Redmond woman killed in slide reveled in the outdoors

Whether scaling a crag or hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, Megan Kinsella always took time to revel in her surroundings — and urged her companions to do the same.

"Every time I would get to the top of a wall, she would say: 'Did you look down yet?'... " recalled Soraya Dossa, Kinsella's longtime friend and climbing partner. "She loved the outdoors, and understood how much there was to appreciate."

Kinsella, 24, was trying a new outdoor pursuit Wednesday when she was killed.

The Redmond woman and her 26-year-old boyfriend, James Susen, had spent the early part of the day climbing a frozen waterfall near Crystal Mountain ski area, where they both worked. "It was her first experience with ice climbing," said her older brother, Ryan Kinsella.

The two were hit by an ice slide near the bottom of Snoquera Falls, located off Highway 410.

Susen was knocked unconscious. When he came to, he discovered Kinsella had been struck by several large blocks of ice and was not breathing, Pierce County Sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said. Susen administered CPR, but was unable to revive her.

Dazed and disoriented from his own injuries, Susen made his way to a forest road, where he was picked up by a Puget Sound Energy crew.

Though ice climbing was new to Kinsella, she and Susen were both experienced backpackers and mountaineers, said Ryan Kinsella. The pair had hiked a 700-mile segment of the Pacific Crest Trail from Bend, Ore., to the Canadian border. They met in Yosemite National Park while attending an advanced training program for emergency-medical technicians.

She picked up her passion for the outdoors from her parents, Kathi and Tom Kinsella, who hauled their children along on hikes even before they could walk.

Kathi Kinsella's work as a nurse was also one of the factors that led her daughter to decide on a career in medicine. After graduating with honors from the University of Washington earlier this year, Kinsella had aced her Medical College Admission Test and interviewed at the UW Medical School. Her goal was to become a doctor and practice family medicine in a rural community.

Shy and quiet, she found people would open up to her. "Some people see shyness as a barrier, but she saw it as something that would allow people to talk to her," Ryan Kinsella said.

The job at Crystal was a way to fill the lull before medical school and cram in as much skiing as possible.

Kinsella had already traveled widely, including academic years spent in Italy and the former Yugoslavia. She worked with a UW professor cataloging the experiences of refugees from the conflict surrounding Yugoslavia's breakup. She was also was concerned with the dispossessed in Washington, distributing food and providing baby-sitting services for migrant workers.

"She lived a lifetime in her 24 years," Ryan Kinsella said.

In Italy, she became fluent not only in the language, but the cuisine. The family home in Redmond was often redolent with Kinsella's simmering sauces and the aroma of apple pie modeled on her grandmother's version. She tutored her mother in pasta-making techniques.

"She was always encouraging me," said Kathi Kinsella. At Megan's urging, mother and daughter did the Danskin triathlon together. Kinsella also convinced her father to join her in another of the run-swim-bike events.

"She loved to try new things, and she loved to push herself," said Dossa, who found in her friend a kindred spirit. The pair met in junior-high school. Dossa had just moved to the United States from Kenya, and Kinsella was the first girl to invite her to eat lunch.

"It's very hard to be the new person, especially in middle school," Dossa said. "Megan came right up and started talking to me."

Sandi Doughton: 206-464-2491 or sdoughton@seattletimes.com