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Remembering a Local Legend

Flathead native Scott Sederstrom died in a climbing accident on March 14 in California

By Justin Franz

Scott Sederstrom was an accomplished skier, climber and outdoorsman, who proved his mettle in the mountains of Glacier National Park and California’s Eastern Sierras. But his legend was formed long ago on the neighborhood hills of Kalispell, specifically when he performed a 360 and a forward flip on a snow sled, said longtime friend Nathan Sande.

Sande and other avid recreationists in the Flathead Valley have been remembering their friend who died in a climbing accident in California on March 13. Sederstrom was 44 years old.

According to local news reports, Sederstrom died when a bolt broke on a climbing route he was traversing in the Owen’s River Gorge in east central California. He fell about 25 to 30 feet and died of trauma to the head.

“It’s a tragic loss,” said another local friend, Ted Steiner. “He gave everyone he was with a positive energy. He was a great person.”

Sederstrom grew up immersed in the outdoors and frequently skied Big Mountain as a kid, according to Sande, who first met him in the early 1980s. Even when Sederstrom and his friends could not get away from their backyard, they found ways to push the envelope by building jumps and harnessing themselves to their sleds to see who could go the furthest. Later, they traded the sleds for skis and spent time “looking for uncut powder residing within the Kalispell city limits.”

Within a few years, Sederstrom and his friends turned their attention to climbing, taking a class at Flathead Valley Community College from Steiner and Rocky Mountain Outfitter owner Don Scharfe. Suddenly Sederstrom and the others were hooked on climbing and they would often spend their days climbing rock across the valley. Later, they turned their attention to Glacier National Park, climbing everything from Mount Cannon to Going-to-the-Sun Mountain and about eveything in between.

“Pull up a topo map of the Lewis, Livingston, Flathead and Swan ranges, point a finger somewhere, and I’ll likely have a story for you that includes Scott Sederstrom,” Sande recalled.

As Sederstrom got older, he and his friends began to attempt even greater climbing feats, like trying to summit as many peaks within the park as they could in one day.

Steiner often climbed with Sederstrom and said he was a trusted friend in the wilderness. Talking to those who knew Sederstrom, the theme that emerges first is his kindness and modesty.

“He was an incredibly likeable person,” Scharfe said. “He didn’t have an attitude and he was never macho or egotistical.”

In the early 1990s, Sederstrom moved to California, where he continued to climb and immerse himself in the outdoors. Even though he had not lived in the Flathead Valley for 20 years, it is clear Sederstrom had left his mark on those who knew him.

A memorial for Sederstrom will be held on May 24 from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Lawrence Park Pavilion in Kalispell. Organizers are asking that in lieu of gifts or flowers, that people make donations to the Kalispell Boulder Project or the American Safe Climbing Association.