Leon Basdekas

[black95]

All, I just found out the terrible news that former member Leon Basdekas passed away this Father’s Day. I’m sure some of you remember him. He was a member of this club for some time, as well as servicing as President, and Vice President of this club. His ‘Mud name was CO_hunter. Quite a few threads of his still around.
If you knew him like I did, this is a punch in the gut, as Leon was about the healthiest human I ever knew. It’s tough to process.
Peggy let me know that he had pancreatic cancer, and that he did not want to tell anyone, because, well… that’s just the kind of guy he was.
He had just turned 61, and that’s just taken too young.

 

[EricG]

Wow - that's really really hard to hear. Leon organized several epic Spring Break trips that our family was fortunate to participate in along with his. Canyonlands, White Rim, Kokopelli, Capitol Reef, New Mexico.

We lost touch when they moved to Idaho a few years ago.

 

[black95]

Wow - that's really really hard to hear. Leon organized several epic Spring Break trips that our family was fortunate to participate in along with his. Canyonlands, White Rim, Kokopelli, Capitol Reef, New Mexico.

We lost touch when they moved to Idaho a few years ago.

I agree. I’m stunned.
Those Spring Break trips were so much fun. Lots of memories from those outings.

 

[SAS]

Ol' Leon! Farewell!

Good memories of my early days in Colorado with the club (2013/14). He led a snow run on 323/324 and then 322; his Greek restauranteur friend, Jake, was along riding shotgun with Leon. We got down to the bottom of 322, parked, and these guys broke out a Greek smorgasbord--breads, meats, cheeses, olives, peppers, baklava...I mean it was a first class layout!

We started driving out, as you know it gets dark early in winter; we're chained-up, but it's pretty sketchy. Leon stalls (dug in) below the big switchback on 322; Jake and I pull cable for him through knee deep powder, nearly waist deep drifts (of course, memory adds snow depth!) We both slipped and fell flat, laughing at one another. Of course, after some struggle, we got out and safely returned home. Great memories; thanks, Leon!

 

[black95]

Ol' Leon! Farewell!

Good memories of my early days in Colorado with the club (2013/14). He led a snow run on 323/324 and then 322; his Greek restauranteur friend, Jake, was along riding shotgun with Leon. We got down to the bottom of 322, parked, and these guys broke out a Greek smorgasbord--breads, meats, cheeses, olives, peppers, baklava...I mean it was a first class layout!

We started driving out, as you know it gets dark early in winter; we're chained-up, but it's pretty sketchy. Leon stalls (dug in) below the big switchback on 322; Jake and I pull cable for him through knee deep powder, nearly waist deep drifts (of course, memory adds snow depth!) We both slipped and fell flat, laughing at one another. Of course, after some struggle, we got out and safely returned home. Great memories; thanks, Leon!

I remember that day. Haha. Leon’s Greek friend was having the time of his life trudging through that snow hooking up winch lines. So had to winch all the way up the long hill after that too, or at least, i did..
that was a great time. Thanks for bringing that memory back.

 

[LCPilot]

I remember Leon,

He was a great guy. We had many good times on the trail.