John Middendorf - Big Wall legend

One of big walling biggest legends and pioneers has passed. Its hard to find someone who had more stoke for teaching and sharing anything and everything about climbing, gear development, and climbing history. 

I'm glad to have had a few great interactions with him online talking big wall strategy. 

Rest in peace Legend  

Wow unexpected indeed. The energy this guy had was palpable from his writing and podcast appearances. I appreciated his deep dives into the history of climbing equipment and big walling. He always seemed so psyched even after all these years.

John was a pioneer and a legend. Met him last fall in Tassie and his generosity for his guests, friends, those in need, the climbing community, and the earth was boundless.

 His work making low cost portaledges for the Bob Brown Foundation’s Takayna forest preservation was genius and truely innovative. https://bobbrown.org.au/ 

He also wrote and published 2 books recently on the early history of climbing and mountaineering highlighting the techniques, gear, and some of the long forgotten players and stories. I highly recommend them: 

Mechanical Advantage, Volume 1: Tools for the Wild Vertical
https://a.co/d/08quFwqt 

Mechanical Advantage, Volume 2: Tools for the Wild Vertical
https://a.co/d/05zEZTXQ 

Off belay, John. Rest in peace.

How old was John?  He was always so full of life.

Rest in Peace, and condolences to his family and friends.

Sad to lose such a great.

I always enjoy coming across his historical research into the state of climbing technology and accomplishments in the past.

I love what he has done for climbing soft goods like backpacks and portaledges.

Check out his site for some really excellent content:
https://www.bigwallgear.com/

First time I met John, my friends were giving me a 30th birthday party at The Forks in Zona. I just topped out on a pitch and was anchored to a ponderosa. John and John Sherman came out of the trees giggling like little kids. They asked me if I was the birthday boy and they then emptied squirt guns hidden behind their backs into my crotch. I remember just standing there and taking it like a man. John then reached into his pocket and gave me an A5 wall hammer head with no handle saying he was out of handle stock. I could tell he was embarrassed by that but he mumbled happy birthday and ran off. Fun fricken dude. Climbed with him twice after that and he never used a harness. Tied in with a bowline and just went for it. Wicked smart Hard Man. 

So sad.

I offer my sincere condolences to John’s Family and many Friends.

One of a kind. RIP 

In 1998 at age 22, my then-girlfriend and I were trudging down the Muir trail after failing to get more than 3 or 4 pitches up the RNWF of Half Dome. We'd carried a ledge, hauled 3:1 with down-pointing jumars and crevasse rescue pulleys, carried maybe 3-4 extra gallons of water "just in case we took more than three days," and ants had completely overrun our gallon ziploc of pre-cooked chocolate chip pancakes -- the only food we brought, which already smelled like it had started to ferment. Our poop system was more ziplocs in a sleeping bag stuff sack dangling from the bottom of the pig. 

A runner comes up the trail and we see him eyeing the shitshow. He goes past kind of shaking his head. Then stops, comes back. It was John. He spent at least 45 minutes stacking all the stuff we didn't need in a pile, clueing us into two or three key pieces of gear we had to get (wall hauler!), and demonstrating the basic jugging and hauling system/flow from a tree branch. He was kind and patient, but you could also tell he brooked no bullshit on his walls. 

Those 45 minutes were absolutely transformative. We sent next go. RIP John and thank you.

I was fortunate enough to be on his team when we rebranded to D4. I was a broke college kid not into climbing yet. But his storytelling blew me away. I can't thank him enough for showing me the love and freedom doing your own passion projects can bring. He truly made his love for climbing his life. 

John was a magnificent man who i came to know in the 80's. then i did not see him for like 25 years.  then i get myself invited on a grand canyon trip with john and his family.  Sharing one of the grandest adventures with my wife and john's family will always remain as one of my most fondest memories,  his family meant everything to him...here he was, showing them a grand adventure. 

so it is really sad that this family has to endure this tragedy.  and i just lost one of my best friends, we qll got really close on and off the colorado river.  

john reached out to me to get me in a delta D4.  when i said i could not pay for a pro deal, he just went and sponsored me a ledge.  pretty cool.  

so bummed. got to keep charging while i still can with this body.  cheers, steve schneider

To say I am stunned by John's passing would be a huge understatement.  I have fond memories of my first encounter with John. A friend of mine showed up in Yosemite and wanted some special potion that might help him get in touch with some higher powers.  He came running back to camp telling me he met a guy who could assist in this trippy endeavor.  He took me over to the Camp IV parking lot and laying under a VW van was this guy who eventually became a friend, John Middendorf,

Years later he generously allowed a friend and I to stay at his house in Hurricane, Utah while we climbed in Zion.

His dedication to the perfection of tools for Big-walls is legendary and his climbing resume is one to uphold as a fine example of what Chouinard prophesied  when he said climbers schooled in Yosemite technical skills would take their art to the bigger mountain ranges of the world and show what is possible in the extreme.  John and the late Xavier Bongard certainly did that.  

My sincere condolences to his wife, children and family and friends.  

Just a month ago, or so, I was just looking at a stack of handwritten notes he had given me when we crossed paths up in the Sawtooths years, and years ago.  A couple of topos of Mt Hooker tucked in there, too, if I recall.  We were headed in to climb the Perch, and just happened to cross paths on the trail, got to talking, and John pulls this stack of paper out of his pack, some of it yellow writing tablet paper, others xeroxed or hand drawn topos.  My partner and I were headed to Mt Hooker next, and John's like, "oh, hey, take this, too," and pulls some Mt Hooker topos out of his pack.  At this point, I'm wondering what else was in that pack; and, it's not like it was a huge pack or anything, but he just kept pulling out stack after stack of papers.

I'm just sort of sitting here in disbelief.

Godspeed, John.  Godspeed.

Very sad to hear this. I never knew Ducey that well, but hung out with him a little in Jackson and during a stormy spring in Springdale many years ago. There was nothing about John's demeanor that would have indicated what a bad ass and pioneer he was. Just a down to earth, psyched and always-friendly guy. Condolences to his family.