Jon Stephenson is a name that resounds throughout the postwar history of climbing in Queensland but his contribution extends far beyond his pioneering exploits on the crags of southeast Queensland. This review of Jon's life has been prompted by recent communication with one of his contemporaries, Antarctic explorer Grahame Budd, and Pat Conaghan, himself a trailblazing climber and scientist with more than a passing interest in Australia's climbing heritage and history.
When Jon passed away in 2011, there were several worthy obituaries celebrating his life but one which has perhaps had limited distribution and which sums up his extraordinary achievements was written by his climbing and scientific contemporary, Grahame Budd. In 1963, Jon and Grahame, together with former British commando Warwick Deacock, made the second attempt to reach the summit of the highest point in Australia and its territories, Mawson Peak on the Big Ben massif, an active volcano on the subAntarctic Heard Island. The following year, Grahame was in the first successful ascent team.
Grahame's obituary for Jon captures the essence of the influential yet humble man whose unbridled passion for science, the environment and setting foot on high places, helped to create the foundation for Australian climbing culture.
Grahame's obit for Jon Stephenson is available online in the Australian Antarctic Magazine, Issue 21, 2011.
A more detailed description of the ascent of Big Ben, along with more of Grahame's historic photographs is in my book, The living rock, available as a free download until 1 March 2022 from either Apple Books or from Google Drive. Please note that both are very large files (around 700 MB) and will take some time to download.
2 comments:
Sin duda alguna, Jon Stephenson fue una persona extraordinaria, que dejó una profunda huella en todos aquellos que le conocieron. Gracias por hacer memoria de su nombre.
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