The time has come again my friend.

I see long shadows starting to mingle
And you Dano Slater are now forever;
Singled out into time immemorable.

Still sending it with unmeasurable gumption
the sum of which for all us folks left in your wake
leaves us at a junction of immeasurable loss.

Across the universe divide, and repeat.
I know deep down that you will continue
to stand by the sides of an immensity of friends and family.

It’s uncanny how the warmth of these longer days
represents a display of rejuvenation and play.
Yet at a time when so so many
are perplexed and wrecked and feeling a heck of a lot of discombobulations
that will continue to leave a multitude of people, sensationally displaced by your absence.

Not being able to embrace your human form
Torn from us to soon,…..you are now the full moon,
You are our North Star, the wind at our backs,

You are the “the stay in my tracks,
you’ll all be fine” get after it and have fun,  
be noble and see you along the way and I’ll wait for you at the bottom kinda guy.

Why oh why we will all forever ask.
What a task to go on without you brother man.
As I whisper to the horizon
tears temporally blind me
Yet I find as quickly I am filled with tranquility

That sees you in a perfect light.
This prism sentence is real and unreal all at once
Your eternal perfection speaks softly
Of everything that is still good here
And as I feel the suns glow move on
I know while its gone

That Planet Dano’s sparkle will illuminate all
As your light my brother,
As it always has.
Will continue to Up the constellations.
-Shawn (Maddog) Morris
-

I imagine I’m not alone in when I say I’ve spent the last couple of weeks taking a stroll down memory lane, trying to pick out the best times I had with Dano and trying to cobble some words around how I feel about them.

Memory is a funny thing man, especially mine.

Most of you people know me but even the ones that do might not know I have a funny little quirk in my brain chemistry where I have razor sharp memory for obscure details but when it comes to the low-hanging fruit of people’s first names I somehow struggle.

So oddly enough when I started reflecting on my Dano memories what stood out to me the most wasn’t any one in particular – it’s that I remember all of them. Every one. Seriously - like they were yesterday.

I remember the way you look, the way you sound, the way you laugh, the way you ski.

I remember the way it smelled in the hospital the day North was born. Like a hospital. I remember thinking that North really needs to cut his fingernails, even though he was five minutes old. I remember every ski jacket North has ever owned – I shit you not.

I remember when Tessa first told me you were sick. I walked straight over to you, looking for a tearful embrace and you hit me right in the balls.

I remember how it feels when life gets in the way and I don’t see your pretty wife for a while and then I do and she sees me and her and her face lights up and it feels like a bolt of electricity in my fucking heart. Although to be fair I knew Tessa first so I was going to remember her anyway.

I remember the look on your face when you fell off the roof that me you and Clay were on for some reason and I remember exactly what you said to us as you were falling off too. “I’m going boys!”.

I’m going boys.

You know Dano never spoke those words to me again but I read them in his eyes the last time I saw him. It’s a beautiful memory. You, smiling in the sun, smoking weed in a fucking beanbag chair on a beach.

I remember how the sky looked the last time I saw the freeride kids bombing down the ski hill. Now when I see the big freeride kids dragging the little freeride kids down the hill I remember that it wasn’t very long ago at all that those big kids were little kids, being dragged down the hill by you.

I do not know why I do or do not remember the things that I do, but I know that it has to do with being surprised. From being hit with love, connection, entertainment and meaning at a time and from a direction when I never saw it coming.

That’s what you did to me Dano.

And so from the bottom of my heart brother thank you.

Thank you for taking me and my family along for the ride. Thank you for making my shy kids so comfortable that you were like a second father to them. Thank you for being Doctor Dano when they were hurt. Most of all thank you for doing what so many other kind, well-deserving people (whose names escape me at the moment) couldn’t seem to manage – for getting inside my head – for shining a light in my mind, and not only on the times that we had together and those mean the world to me – but for all of the wonderful people, places and moments that you set it motion and that are a part of your legacy.

I see them every single day and I remember them perfectly and I will never, ever forget.

Thank you.

- Chris Goggins

-

I’m envious of you. In the most honest and beautiful of ways. You inspired joy and camaraderie and freedom in the exquisite among us. You lived it with them, saw it through their eyes. A billion moments of brilliance. You inspired so many, from red-cheeked 10-year-olds to bold young adults, some of whom are among the world’s best.

I’m grateful for you. In the purest and most thankful of ways. For creating this family of girls and boys and mothers and fathers and friends and fans. A village rooted in community and love, support and encouragement. You believed. You always believed.

I’m proud of you. In the most heartfelt and genuine of ways. I remember when, not so long ago, you were a young dirtbag skier pursuing your passion with an undying verve. Ahead of your time, chasing an elusive dream. Then you found this new purpose, helping kids find that freedom you knew so intimately. You armed it with action and the noblest of intentions, inspiring them to face their fears, test themselves. Not alone, but together, as one. As a team. Just look at what it has become. Know this tribe, this movement, will last as long as pure snows fall from a crisp Kootenay sky.

I will think of you deeply, in the most sincere and loving of ways. You shared your secret stash with me. On the chairlift, you spoke of your vision before it was a reality. And I watched you turn that dream into the dreams of our children. You made them better. You made us all better with adventure, growth, learning, and accomplishment. You gave us stories that will dance in our hearts forever.

We will shred in your great honour. In the most passionate and joyful of ways. We will do it together. And you will always be there. Backflips on the shoulders of kids who have become giants. Now we say goodbye. Shred in the spirit world, my good friend.
From this life into the infinite lives that follow, we ride with you.
-Mitchell Scott

-

What is a Legacy?

It is planting seeds in a garden you may never see.

It is the lives and the loves and the songs that mattered to Dano.

It is today and every day he made an impact on you, his birthday, his anniversaries, and every time we get to rock out to BCDC.

He is alive in our memory, the unity in this community.

in the music, the Grateful Dead

He is alive within Tessa and North

He is alive in the mountains.

He is that sweet California Sunshine and that fluffy and abundant Kootenay powder.

Together we can protect a Legacy to last many lifetimes.

If life is the sun rise, then death is the sun set.

Dano is free from suffering now.
-Stephie Henriksen