The Great PNW is selling a shirt to honor Spokane native Jess Roskelley, who was killed in an avalanche in Alberta’s Banff National Park last week.
All proceeds will go to the Roskelley family.
Joel Barbour, who founded The Great PNW, said he originally designed the shirt in 2016 in honor of Roskelley and his adventurous family. With the family’s permission, he decided to bring it back when he learned his long-time friend had died.
“It was like all hands on deck to get this thing out. It was really to honor Jess and to celebrate him and really support Alli in all of this, too, and just the whole Roskelley family,” Barbour said.
On The Great PNW website, Barbour called the news of Roskelley’s death “paralyzing and crushing to say the very least.”
Parks Canada found the bodies of Jess Roskelley, and Austrian climbers David Lama and Hansjörg Auer on Sunday, and confirmed their identities the next day.
The world-renowned climbers were attempting to climb the east face of Howse Peak on the Icefields Parkway in Canada on April 16.
Barbour told KREM that members of the Roskelley family were early supporters of his company, so the shirt was the least he could do to raise the money.
He said he hopes it can help the family create a long-lasting memory of Jess Roskelley’s legacy.
The shirt features mountains with Roskelley’s name printed near the bottom. It can be purchased for $27.99 on The Great PNW website.
