Johnny relaxes in his favorite syncline recliner in the south Miller Range. All credit must to him for that name but I might have to borrow it next time I’m in the field (preemptive thanks!)
Dear readers, you’re in for a treat, because I managed to corner our own senior mountaineer Johnny Schutt for an interview. Over tea and freshly baked cheddar garlic biscuits, we got the scoop on the most legendary and mysterious member of our party.
Name: John “Johnny Alpine” Schutt, Doctor of Science
Hometown: Bremerton, WA
Current town: Blaine, WA
Background: My parents were outdoors types, so I started skiing at age 5 (or at least thrown out into the snow). We did a lot of hiking and camping as well. I got a degree in geology from Western Washington University, where I specialized in fun. I spent my summers in the Juneau Icefield working as a field assistant for a research-based educational program. I was drawn to geology as a major because I loved the outdoors and thought that would be one way I could do outdoor work as a career. After I graduated from college, I worked for a winter as a ski instructor at Alpental (WA), but I wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted to do next. So I went back to work on the Juneau Icefield where a friend told me about Fletcher’s Ice Island – T3. A couple of months later I found myself near the North Pole for a winter as the Station Manager. A number of research projects were being carried out there, including atmospheric, oceanographic, and glaciological studies. There are actually permanent structures there that were built during the International Geophysical Year (IGY). After I finished that adventure, a friend from Spokane called me up and said let’s put together a ski team, since I had been on the ski racing team in college. So I spent the next 6 winters coaching the kids that we assembled. During the first summer after moving to Spokane, I worked for the Bureau of Mines doing mineral resource appraisals for proposed wilderness area in the Beartooth Mountains (MT). A friend of mine from Alaska was working in the Stillwater Complex nearby, exploring for platinum, and was looking for someone to work on the Stillwater Complex. I ended up working for the mining company for a few years, then moved on to a mineral exploration consulting company based out of Spokane, I got to work on a number of projects around the western U.S. in addition to the Stillwater, as well as projects in Mexico and the Sudan.
It was around this time in MT that I met my wife AC, who is a master carpenter. In the early 80’s I changed directions when AC and I moved to Ferndale, WA to build a house on 5 acres. I ended up getting a job as a professional mountain guide with the American Alpine Institute of Bellingham and Alpine Guides of Mt Cook, New Zealand until 1990. Through the 90’s I went back to work for the Spokane- based consulting company and have spent 15 summers working on the Haughton-Mars Project on Devon Island in the Canadian Arctic. For the past two summers I have been managing an offshore gold mining project in Nome, Alaska.
On going to Antarctica: Before ANSMET, I had tried a couple of times to get to Antarctica but hadn’t managed to get positions. My wife AC got the opportunity in 1978 and I was really jealous! She also got to go to Greenland first as well. But then in 1980 I got a call from a friend who had recently gotten married. The NSF had called him about guiding a group that wanted to collect meteorites in the Antarctic, but since he had just gotten married and wanted to stick around home he asked me if I might want to do it. So before leaving on an expedition to climb Denali I called up Bill Cassidy [the first PI of ANSMET] and said I was interested. When I got back in May I called and he said he hadn’t made a decision yet, But a month later he offered me the position. I ended up getting hooked on meteorites and Antarctica. I could never have imagined then that, here I am, 35 years later, still freezing my buns off. Must be a slow learner. It has been a privilege to work on ANSMET and serve the pursuit of our understanding of our solar system through the recovery of meteorites. It has led to many adventures which I have been able to share with ANSMET participants through the years and has led to many wonderful, long lasting friendships.
Describe what you do: Fun!
Are there any hard aspects to your job?: The only downside is that I’ll have to give it up one day.
Hobbies: Skiing, hiking; snowshoeing, winter camping, climbing (sadly not so much any more), road trips to lonely places.
Currently reading: I enjoy historical narratives with adventure. I’m currently reading The Bounty and a stack of New Yorker magazines.
Since you do a lot of work at the poles in their respective summer seasons, do you dislike dark or just really like light?: I enjoy the light, total darkness was hard during the winter I spent near the North Pole.
How do you feel about warm places?: I went to Hilo once and I thought it was meh.
If you could have one super power, either flying or being invisible, which would you choose?: Flying because it’s better than being a 2×4 in Minneapolis.
Tell us about your hair: It’s been ~25 years since my last haircut.
Secret talent: I am a master of the corny joke.
Clubs: I’d wouldn’t to be a member of a club that would have me.
Pets: We’ve had a number of cats. AC and her friends made all of the wooden field boxed used by ANSMET and named them after their pets, which is why there’s a box here named Bedlam–that was our cat.
Little known fact: I have 10 thumbs and 2 left feet.
Johnny’s words of wisdom: If you want to enjoy life, find a fun thing and keep doing it for 35+ years. I had met some mountaineering pioneers when I was young and I decided that wanted to do that! So I studied up and learned by experience. I took opportunities whenever they presented themselves, which frequently resulted from friendships with people I admired and respected.
Johnny’s message to the world: Yo, dude.
–Posted by Nina in the reflected glow of Johnny’s glory, Neue Glitzern Stadt, south Miller Range, 7 January 2016
(Note from editor RPH: This really is a first; she must have drugged the tea. The Johnny I know communicates primarily through telepathy).