Jon Johnston Passes

[Dave Frederickson]

Jon Johnston, the curator of the HP Computer Museum, has passed away while climbing in Tibet.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victori...bae87fd318

[Valentin Albillo]

(04-27-2016 03:52 PM)Dave Frederickson Wrote:  Jon Johnston, the curator of the HP Computer Museum, has passed away while climbing in Tibet.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victori...bae87fd318

.
My most heartfelt condolences go to his family and loved ones, a real tragedy.

Best regards from Valentín Albillo.
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[Didier Lachieze]

This is a very sad news.

[Accutron]

Wow, very sad and unexpected news. I just spoke to him a few weeks ago.

[Katie Wasserman]

This is awful news. While I never communicated with him, I greatly admired his museum from afar. He wrote in his blog about a disastrous attempt to climb in 2014 where many people were killed. He posted this picture then:

[Dave Frederickson]

(04-27-2016 10:54 PM)Katie Wasserman Wrote:  He wrote in his blog about a disastrous attempt to climb in 2014 where many people were killed.

Again, last year:

For the second consecutive year, I went to Nepal to climb Mt Everest and take an original HP-35 calculator to the summit (with rebuilt battery pack including lithium-ion batteries to withstand the -30C to -40C summit day temperatures). Again, the expedition ended in tragedy. 20 people were killed on April 25 when an avalanche triggered by an earthquake swept across the center of base camp. My climbing team was on a vertical ladder near the top of the icefall when the earthquake struck. A massive avalanche off the Everest horseshoe glacier passed us by only 10m to our left.




May he rest in peace.

[Accutron]

From: http://altitudepakistan.blogspot.com/201...a-two.html

Fatal Accident on Shisha Pangma, Two Casualties Reported

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Tragedy strikes spring 2016 early in the season as two climbers are said to have died in a crevasse fall incident on Shisha Pangma. As per Rajan Pokhrel, Kathmandu based The Himalayan Times journalist, the accident took place on April 24th at around 6200m on the mountain. The deceased climbers have been identified as Swiss Patrik Mattioli and US-born Australian Jon Johnston. They belonged to Kobler & Partner team. Expedition leader Julian Beermann was also involved in the accident, however he has been safely rescued. Precise details about the incident are not available as of now.

Last direct communication from team dates back to April 20th, a day after they reached the Advanced Base Camp (5650m). Setting out from Lhasa on April 14th, they reached Chinese BC (at 4900m) on April 17th. The team spent two nights there for acclimatization. On 19th, they trekked to ABC. As per Julian Beermann, they were the first team to reach the mountain this year.

“In coming days, (for us) there is more acclimatization at BC, the Puja, a refresher course about roping on glaciers and crevasse rescue, and finally setting up Camp 1 at about 6200m on the program,” the expedition leader wrote on 20th.

Since then, at least one more team have reached Shisha Pangma Northside Base Camp. A five member French team wrote yesterday that they were at ABC, and hoped to start the climb soon. Note that Ueli Steck and David Gottler, who intend to open a new route on Shisha Pangma South Face, are on other side of the mountain.

As per Australian newspaper Herald Sun, American-born Jon Johnston wanted to climb attempt Everest after Shisha Pangma.

The Himalayan Times report also mentions two casualties near Everest BC. A Japanese trekker Hidenori Hagi (67) died at EBC while a Korean trekker passed away after suffering altitude sickness on Lobuche peak. As we understand, both trekkers didn’t intend to climb Everest.

[Jurgen Keller]

Very sad news.
The HP Computer Museum is a tremendous resource of information which I visit frequently.
According to the posted news article a compatriot of mine has also died.
May they both rest in peace.
My heartfelt sympathies to the families.

[damaltor]

This is sad news. May they rest in peace.

[Gene]

That's terrible. Last year, I tried to go see him when I was down in Australia but we couldn't get our schedules in sync.

[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.

[Diego Diaz]

Very sad news indeed.

Most of us visit his site and appreciate his great job.

Rest in peace.

[evanl]

This is very sad news – I had been in contact with Jon a bit over a year ago and was looking forward to visiting him and seeing / hearing about his collection.
My partner was lined up to come along also (as we live relatively close by).
Sincere condolences to his family.

