Jon Johnston Passes

[Dave Frederickson]

This is a summary of the event, written by his wife Susan:

Jon has died on Shisha Pangma. As many of you know, he was on a climbing expedition in Tibet. Nathaniel and I spoke to him Saturday afternoon via his satellite phone. He had just returned to advanced base camp after an acclimatisation hike to 5900 metres and back. He was fit and well, feeling so great and sounding so happy. While we don't know all the details, on Sunday, April 24th, he and the expedition guide, Julian, and another climber, Patrick, were roped together on their way to camp one. About mid-day, the guide and Jon sat down for a short rest, while waiting for Patrick to catch up, when a 5-metre section of ground gave way beneath them. Jon fell first into the hole and the guide and Patrick followed. It was a 25-metre vertical free fall drop into a large crevasse and then a further 5-8 metre drop down a much narrower space. Julian was unconscious for awhile, but when he came to, another climber (from a group that was following further behind them) was rappelling as far down the crevasse as he could. Long story short, the guide was rescued. But the whole time, Julian had visual contact with both Jon and Patrick. There was no movement, no sound and the report I received from the consulate was that there was no chance of survival. Tomorrow, they are hoping to send a team in to try to retrieve the two bodies, but it will be a very dangerous process and there's no certainty. We'll know more in a few days.