Cle-
Elum-Roslyn in Washington. He started this position in
September of 2000 and repeatedly remarked how well
the people of his school district and fellow kayakers
had accepted him. He had found his dream.

Chris Ringsven
January 29th, 1973 to December 2, 2000

I moved here right around the same time that Chris did.  I remember when this accident happened and although I never met Chris I remember thinking how tragic it was being that he had just got his taste of this place just like me.  Ten years later I am reminded of the feeling I had when I first came here and the excitement I had at all the adventuring I had to do.  Ten years later I still have that same feeling....

Thanks for sharing this Darren...

RIP Chris Ringsven