[mfleming]

Here's the text of the HP alumni association announcement

[HPAA Remembrance] Jon Johnston - San Diego, Australia, HP Computer Museum

Jon Johnston, founder of the independent HP Computer Museum in Australia, died in a mountain climbing accident on Shishapangma, one of the world's tallest mountains, in preparation for a third attempt at Everest. He had also reached the summit of Aconcagua in the Andes, and climbed Mt Elbrus, a volcano in Russia.

Jon joined HP-San Diego in 1983 as a regional support engineer. He moved with HP to Australia in 1989 as the market development manager for the Peripherals Group. He started his own HP integration business in 1992. "HP was a great company to do business with. The company treated its business partners as ethically as it treated its customers and employees."

"These machines came from my customers who were retiring them. I also began acquiring items from HP employees, ex-HP employees and on the internet. We sold our business in 2002, and I began developing the museum."
http://www.hpmuseum.net

"In addition to the very accurate listing of HP's computer production, the website offers a download service containing a huge quantity of original HP software. A great contribution to the HP computer collector community."
http://hpmemoryproject.org

"...more than 500 pieces of HP hardware.. more than 1,300 documents... more than a dozen videos, including TV commercials and videos..."
http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/C...603245.php

The 2116A, HP's first minicomputer, celebrates its 50th birthday on November 7, 2016. A 2116A has been restored by David Collins. In this video, Jon introduces and David demonstrates:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kko526UpHsM

"In July, we'll organise something fantastic so we can all come together and pay tribute to our intrepid mountaineer and friend. I know it's a cliché, but Jon died doing what filled his soul, surrounded by unspeakable beauty. We all knew the risks. He was at the top of his game. He left knowing he was deeply loved."
--Jon's wife, Susan.

[HP67]

What a shame. Interestingly I saw they recovered two other bodies this week from 16 years ago perhaps close to the location where Jon lost his life. It sounds like a very dangerous hobby. Best wishes to his family and friends and safe climbing to all who attempt it.

[factor]

My thoughts are with family and friends of Mr. Johnston.

Rest in peace.

[Namir]

Jon escaped death two years ago only to die two years later (almost to the day). If it was me, I would have made the 2014 trip the last one. I am sorry for his loss, Some may say that he died doing what he loved. We will miss a comrade that shared our passion for computers, calculators, computations, and algorithms. May love and peace shine the path before him.

Peace!

Namir

[dcoz]

As an update to the sad news of Jon Johnston's death, I can advise that the HP museum and the hpmuseum.net website he built will be continued and maintained for the foreseeable future.

Over the last 8 months I have worked with Jon in restoring items from his collection of equipment and, among a range of items, recently restored an HP2116A computer to working order - one of only two Jon was aware of in the world and the only one that's operational.

At this stage we have not been able to access the website and put any notices or updates but that should be addressed shortly.

Jon's wife has asked me to look after the museum and website for the foreseeable future and as much as possible, continue to develop the museum in line with Jon's vision and objectives.

As a short background, I joined HP Australia in 1982 as a Customer Engineer maintaining HP3000s, HP250s, all peripherals, terminals etc. I stayed with HP for over 26 years (including 5 years in Palo Alto) in a range of Services roles and have many fond memories of the company and the people I worked with.

While my ability to invest time into the museum is more limited than Jon's, I hope to honour both his memory and the legacy of the 'old HP' by keeping the museum going as best I can, hopefully with help from the HP interest groups across the world.

David Collins

[rprosperi]

(05-10-2016 02:06 PM)dcoz Wrote:  I can advise that the HP museum and the hpmuseum.net website he built will be continued and maintained for the foreseeable future.

Thanks for sharing this news David, I'm sure this is great news for many here, all of us reluctant to ask due to the unfortunate circumstances.

Our great thanks to both you and Jon's wife for wanting to continue Jon's vision of informing, sharing and preserving.

[damaltor]

If you need technical help, feel free to ask as i am kind of firm in webserver administration. Good to hear that the museum will live on.