A Climber We Lost: Matt Richard
You can read the full tribute to Climbers We Lost in 2024 here.
Matthew Aaron Richard wanted to be “the dirtiest dirtbag out there,” said his friend Kenny Duong, who met Richard in El Potrero Chico four years ago. Richard, who relished in his nickname “Ronnie the Rat” (“Everywhere he went, someone else was named Matt, so he just nicknamed himself Ronnie,” his mother explained), would often arrive at the crag with random new tattoos or funky hairstyles, such as a greasy mullet, a shock of curls, or a handlebar mustache.
Richard was a keen climber who, although relatively new to the sport, progressed rapidly, and had spent the last four winters working remotely in El Potrero Chico, Mexico, so he could climb. He died there on February 2, after a rappelling accident, only a few days after sending his first 5.13 sport climb, Cyclops (5.13a). “Matt’s passing occurred as he was doing what he truly loved, surrounded by friends, at one of his favorite locations on earth, and his transcendence was swift and without suffering,” his family wrote in his obituary.
Richard was born in Shreveport, Louisiana and raised in Watson, just outside Baton Rouge. After high school, he attended college at Southeastern Louisiana University, where he earned a degree in finance. After graduating, Richard intended to move to Atlanta to become an electronic music DJ under the name “Chompy.” (Readers can find his music on Spotify.) But right before he moved, he visited his older brother, Joey, in Denver. “Joey took him into the mountains, took him hiking, and showed him what the outdoor lifestyle there was all about,” said Richard’s mother, Heather. “He was like, ‘OK, nevermind. I’m re-routing!’” Richard gave up on his DJ dreams and moved to Colorado, whereJoey promptly introduced his younger brother to rock climbing, which would become a driving force for the rest of his life.
Richard kept a close journal, which his mother shared with Climbing. Much of his journal was dedicated to his climbing training regimen, but it was also peppered with bits of personal wisdom. “Life works for you when you work on yourself.” After a climbing trip to Kalymnos, Greece, Richard wrote, “What a life I’m blessed to live, what friends I’m blessed to have, what wondering love I’m blessed to feel.”
Duong said one of his favorite things about Richard was his “positive heckling.” When other climbers were on the wall, at a moment when they might be encouraged to scream “Take!” he’d instead yell up to them, “Take the ride!” When Richard was climbing, he was equal parts fearless and stoked. Instead of the usual “Watch me,” shouted to a belayer when entering a sketchy sequence, Richard often shouted “Watch this!”
Yet he was also supportive and encouraging. “He was someone who could both support you and make fun of you at the same time, who could remind you not to take things so seriously, but also to do your best,” his mother said. “People said he helped them climb harder just by being there.”
Though climbing was clearly his heartline, he also had a large group of friends in the skateboarding world, and stayed in touch with his childhood friends through online video games. He appeared to be living his dream, living most of the year in Lakewood, working remotely for the data center company Cologix, and wintering in Mexico. “He’d get up, go sit by the pool down there in Mexico and work, and then go climbing in the afternoon,” his mother said.
One of Richard’s diary entries, written three months before he died, espoused his views on life’s uncertainty. “Take the risk, ride the motorcycle, put yourself out there, cook for your friends, order the chocolate cake, and be yourself.”
In addition to a wide circle of climbing friends and extended family, Matt Richard is survived by his mother and father, two brothers, a sister, three stepbrothers, and three stepsisters. Duong and other friends have started a GoFundMe to support his family in his absence.
You can read the full tribute to Climbers We Lost in 2024 here.
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