Chris gay
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Over six years, Chris went on 179 incidents and worked 1,256 hours, helping to rescue and recover numerous visitors, including many climbers.
When he wasn’t on a rescue, Chris spent a lot of his time climbing. He climbed The Nose in a day or NIAD numerous times with many different partners, often leading the bottom block, improving his efficiency with every lap in order to go faster and faster.
Many visitors to the site (and to Yosemite) remember Chris as the first person to welcome them and make them feel included. In his memory: Let your breath bring you back to the present moment, slow down and enjoy your coffee, lick the container of Bitchin’ Sauce clean, share a pint or two of pistachio ice cream with your friends, and—most importantly—remember to hug your loved ones tight.
Chris Gay is survived by his parents, Kathy and David Gay, III.; brother, David Gay, IV (wife, Emily Gay); brother, Matthew Leavy (wife, Kim Leavy); sister, Kathleen Leavy Robertson; sister, Barbara Gay Neel; brother, Dan Leavy (wife, Lisa Leavy); maternal grandmother, Grace Philipps; nephew, Kevin Leavy; niece, Madison Leavy; niece, Brooklyn Leavy; nephew, Tristen Taylor; aunts, uncles, cousins, and many friends.
We wish Chris safe passage on his journey to Valinor, J.R.R.Tolkien’s “land across the sea.”
You can read the full tribute to Climbers We Lost in 2024 here.
Gay, D-11504, made his first jump in Georgia in 1986 and has logged more than 15,000 skydives in a 34-year career, making his mark mainly as a canopy formation skydiver, coach and organizer.
In the early spring and fall he would rake the leaves around the site and burn the piles while enjoying a warm coffee or tea. “Beyond Chris’s personal virtue, I admire his natural curiosity. We wish you well on your next journey Chris; Rest in Valinor
Bilbo beside the fire: JRR Tolkien Bk 2 Ch 3
I sit beside the fire and think
of all that I have seen,
of meadow-flowers and butterflies
in summers that have been;
Of yellow leaves and gossamer
in autumns that there were,
with morning mist and silver sun
and wind upon my hair.
I sit beside the fire and think
of how the world will be
when winter comes without a spring
that I shall ever see.
For still there are so many things
that I have never seen:
in every wood in every spring
there is a different green.
I sit beside the fire and think
of people long ago,
and people who will see a world
that I shall never know.
But all the while I sit and think
of times there were before,
I listen for returning feet
and voices at the door.
A Climber We Lost: Chris Gay
Published January 15, 2025 06:44AM
You can read the full tribute to Climbers We Lost in 2024 here.
James Christopher Gay, 39, October 15
Chris Gay and I were on Yosemite Search and Rescue (YOSAR) in Yosemite Valley together from 2019 through 2023.
Although achievement was not the biggest driving factor behind Chris’s climbing, he did set big goals for himself and worked hard to complete them. He created a sort of Zen garden that he kept neatly raked. We have often talked about books that we have read and the issues that face us … he is an outstanding young man that will go far, and be successful in all that he does.”
Chris did go far and found success during his adventurous life.
We shared a deep love for Yosemite and wanted to spend as much time as we could there while we had the privilege of living in paradise.
To many members of the local community, the traveling dirtbags and the weekend warriors, Chris was a fixture of Yosemite’s warmer seasons. “He spoke in ways that showed authenticity to his heart,” his good friend Etel Spiteri said.
In 2015, he purchased his white and yellow van and courageously left the life he had built for himself in Santa Cruz to pursue his passion for rock climbing.
In Joshua Tree, Chris found a way to give back by volunteering, becoming one of the park’s first Climber Stewards and spending much of his free time working on trails, picking up garbage, and mapping illegal bolted anchors.
Chris’s journey with the Shakuhachi began with the blowing of Ro. One note played repeatedly—polish, polish, polish. He took the necessary steps and gradually pushed bigger objectives. His deep familiarity with Yosemite was an asset to the team—as was his intentional character. As he ticked off the established Tolkien routes, he added more by helping to establish Valinor (5.10d; 600ft), Andor (5.10b R; 500ft), and Elanor (5.7+ R; 400ft).
Nick remembers Chris, with all his experience climbing in the valley, as a mentor. He always made time for his friends.”
Chris attended Hylton High School, where his Government Humanities teacher, Randall Peterson, once described him (in a letter to his parents) as “a most enthusiastic and outgoing student.”
“Chris always had interesting and relevant questions, and always spoke in class with depth and a personal conviction that has always impressed me,” Peterson added.