Steve Edwards

Our community has lost an irreplaceable luminary: Steve Edwards has passed on.

By all accounts he was a great guy across the board. Positive, psyched, and very supportive. No single person did more for Ojai and Santa Barbara climbing. It was Steve who discovered the potential of Pine Mountain. He established many routes at local sites and gave us a great guidebook, which we still use.

Our small community has enjoyed the involvement and contributions of some great climbers. But Steve's passion and his vision rose above the rest.

Thank you Steve for all you did. You will be greatly missed.

So many legends that abound around here involve Steve Edwards name. I started climbing and found all of the first routes I started my climbing life with thanks to his guidebook. If it hadn't have been for him I probably wouldn't have even even known that there was any routes in my Ojai, Santa Barbara area. I personally have been affected by Steves work and dedication to the sport and life of climbing. The best part is that he would respond to our questions about routes history and pretty much anything else we all had questions about even though he didn't live in the area any longer. He always responded with kindness and his apparent stoke for climbing consistently shone through his words. It was so nice to see a climber get older and still be happy instead of turning into the classic disgruntled old timer that so many long term climbers turn into. Thank you so much Mr. Edwards for everything you have contributed to the climbing community and my life personally. One man CAN make a difference doing nothing more than following his passion and Steve is a perfect example of that. Thank you so much.

Jon, that was very nicely said. A good and loved man is lost.

Stainless..... RIP

Respect.

Steve was an incredibly friendly, stoked, and encouraging guy. He was a visionary in the world of climbing training. His willingness to share his insights and enthusiasm for new routing, experimentation and writing will be sorely missed.

Steve was among my best friends, and was my first climbing partner in 1986 before sport climbing officially showed up in the U.S. We had many adventures together, and probably should have perished long ago with some of the antics (let's call them 'life lessons') we lived through. He was my mentor without ever seeming like a mentor; he was my coach without ever treating me like an underling. He will always live on in my heart and mind whenever style, ethics and humor come together. Gonna miss you my friend.