A life lived wide open

Ian was an advent adventurer, though he may not have known it fully himself. There was a calling — a spiritual summons — guiding him toward his last earthly journey. The spirit of Ausangate, the sacred snow-capped Apu of Peru, was asking for another protector, and only the worthy are ever called to its ancient peaks. In Andean tradition, when a soul is chosen, it joins the mountain’s spirit, and together they rise above this beautiful, spiritual place on our planet Earth. Ian’s trek to the mountain that called him became the path where he lay his head down to rest and let his spirit fly high, beyond this earthly realm.

Ausangate, standing 6,372 meters (20,905 feet) southeast of Cusco, is revered by the Quechua people as the supreme guardian of life, animals, and weather. Pilgrims honor it with sacred k’intus of coca leaves, and its slopes host the great Qoyllur Rit’i star-snow pilgrimage, where tens of thousands gather in devotion. Its trails circle turquoise glacial lakes, herds of alpacas, hot springs at Pacchanta, and the nearby Rainbow Mountain — landscapes alive with silence, light, and ancient presence. To walk here is to step into myth, and to be called here is to be recognized by the mountain itself.

It was to this realm that Ian was called. And it was here, in the presence of Ausangate, that his earthly journey concluded — sudden, heartbreaking, yet profoundly aligned. The mountain asked for a protector, and Ian answered. His spirit now rises with Ausangate’s, held in the high silence where only the worthy are welcomed home. His final steps were not an ending, but a passage into the eternal story of the mountain.

This picture shows Ian’s mother with her new Peruvian family, who journeyed to the place where Ian was found to memorialize it with a beautiful plaque. They offered a coca leaf tribute ceremony to Ausangate, joined by shepherds who spoke with reverence: when they tell the mountain’s story, Ian is now part of that forever story. His name and spirit will carry down in their tradition, woven into the myth of Ausangate, remembered as one who was called, one who was worthy, and one who became part of the mountain’s eternal guardianship.