John atop the rappel station at the intermediate climbing qualifier.  -- Mark Hallman

Thinking of John

I immediately got a long with John, not despite his crass nature but probably because of it. We instantly bonded over stories from NewEngland and I enjoyed his jokes immensely. There was a point during climbing that I was told I wouldn’t be able to finish because of missing a certain step due to work. John vouched for me saying something to the effect of he would rather climb with me than most others and he trusted me (probably because I laughed at his jokes and didn't get offended easily!). I have so much respect for John so it meant the world to me.

Such an honor to have met him and spend the short amount of time in his presence. He will be missed.

-- Rebecca White

Thank you John

John was more than just a mentor to our daughter Rachel, he was probably the most important person in helping her reach her goal to climb Rainier in 2010. He tirelessly led her and others on scrambles and climbs nearly every weekend in summer 2009, to help them complete their requirements. He chided her when she faltered and made her work all the harder to gain his much sought approval! Not only was he a climb leader on these trips, he often volunteered to pick her up and take her back to our house in North Tacoma, as she was too young to drive. I don't know if she would be a freshman at UW today if it wasn't for his help, as she wrote her application essay about her goal to climb Rainier being realized, and all the help she received from friends and mentors like him along the way. He made it happen and we will be forever grateful to him.

Never did hear enough of his stories....

I only had the chance to go on a couple climbs with John, and neither turned out to be the epic adventures that he seemed to attract. Each time, the day flew by as John filled it with stories and cautionary tales, with the occasional joke tossed in for flavor.
On one of our climbs he told me the reason he liked the basic climbs so much was because he got to see so many new climbers find out what they could really do and see their accomplishment. I don't doubt that for a minute. He seemed to want to help everyone, in his own gruff way, to be better.

The world is poorer now, having lost another good man and a great storyteller.

Go in peace, John.
You will be missed.

John tells it like it is

John had the true Mountaineers spirit. He was generous with his time, helping out with many field trips at the Clubhouse. What I loved about John was that he wouldn't sugar coat things, he would tell it as he saw it. If your knot was wrong, he'd say so and then show you how to fix it.



Our schedules and the weather only lined up for one trip together, a snowshoe/ski trip at Rainier last December. I'll just echo what others have said: John had the best stories. Listening to him tell little anecdotes and off the cuff remarks made the ride up to the mountain fun.

Thanks for the memories, John. We miss you.

A Mountaineer Mentor Who went the Extra Distance

During the spring of 2007 I decided to follow through with my intentions of becoming a Scramble Leader for the Tacoma Mountaineer Branch. I came to the Mountaineers with a few years of trip leading for other organizations already, so I filled out the petition paperwork and sent it in. From what I understand, only one member of the board said, “Maybe he should complete a mentored lead before we give him status,” and that was John Hazelton. I accepted and invited John to be my mentor. He readily agreed and didn’t have any preferences for summits. I chose one that I had my eye on: Mt. Baring.

Our group was a collection of known and unknown participants to me, and the scramble went forward without a hitch. However, we were nearly back to a traversing trail that led to a ridge walk, and John tripped and fell down. He got up, declared, “I think I hurt myself bad,” and limped to a nearby log to take a look. We redistributed his gear, and John hobbled out the remaining mile and 1800ft descent to the trailhead strong, steady and in good spirits. When asked at future mountaineer events he would show his scar and tell us “I wanted to make sure he got the full, leader experience.”

Experienced, available, honest in a sometimes gruff way, helpful, and resourceful, he always had a story to tell from climbing a remote peak, injuring himself on a mentored trip or paying full price for backpack. We will miss you, John Hazelton.

- Justin McClellan

Shared loss

Love takes many forms –

leading, mentoring, being there.

John’s loss leaves a void.

-- Geoff Lawrence

My favorite "Hazelton Epics"!

John was a great climbing mentor to me and several of my friends who recently went through the courses. I had the privilege of sharing many beautiful summits with him, including Olympus, Eldorado, and Baker, but the memories that really stand out belong in the "Hazelton epic" category for which he had a well deserved reputation!

The first was my first rope lead, a basic climb attempt of the NE Buttress of Chair Peak over Memorial Day weekend last year. We started out with clear skies and shortly after starting out from the trailhead John received a call on his cell with the great news of the birth of a grandchild in Colorado. We were all in good spirits, and John of course was at his storytelling best, the gleam in his eye of grandfatherly pride. A couple hours into the approach the weather started to turn, and we ran into more winter-esque conditions than we had anticipated, but John was ever optimistic and by God he had students to get to the top so we pressed on. Always enthusiastic, we kept going, stretching at least my limits, until we finally turned back 100' from the top. We ended up doing several rappels in the dark, me coughing up blood (as I later found I had pneumonia), getting back well after midnight, and had to cancel the next day's climb of The Tooth. John at one point said "I figured if the doctor was coughing up blood and he was still going we must still be OK to go on!" I think we blew the students' minds that day! I did get up Chair with John later in the summer, in slightly better conditions.

