Dear friends, it is my deepest regret, with tears in my eyes, to tell you all that Bruce Bindner (aka 'Brutus Of Wyde') has passed from this life and onto the next. Bruce was on his way tonight to meet me to climb Castle Rock Spire in Sequoia National Park when his car went off the road and was killed instantly. As I sit here emotionally exhausted, I find it hard to put into words the order they need to be. Having a good friend taken from you so quickly feels outright unfair and unexplainable. Bruce was the kind of guy who would quite literally give the shirt of his back and give it to you if you needed.....then offer his trousers! Bruce's heart was always filled with compassion, a giving attitude and the wit that went beyond human comprehension. If you were down and out, he would cast miles of smiles and humorous 'one-liners' to pull you out of a downward spiral. In the time that I got to know him, he never once asked for anything back in return, always defining this as "the way we do it at the Old Climbers Home". He has touched so many lives along the way and left his mark within this community, leaving a deep imprint with those he shared his life. My heart goes out to some specific folks tonight......Em (aka 'Nurse Ratchet') and Craig (aka 'Dingus'), knowing the pain they must feel from such a loss. I certainly miss him too! But I also celebrate his life and honor a man of men, a steward of this community and the heart and soul of obscurities. Brutus......rest peacefully, my brother.

I'm very sorry to hear of this.

I hate this website. You read the posts, trip reports, and view photos of amazing climbs and SP people start to seem like family. Then you are deeply saddened when they are gone. I am sure Bruce is in the Old Climbers Home in the sky.

My deepest sympathies to those who knew Brutus of Wyde personally or through Summitpost.

A very sad story. My condolences to his family and friends.

I know that he is now climbing 5.14d with Alex Lowe....




Don't stop doing them routes Bruce... See ya when I see ya.

We'll hook up when it's my time amigo.

Keep the coffee warm would ya.

PS: Michele, Bandit, Sage I will do our best to comfort EM.





Thanks for being my friend and sharing your life with me. Yu'll always be with me every time I rope up, anywhere..

i am sooo sorry dingus. so sorry.

i only know brutus and many others from my time spent around this virtual campfire. this is a tough one to swallow. binder's trip reports, topos, and route descriptions were always nothing short of exciting. great writer, great climber, and an awesome spirit.

RIP Bro. i will personally go sit in my local creek and throw back a few ales after a day of climbing in your honor.

Holsti hit it. SP is like a family and it is always sad to lose a member. My prayers and thoughts are with all of you to who Bruce was so dear. Hope to meet you someday in that big mountain in the sky.

Holy Moses. I'm so sorry. His posts were among the most even-handed. I was just reading the "Toughest Cali Dayhikes..."

I kept reading through the thread hoping this was some sort of perverse joke.

The drive is usually the most dangerous part.

This is horrible news. My deepest sympathy goes out to Em and everyone that knew Bruce. What a great man, and climber we have lost.
RIP

This is so sad. Words fail to capture the feelings of loss.
My deepest sympathy goes out to his family and many friends

Sorry to hear of this tragic loss.

Very, very sad indeed. My heartfelt sympathy goes out to his family and friends.

I had always kind of hoped to get down to that area and meet some of these incredible people off of SP.
My condolescenses and thoughts of a passing of another Sp climber.

I am very sorry to hear about this. On Summitpost we get to know a person online but few of us actually get to meet each other. My condolences to all of his family and friends.

"May your trails be crooked,winding,lonesome,dangerous,leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. May your rivers flow without end, meandering  through pastoral valleys tinkling with bells,past temples and castles and poet's towers into a dark primeval forest where tigers belch and monkey's howl,through miasmal and mysterious swamps and down into a desert of red rock,blue mesas,domes and pinnacles and grottos of endless stone, and down again into a deep vast ancient unknown chasm where bars of sunlight blaze on profiled cliffs, where deer walk across the white sand beaches,where storms come and go  as lightning clangs upon the high crags, where something strange and more beautiful and more full of wonder than your deepest dreams waits for you- beyond the next turning of the canyon walls."  -Edward Abbey

Rest easy.