John Bouchard
JB below Whitehorse Ledge circa 1987
John Bouchard is an over-achiever. As most climbers (of a certain age) know, he soloed the first ascent of The Black Dike on Cannon Cliff in 1971 ... when he was still a teenager. He learned Latin in school and studied abroad, in France, where he spent a lot of time climbing in Chamonix. In the mid-70s he put up two new routes, one on the north face of the Grands Charmoz, the other on the north face of the Grand Pilier d'Angle, which he climbed alone. His 1981 dash up the north face of the Eiger (with Mark Richey) was the second fastest of the time, behind the ten-hour ascent by Messner and Habeler in 1974. John took part in a French expedition to Peru in 1977, during which he and Marie "Titoune" Meunier climbed a new route over several stormy days on the south face of Chacraraju Oeste, 6112m.
When he recognized the lack of development in clothes, harnesses, bivouac gear and packs meant for climbing he and Titoune founded Wild Things in 1981 and set out to do better. Catering to the top end of the market — the climbers who would actually benefit from the company's "Light Is Right" mantra — the client list included a Who's Who of the very best in the world at the time. John recognized that industry support helped to fuel the radical progression of climbing standards in Europe so put his money into an annual "Climber Of The Year" competition for a cash prize awarded to whoever had done “the best routes" that year. Mark Twight won for 1986 and Lynn Hill for 1987. Later, John recognized his position as a mentor and educator so took under his wing several young, eager and talented climbers as part of the Wild Things Climbing Team.
John discovered the paraglider while visiting Chamonix in 1986, recognized the potential and went all-in. He brought the idea back to the US, deconstructed some French branded gliders and reverse-engineered the designs to begin manufacturing under the Feral name. Some say his first exposure was in 1987 but MFT had his first paragliding lessons from Titoune's brother in law, using an original 7-cell Feral prototype in November of '86 prior to heading to Nepal on a winter permit. Being intelligent and inquisitive, John recognized the performance potential of an elliptical wing shape so dove into books on aeronautical theory and translated the science into a product — the first 9-cell elliptical wing in the world (if memory serves). Adventure, hilarity, innocent and not-so-innocent accidents, death, and eventual disillusion ensued. That said paragliding developed into a competitive sport and John was ranked as the best American pilot in 1990 and 1991.
After descending from the sky, John got back into climbing and, in 1996 made the second ascent of the East Pillar of Shivling in alpine style over six days with Mark Richey, cutting the first ascent time in half. Bouchard retired from climbing two years later and returned to school. He received a Masters in Education from the University of New Hampshire to go with his MBA from Dartmouth, moved west, and began teaching. His first gig was for the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council and his students all lived on the Warm Springs Reservation. Eventually, John taught at a number of different locations, focused on masters ski racing in his spare time, and eventually returned to school where he received a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Oregon at the age of 61 — would that we all might live with such fervor and curiosity. Asked why he went back to the well he replied, “At the end of the day, I want to have every tool at my disposal, I want to know that I've done absolutely everything to help these kids succeed. I hate thinking that I could have done more.”*
He currently resides in Oregon with his wife, Nancy, and their three daughters.
Bouchard (in the van) with the team, Jimmy Surette, Scott Franklin, Mark Twight, Randy Rackliff
An old Style Matters ad we placed in the early-2000s to sell the idea of commitment and maybe some ice tools as well.
