Rick Collier was an avid outdoorsman and accomplished climber. He was killed in a mishap in B.C. on Wednesday.

A committed environmentalist, avid outdoorsman and staunch social justice advocate.

That’s how friends and family remembered Rick Collier as they gathered to share stories of the prominent Calgarian following a mountain climbing accident in eastern B.C.

Collier was leading a pack of climbers up Mount Geikie in Mount Robson Provincial Park on Wednesday when part of the rock face gave way, according to the B.C. Coroner’s Service.

At least two climbers fell, including Collier who plunged to his death.

Stepson David Roberts was mourning with family in Calgary on Friday.

“It’s going to leave a big gap in our lives and lots of other people’s lives,” Roberts said. “He had family everywhere he went.”

The 71-year-old Calgarian was known in many circles.

Last spring, he ran in the provincial election as an NDP candidate in the Calgary-Glenmore riding. He also taught more than 5,000 students at Mount Royal University before retiring in 1996.

But the great outdoors were his true passion.

Collier climbed more than 1,300 mountains, including each of the southern Rockies. Nigel Douglas described his friend as an “incredibly active” runner, climber and cyclist.

“Rick seemed like the sort of person who would live forever,” Douglas said. “He made the most out of life.”

Collier was also a founding member of the Old Goats mountaineering group that organized through an online message board.

In a post on Aug. 10, he expressed excitement for an upcoming trek at Mount Geikie, about five kilometres west of the Alberta border.

“A group of four of us … are off to attempt some climbs in the Tonquin valley today, most notably Mt Geikie,” he wrote.

It would be his last journey.

Two other climbers were also injured in the fall.

The other hikers were rescued and Collier’s body was taken off the mountain by search-and-rescue technicians.

It was the second climbing death in B.C. this month after a 52-year-old man from 108 Mile House died in a fall on Mount Rogers in Glacier National Park last week.

Collier was part of many social justice, environmental and labour groups.

He was a member of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, Nose Hill Preservation Society and Amnesty International.

Roberts marvelled at his father’s tenacity.

“You don’t climb that many mountains or get behind that many things when you’re not fully committed,” he said.

“There’s people who are there for the movement when it’s the thing to be behind,” Roberts continued. “He was the guy who was there way before that and hung around way after that.

“He was in for the long haul.”