Thomas Ely Taplin

Thomas Ely Taplin, 61, died on April 25, 2015 at Mount Everest Base Camp in an avalanche triggered by Nepal's Gorkha earthquake. He was filming a documentary about the history of Everest Base Camp. Tom, a graduate of Kent Denver School, Lake Forest College and California Institute of the Arts was a talented filmmaker, photographer, raconteur, and an ardent mountaineer. His book, "Aconcagua - The Stone Sentinel" includes the tale of his life threatening fall into a crevasse, and how he climbed, despite a broken arm, up a 60 foot ice wall until ill-prepared rescuers could save him. Some of his favorite climbs include South America's Aconcagua, Alaska's Denali, New Zealand's Mt Aspiring, Switzerland's Matterhorn and Nepal's Ama Dablam. Tom owned TET Films & Photography, a business he launched in 1981. He worked on three films by French director Agnes Varda: Mur Murs, Documenteur, and The Beaches of Agnes. People were drawn to Tom for his humor, his warmth and his generous spirit. They were inspired by his energy and his purity of heart. He lived life large; and it's poignant that he died doing what he loved. He is survived by his wife Cory Freyer, his mother, Beatrice Taplin, and his brothers, Ted, Buzz and Frank. A memorial celebration will be held Saturday, May 16, 5-8PM at the Denver Botanic Gardens. The family invites people to give donations in Tom's name to Operation USA (phone number: 323-413-2353), an organization that is helping with the Nepal earthquake disaster. For more information and a direct link to Operation USA please visit www. rememberingtom.org for more information and a direct link to Operation USA.