Editor’s note: It is with heavy hearts that we say goodbye to Alex Kollar, a beloved friend, son and snowboarder who took his last turns on October 21, 2021. Alex’s friends and family are carrying on his awesome legacy through the Alex Kollar Memorial Fund. The fundraiser will help support the Kefa Project, a non-profit focused on bettering the lives of youth in Rwanda through education, sport and positive role-modeling.

Below are touching messages from one of Alex’s closest friends, Stratton Matteson, and Alex’s mother, Ruthanne Adams.

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On October 1, 2021, my best friend and soul brother, Alex Kollar, took his last paddle stroke, offering himself back to the river and back into the threads of Earth in which his brilliant spirit was woven. He was the brightest ball of love, light, kindness, compassion, and ever flowing stoke.

He lived life with a constant desire to find flow and those moments of pure bliss between the edge of control and chaos. He shared his constant froth and exuberance with the world, uplifting everyone around him no matter if you were his best friend or a grocery store clerk.

He had a deep understanding of the fragility and uncertainty of life. I believe that’s why he never wasted a moment to connect with the people, places, and living and non living beings around him. If you ever shared a hug, a stare in the eyes, a laugh, or one of his hoots and squeals that probably came at the end of a turn, then you know that feeling.

It’s easy to wish for more. I felt like our time together and the dreams we both shared were just blossoming. But to wish for more would do no good. Because the best things in life don’t last forever, they bloom in the warmth of the sun, and in the kiss of the rain. Their stems will wither, their seeds will dry and the wind will carry them across the land. That energy will be dispersed and sprout into thousands of new flowers growing and growing until they can share there brilliance with the world. I believe that’s where Alex’s spirit is now. The seeds of his spirit and energy are scattered amongst all of us, and everything. That’s where I can find peace and remember him in the rustle of a leaf, in the scent of a pine, in the reflection of the water, in the falling of a snow flake, in the warmth of a pink rising sun. He will be missed but never forgotten. I’m grateful for every moment. And I could never ask for more, because each moment with Alex’s light was enough.

Thank you for being a teacher, a brother, a friend.

We love you forever Alex.

Can’t wait to make turns with you in the spirit realm my friend. I’m sure the powder is better there.

— Stratton Matteson

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