Our dear friend John

Graeme and I lost our very dear friend John Pawson to the mountains today. He died doing what he loved passionately – climbing. Doing our usual check of the emails we learned of his death from Whitney Thurlow. He was obviously involved in the rescue effort and he let us know only a few hours after it happened.

I spoke with Meg very late that night. She has lost her soul mate and is devastated. Graeme and I feel that we are a very long way from home at the moment.

We took a long walk up into the mountains to reflect on things. As Graeme still has no skis, we had to “post hole” our way on foot through very deep powder snow. The sun was shining and after bitterly cold night, the snow glistened with hoar frost. As the afternoon wore on and the temperature rose, the trees began to lose their heavy loads of snow. All around us cascades of powder snow plummeted down from the treetops. We narrowly missed being thoroughly doused as we walked through the forested areas.

As we huffed and puffed our way up to the ski area through the forest, we were constantly reminded of all the adventurous times we had with John and Meg. If he had been with us this afternoon, he would have set a cracking pace, blazing a trail through the deep snow and making it easier for us following. He would know exactly where to go, never getting lost or backtracking – like we often do, when left to our own devices! Our knickname for John was “Altimeter Man” for wherever we were on the mountain-side, he could guess the altitude within 10 metres or so! Amazing!!

Some of the dearest memories of John will be our fantastic Mt Cook ski touring trip this October. For John, even though it was not the action packed climbing adventure of his youth, our climb to Starvation Saddle and our ski down the Mannering Glacier obviously brought back wonderful memories for him. We are honoured to have heard the old stories and to have shared in the new adventure.

John was a leader never a follower. He had strong convictions and was not afraid to speak his mind. He was a true friend and an inspiration to us not only for his physical achievements but his intellect and thought provoking discussion.

We are numb with sadness and can’t even begin to imagine what Meg is dealing with. It’s too awful to contemplate. We wish we could “teleport” ourselves back to Wanaka right at this moment to be with Meg. All our love is being sent by prayer and telepathy.

We will miss you everyday - rest in peace, John.