Daniel Keith Christopherson

March 24, 1981 – August 19, 2026

Dan showed up in the world on March 24, 1981, right as spring was waking up the valley beneath the Wasatch Mountains—a much-anticipated baby boy for David and Terri Christopherson and a new little brother for Jodi. Nobody knew it yet, but those mountains were going to become his whole life.

He was only three when his dad, Dave, died of cancer—the same cancer that would eventually take Dan too. Years later, when someone complained to him about getting old, Dan told them, “Not everyone has the privilege of getting old.” That was Dan in a nutshell. Maybe losing his dad so young was part of why he packed his own life so full of love and adventure.

The outdoors got its hooks in him early. At six, he hiked six miles through the Needles District of Canyonlands with his aunt, and that was it—his lifelong love affair with the red-rock desert began right then. By 12, he had his first climbing harness on during a camping trip in Southern Utah with his uncle Steve and aunt Barb. At 15, he completed his first rappel with them at the City of Rocks in Idaho. While he was there, he stopped by the smokejumper base in McCall to pay respects to his dad, who had been a Hotshot there and a smokejumper in Idaho and Alaska. That same trip gave Dan his first taste of “dirtbagging”—bathing in mountain hot springs instead of taking a hotel shower. It was a lifestyle he would become pretty comfortable with.

As a teenager, Dan worked at several local bike shops, repairing and selling bikes. He became a competitive mountain biker and used to swear he would never own a car—that he would simply bike everywhere for the rest of his life. Then he discovered four-wheel-drive vehicles and, well, that plan changed, mostly because they opened up so many more remote places to climb, ski, and ice climb. His mom, Terri, was never an outdoorsy person herself, but she would send him off with a “Be careful,” grit her teeth, say a quiet prayer, and let him go chase it anyway. She gave him the room to become who he was, and he became someone pretty incredible.

After graduating from Pleasant Grove High School, Dan attended Utah Valley University, where he studied aviation, business, and whatever else might help him build the life he already knew he wanted: running his own adventure-guiding business. In 2005, he made that dream real and launched 12 Finger Outdoor Adventure, later known as Pinnacle West—Experience That Elevates. The name “12 Finger” came from an epic mountain-bike ride he completed with two buddies through the Wasatch. Using the scale on their map, they figured they had covered a distance of twelve fingers. That was Dan’s kind of math.

From there, Dan always seemed to have another adventure, project, or business taking shape. He created stagecoach experiences, helped build the Sunrock High Adventure Base in the Uinta Mountains, and developed outdoor operations on Bureau of Land Management land near Dead Horse Point. He guided youth groups, LDS camps, and the Mountain Mamas. He taught avalanche safety, wilderness first response, and leadership skills. He led people through the slot canyons of Southern Utah and up serious peaks, including Rainier, Hood, mountains in Ecuador, and two of the world’s Seven Summits: Denali in Alaska and Elbrus in Russia.

Behind the scenes at sporting events, Dan also worked with Cosmo the Cougar, helping send him soaring across the sky above BYU crowds. Dan was always chasing a new idea or building a new partnership, and he had a gift for turning his dreams into reality instead of merely talking about them. Despite everything he accomplished, he rarely took the credit himself. He was quick to recognize the people who helped make it happen. The people he worked with usually became close friends because he genuinely loved and respected those whose paths crossed his.

Family meant everything to Dan. He was deeply devoted to his mom, Terri, and his sister, Jodi, and the three of them went through life’s joys and hardships together. He loved and admired his mother deeply. They were very close and spent a great deal of time together—time that Dan cherished. He wanted only the best for her and personally did everything he could to make her life comfortable and happy.

Jodi was so excited to have a baby brother that, when Dan was born, she ran from door to door through the neighborhood announcing his arrival. He was the cutest little boy, and not many people knew about his early love of breakdancing—a skill he began developing at the age of five, complete with the perfect attire. Jodi watched in awe as Dan grew up and lived his best life in every way. Somewhere along the way, their roles reversed and he became the big brother, always offering the best advice and being her best friend. Her heart breaks at the thought of continuing life without him on this earth.

Dan loved being an uncle, and few things made him happier than getting his nieces, nephews, and grandnieces and grandnephews “geared up” for a hike, bike ride, or climb. Each of them knew and felt his love. He played an important part in helping raise and love them, and he showed up at so many events to support and encourage them along the way. Evan Keith and Oliver Daniel carry his name.

