Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board A very sad day

The last thing I needed tonight , I checked facebook and found a post about a motorcycle hitting a deer, the rider was one of the greatest mountaineers in the Sierra John Fischer . Our deepest sympathy to Johns family and friends. Doug, Earlene and Doug Jr and the Portal Crew

Noooo... this is terrible news. I just got down from guiding a climb on the East Ridge of Mt. Russell and saw this. He was one of the early guides here in the Sierra. He ran the Palisades School of Mountaineering back in the day. It is a sad day in the mountaineering and guiding world. We lost one of the greats.

My condolences to John's family and friends for this tragic loss.

This is truly sad news. I met John a few times when he was guiding (on Thunderbolt and Humphreys). He was my guide on Ice Nine in 1996. We've lost an icon.

Eastside Magazine article

I also send my condolences to John's family and friends. Even when you don't personally know 'one of the greats'... at a time like this, you feel the sense of very big loss.

Very sad indeed. I worked for John at PSOM back in the early '80's. Quite a guy. It's a loss for all.

All accidents like this are tragic, but this one is especially so for the Sierra climbing community. I only met John once, at Lee Vining several years ago, but his name is associated with many classic routes in the High Sierra. For instance, in 1979 he did the first traverse of the Palisades. It took seven days. He even has a landmark named after him: Fischer Pass.

I've included a link to an extensive discussion, including family.

discussion

I spent 6 days in upper Big Pine Cyn. in June 1977 or 1978 attending John Fischer's POSM class. Guides for that week were Kim Schmitz and Mike Farrell (Chris Vandiver made a guest apperance also). The cook was Sarah Steck, Allen Steck's daughter . I was not aware, at the time, of the heady company I was surrounded by. John was a patient teacher and clearly had the respect of some of the world's best climbers, as evidenced by his ability to hire and attract those mentioned, and that was for just that one week. I do remember Kim (not having the same "style" of John) admonishing our group, high on Mt. Sill and N. Pal - "You're knocking rock loose! You don't see me kicking rocks down that chute do you? My buddies and I could walk around up here all day and NOT kick ONE rock loose!

I look back on those 6 days and the magic of that week grows with time.

Just saw this thread. What terrible news. John guided me up a bunch of climbs in the Palisades back in the 1980s: U-Notch, Swiss Arete, and Thunderbolt. He also took me up Cotopaxi and Chimborazo in Ecuador. John was a consummate professional, very safe, always cool, calm and collected. Whenever I followed him up a route in the Palisades, and watched him place gear, he did it so effortlessly and quickly that it made me think that he had climbed the route 100 times or more and always placed the same piece in exactly the same place. Every year I go to the Palisades, and every time it brings back memories of the climbs John hauled me up, the things he taught me, and the places we camped. I have tons of better pictures of him, but I scanned a couple old snapshots I could put my hands on quickly:
[img]http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30870282&id=1149446740[/img]
Rest in peace.