King of the Mountain

On December 23, 2007 the climbing community lost one of its most dedicated, prolific, and energetic members. After a hard fought, and stunningly brief, struggle Alan Nelson succumbed to a gastrointestinal cancer with his sister, Katie, the pastor of his church, and the pastor’s wife at his bedside. By his own wishes, Alan was buried in the cemetery at Estes Park, Colorado.

It is difficult to contemplate this thought where Alan is concerned. He was too indomitable, persistent, and stubborn an individual to let this disease get the best of him, and at 49 far too young. However, this was not Alan’s first encounter with cancer. While still a young man in California he developed a malignant melanoma that required radical surgery, chemotherapy, and relentless escape from the sun – a tough situation for someone so invested in the outdoors. But, Alan conquered the melanoma and never relented a moment to the demands that he placed on his own climbing and training. Perhaps that is why it is so difficult to imagine a cancer that could end his life.

Alan grew up in California, went through the California school system, ultimately graduating from Berkley with a major in architecture. While climbing derailed any plans for a stately academic life, he did parley this technical background into a career in landscape architecture, city planning, and development. Through this he developed a wide knowledge of ecology and the natural world as it intersected with urban development. His thorough familiarity with so much of the world of plants and botany could always catch us off-guard. The fruits of some of his recent efforts may yet show up as a system of bike paths and trails through Clear Creek Canyon.