Dan also loved being part of the lives of his stepsiblings—Cary, Michelle, and Seelie—and their children. They created many cherished memories together. His cousins had countless stories of adventure and connection with him, both in their youth and as adults, and Dan counted them as siblings.

Dan’s friends were family too. He carried cherished friendships from his youth through every chapter of his life and was fortunate to have many people he considered true best friends. They shared countless adventures and monumental moments in nature, as well as the ordinary experiences that life brought their way. Dan loved each friend as a brother or sister, and they knew it.

Dan also experienced great romantic loves throughout his life and held those relationships dearly, from his teenage years through adulthood. He was married for a time to Laura Ward and loved being a stepfather to her two children.

His faith was a steady thread throughout his life. He served an LDS mission in Ukraine after learning Russian at the Missionary Training Center. He was an elder in the Melchizedek Priesthood and served in many Church callings. People sought him out for blessings because they knew how much heart he put into them and how close he was to his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

As Dan faced his own diagnosis, he found real comfort in knowing he would be reunited with the people he had lost and loved: his dad, David; his stepfather, Larry; his grandparents Bonnie and Reed Frank and Lynn and Ethel Christopherson; his uncle Reed; his aunts Kandie and Sandra; his uncles Tommy and Jerry Prestwich; his cousins Adam, Natalie, and Candice; and his dogs, Peanut and Brittany. He also looked forward to seeing his close friend and climbing partner Scott Adamson, who died on Ogre II in Pakistan in 2016.

For as adventurous as Dan was, there were times when his family wondered whether he might actually have nine lives. There was the teenage four-wheel-drive adventure that ended with a newly purchased vehicle rolling several times down a hillside. There was the time he fell asleep at the wheel and knocked over a telephone pole. There was the “Devil Rat” incident in Wyoming, the night he was stalked by a cougar while hiking alone, and the ice-climbing trip when a school-bus-sized chunk of ice came crashing down, narrowly missing Dan and his climbing partner. Then there was the FJ Cruiser rollover near Nephi that required the Jaws of Life to get him out. Those are just the stories we know about.

Dan had a great sense of humor and could tell a story like nobody else—and, as you can probably tell, he accumulated plenty of material. But beneath all those stories and adventures was an incredibly humble, genuine, and generous person. Dan had a way of seeing the people in front of him and helping them find strength they did not know they had. He built confidence, helped people work through fear, and encouraged them to become a little more than they thought they could be. He led by example, with his faith and his love for Jesus Christ woven into everything, and he kept learning and growing right up until his last day.

Dan was fortunate to live for a time in the mountains of Sundance, where he served as caretaker for the beloved Lewis family and shared many wonderful experiences with them. In the end, he was given the privilege of taking his last breath there—among the pines and quakies, as the morning sun touched the back of Timpanogos, the mountain he loved so much.

You could say he started as a small seed planted at the feet of giants, grew into a kid of the high country, and became a man of real stature. He packed an extraordinary amount of living into 45 years. But for all the mountains he climbed, places he explored, and adventures he somehow survived, Dan’s greatest legacy may be found in the people he loved, encouraged, taught, and brought along with him. He will be deeply missed, but the parts of himself he left in all of us will remain.

Dan is survived by his mother, Terri Mortenson; his sister, Jodi (Chris) Connelly; his stepbrother, Cary Mortenson; his stepsisters, Michelle (Mike) and Seelie; his aunts and uncles, Karen, Barb (Steve), Judi (John), and Bob; his nephews, Christopher (Lindsey), Bryce (Jessyka), Joel, Evan, and Eli; his nieces, Ava and Ophelia; his stepnephews, Taylor, Max, Rylie, and Aiden; his stepnieces, Emily, Grace, Emma, and Olivia; and several grandnieces and grandnephews.

He is also survived by his cousins, Tawyna (Kurt), Glen, Jason (Jackie), Niki (Jason), Kori (Mike), Shelia (Travis), Jessica, Cliff (Capri), Chelsie, Breann (Thad), Chad, Lindsey (Mike), and Mitchell (Lexi), as well as many close friends and their families and a broad outdoor community that was very much part of his life and legacy.

Daniel will be honored with an LDS Church service on Thursday, September 10, at 11:00 a.m. at 1000 North Main Street in Orem, Utah.

Dan will be cremated, and some of his ashes will be buried at Provo Cemetery. A dedication of the grave will follow the Church service. His ashes will also be spread in places that were dear to him.