MONROE – Aaron Koester felt a spiritual connection to the mountains he climbed.
He felt closer to God there.
The Monroe volunteer firefighter “loved the beauty of the mountains, the challenge of it,” his friend Tyler Firchau said Monday. “He loved being in God’s creation.”
Koester, 21, was on Mount Rainier on Sunday when he was killed in an avalanche of snow on Ingraham Glacier, near 11,000 feet on the 14,410-foot mountain.
His climbing partner, Matt Little, 23, of Monroe was buried to his neck with one arm free. Little was able to dig himself out. He then was able to uncover Koester from the snow, but it was too late.
“He was a very brave young man, and I appreciate everything he did,” Koester’s mother, Kathy Howe, said of Little.
Koester and Little had walked down a snow ramp into a crevasse near Disappointment Cleaver. They were walking out on another ramp when it collapsed about 1 p.m. Sunday, Mount Rainier National Park spokeswoman Lee Taylor said.
Both men were experienced climbers. Koester had ascended Rainier once before; Little twice. Last year, they’d climbed three peaks – Mount Hood in Oregon and Mount Shasta and Mount Whitney in California – in five days.
The roommates were training for a trip to Alaska’s Mount McKinley, family and friends said.
Koester “kind of liked to push the limits of everything he did,” said his father, Bruce Koester of Monroe. “He’s going to be sorely missed. Everywhere he went, he made friends.”
Koester’s weekend climbing trips rarely kept him from his Vineyard Church in Monroe, where he was a worship leader.
“He enjoyed playing his guitar and leading everyone in song,” said Johanna Little, Matt’s sister and Koester’s friend. “He was definitely a leader there.”
Koester’s father, a pastor, said his son “wasn’t loud about it, but he lived for Jesus Christ.”
His passion for God was one reason Koester loved being in the mountains, Firchau said. “He said the world felt limitless up there.”
The day before Koester left for his climbing trip, he put in his application to join the Monroe Fire Department as a full-time firefighter. He’d volunteered there nights and weekends for two years, impressing other firefighters with his strength and energy.
Monroe firefighters wore black stripes across their badges and lowered the flag of Station 31 to half-staff in Koester’s honor Monday. A photo of him with a huge grin as he hung from a ladder truck was propped up near his firefighting gear.
“Fire service is definitely a family, and he’s one of the people we wanted to be part of it,” Monroe firefighter Jamal Beckham said. “We were rooting for him.”
Beckham climbed Rainier with Koester in the spring on the same route the young firefighter was using Sunday.
Koester was the fifth climber killed on Mount Rainier this year, He was well aware of the risk, Beckham said.
“You could tell that if he could climb every day, he would,” Beckham said. “That’s pretty much what his life was geared around.”
Three park rangers flew to the scene of the avalanche Monday and recovered Koester’s body. His funeral had not been scheduled as of Monday.
Reporter Katherine Schiffner: 425-339-3436 or schiffner@heraldnet.com.
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