Honoring the lives ofour beloved friends

Jess Roskelley

David Lama

Hansjörg Auer

‘‘There’s so much more to this passion than just the climb or the ski, there are the human connections created along this journey that have been some of the deepest and most profound friendships of my life.’’

-Hilaree Nelson, Athlete Team Captain

Jess Roskelley

Jess Rosskelly

Always game for adventure, Jess would show up with a smile, excited to climb. He balanced a constant dedication to progression on the mountain with a one of a kind sense of humor and deep dedication to practical jokes.

Jess Roskelley was a natural. He grew up in a household steeped in mountaineering. His father, John, was a pioneering Himalayan alpinist who led the first ascent of Gauri Sankar in 1979. Jess loved climbing and as an alpinist had climbed Everest in 2003 — the youngest to do so at the time. Jess possessed a multi-faceted ability which found him at home on ice, big walls and multi day expeditions.

Always game for adventure, Jess would show up with a smile, excited to climb. He balanced a constant dedication to progression on the mountain with a one of a kind sense of humor and deep dedication to practical jokes. The love he had for the mountains was only matched by his love for his wife, Allison and his bulldog, Mugs.

He will be remembered not just as one of the best mountaineers of a generation but one of the best we have ever encountered in the sport.

David Lama

David Lama

David had the mind of an engineer and the heart of a humanitarian and will be remembered by us as the most passionate climber we’ve ever encountered.

To say David Lama represented just the dynamic nature of climbing would be an understatement as his name was synonymous with the progression of the sport. At a young age he took his skills as a sport climber to the top level, winning competitions from 2004 to 2008.

But even with this competition success, David was at home climbing and skiing taller peaks. In 2012 his free ascent of the Compressor Route on Cerro Torre was considered a landmark ascent of alpine climbing. In 2018, he realized his dream of summiting Lunag Ri in his father’s home country of Nepal, a first ascent that will be forever remembered as his.

David had the mind of an engineer and the heart of a humanitarian and will be remembered by us as the most passionate climber we’ve ever encountered. Our team, the climbing community, and the sport will miss him dearly.

Hansjörg Auer

Hansjörg Auer

Hansjörg was the soul of climbing and had such an honest approach to life. We’ll miss his very simple way of making the hardest routes his own.

Hansjörg Auer had a one of a kind relationship with the mountains and wanted to experience them in every way he could. The mountains of Austria were truly his blank canvas, and whether it was free climbing, paragliding, skiing, or ice climbing he could add his unique signature to them in a multitude of ways.

He excelled at everything he did and from an early age was driven to improve his ability across all disciplines. In 2007, he free soloed the Marmolada in the Dolomites and recently combined a link of solo ascents with a paraglider descents. His ascents in the Himalaya centered on the hidden peaks in the 7000m range - most recently a solo ascent of Lupghar Sar West.

Hansjörg was the soul of climbing and had such an honest approach to life. We’ll miss Hansjörg's lanky stride and his very simple way of making the hardest routes his own. We’ll miss his excitement for the next adventure, and will honor him by embodying this into everything we do.

These beloved members of The North Face family leave a legacy that will endure for generations. We must not forget the passion and joy that they brought to the world through everything they did and we celebrate their lives by allowing that to live on through all of us.