The second memorable epic was a private climb of Boston with John and Tyr over Labor Day last year. The pic above is near the summit of Boston. We scrambled and climbed the junk pile of loose rock and got up to the top with John taking the lead much of the way. We had no desire to downclimb the rubble we'd come up, so John suggested a "shortcut" to the Quien Sabe Glacier. The shortcut ended up involving rapping off 3 bollards and a dead man down 45+ degree snow at times, in the dark, the last rappel free-hanging for 20+ feet over a bergschrund, with a 70m turned 50m rope (thanks to rockfall) that we nonetheless rapped 5 times over the break in the rope because we had to! We made it back to camp again well after midnight after wandering around the moraine, but John showed us a lot about keeping moving and keeping our spirits up!

Through these epic experiences John helped to stretch me as a climber and as a person. I will miss his big heart for passing on his knowledge and humor and love of life to all he came in contact with.

John loans out his long underwear - much appreciated!

I have so many memories of John! John deep frying turkeys at Pre Thanksgiving Thanksgiving in Vantage. John telling his copious jokes. John always ready to help at a field trip.

My most vivid memory of John was at the 2004 Ice II field trip. It was raining pretty much non stop and John had been smart enough to pick up rain gear. It was very yellow. I remember him looking like the Gorton's Fisherman all weekend! That weekend I was soaked through to the skin, had no dry clothes, and was sitting in my sleeping bag in my underwear when John came to the tent door and asked if I was coming out for shared appetizers. I explained my predicament and a short time later there was John's voice at the tent door - "Susan, do you want some pork?" After handing me some bbq pork through the door, he went to his tent and retrieved his dry long underwear. I was SO grateful for his help and generosity! Eric had to force me to give John his dry long undies back the next day :) We have laughed about it many times.

Most recently I helped at Intermediate Rock II in Squamish and was happy to see John there too. We caught up a bit. John told me about his family and his pride in their success and accomplishments was apparent. My heart goes out to all of John's family for their loss.

John will be missed. By friends. By family. By me.

Susan Kennedy

John - Oh the Memories!

John - was with Alan Altman and Wayne Sladek today, we remembered one of the first trips I led as a leader, a scramble to Observation Rock, and you and David joined as well. This was August and the road was gated way way down from Mowich, so we hiked up the road. Shortly after a Park Service truck drove by, didn't even give us a ride. Then David had to run back 1.5 miles and get his ice axe, he was strong and fast and caught back up to us at Mowich Lake. So the day is getting long already. We hiked up to Fay Peak and then saw Observation so so far in the distance, called it a day. Meanwhile the Park truck was doing wheelies in the parking lot, the driver said he was trying to break up the snow. Wayne remembered the loud Loons that were playing in the lake, I guess that is a rare event to behold. Anyway, this was the first of many trips with you, I saw how much you loved to get out with your son David.

I talked you into taking Basic and then mentored you in Intermediate, and you then became a prolific climb leader. I remember the stories of the difficult job doing accounting for some company, wanted to change jobs. You had several stories of David and how he was progressing in school at Hilo, you were very proud of him.

I'm going to miss you John, you were always there to volunteer for the Mountaineers, leading committees that others would rather not, you led Scrambles Leadership for a couple of years, then MOFA instructor (whew!), and kept leading Basic climbs. You will be missed. I am glad to have had the privilege of knowing you. Dan Lauren

Hey Jim, have you heard the one about ...... endless laughing. How many time did I hear that lead in, "hey Jim, have you heard the one about" ... the near-sighted sailor, the Boston nun, the Montana cowboy, the one-legged hooker .... the list goes on and on. I'll miss those stories, I'll miss those stories a lot. John knew how to laugh too much, drink too much, and snore too much. I think one night at Frenchman's Coulee, the sonic vibration from his snoring brought down one of the basalt columns and that was the end of the route, John's Uvula Quivers. John will be missed. He made such an impact on so many people. Our tribe morns its loss, but we are stronger for having known him.

Jim Feltus

Remembering John

John was at his best telling stories around the campfire. He must have saved up all year for the Cinco de Mayo climbing field trips to Leavenworth in May and the Climbing Turkeys celebrations at Frenchman Coulee in November. He was a constant source of entertainment, and a big presence wherever he went. I'll miss that infectious grin, tasty turkey, and more than a few inappropriate jokes.  --Mindy Roberts