Jones Roger Baxter

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Biografie:
geboren in London
verunglückt an der Triolet (Mont Blac Gruppe)

England
in Chamonix als Bergführer ansässig;
verunglückt im Juni 1985 in der Triolet-Nordwand (3870m) mit seinem Gast (ebenfalls ein ausgezeichneter Eisgeher) durch eine Eislawine. Weitere Opfer durch diesen Eissturz waren sepp Unterbrunner aus Wattens und Manfred Arnold aus Volders.
1984 - Erste Begehung der Pointe Elizabeth Ostwand "Tres nice, very beau" (Montblancgebiet) mit Jean-Marc Boivin;
Quelle: Archiv Proksch (Österr. Alpenklub)

Roger Baxter Jones 1950-1985
Born in London, Roger came north to Leeds in 1958 to study English at the University. It did not catch his enthusiasm, and he shifted into rock-climbing with the talented Leeds group of the day, living it up, working at Centresport and teaching dry skiing. A solid rockclimber, he knew from the extreme talent of some of his friends that he was unlikely to be tops. So he chose different ground.
After doing the major alpine routes in summer early in the 1970s, he soon turned to winter, trying the Super couloir on Mont Blanc de Tacul with Paul Braithwaite in 1972. His skiing was ever more developed, with a drive, enthusiasm and calculated risk well beyond the norm even among mountaineers. He had a practical side to his nature, securing his accommodation for three years of rather enforced mature studenthood in Sheffield by more or less completely refurbishing the old house in which he lived for its owner. He got his degree but the frustrations of study probably required such a release for volcanic energies. When he could not reach the Alps he made intense forays onto British mountains, especially in winter, where he was a formidable exponent of 'mixed' climbing. Perhaps most notable was his ascent of Red Slab on Cloggy with Paul Braithwaite in the winter of 1979, but whatever he did, he enjoyed.
He could hardly wait to escape from the claustrophobia of English existence, a trait which he perhaps shared with his sister, who worked for the EEC. He made the second ascent of the Whymper Spur Direct on the Grandes Jorasses with Nick Colton in the mid-seventies and in 1977 ski'd down the Vallee Blanche and across from the Dent du Requin to below the N face of the Aiguille des Grands Charmoz, made the first winter solo ascent of it, returned to Chamonix and ski'd down, again, for his skis. RBI's hard work and talents were beginning to payoff in a field that suited his massive energies, stamina and calculated optimism.
An obvious candidate for the Himalaya, he joined Rab Carrington, Al Rouse and Brian Hall in their bold alpine style ascent of Jannu in 1978. In 1980, after trying the SE Ridge of Makalu with Doug Scott and Georges Bettembourg, almost succeeded in a solo ascent. In 1982 he played a notable part in the new route on Shisha Pangma with Scott and Alex McIntyre, again climbing in alpine style. In the following year came Broad Peak, with Jean Afanassieff as partner, climbing in two pairs with Andy Parkin and Al Rouse. He then made two attempts on K2. The first was foiled when Jean became unwell at high altitude. It was a mark of RBJ's determination that he then recruited a Spanish companion and again climbed alpine style beyond 8000m to be foiled by bad weather on the uppermost part of the route. It would have been the first alpine style ascent.
Meanwhile Roger picked off an impressive number of first winter ascents in the Mont Blanc Range and worked as an off-piste ski guide there. He picked up on inner game theories of sports performance and tried their application to skiing. One of Britain's leading mountaineers, a member of the ACG Committee for years, and certainly one of the strongest ever, he was a top off-piste skier, and a mountaineer of impeccable judgement, able to guide on routes of the highest standards with a considerable margin. He avoided the trap of expedition mania, which can prevent mountaineers from keeping up their 'bread and butter' climbing and enjoyment. In recent years he was a pillar of the Chamonix Franglaise. The place's cosmopolitanism and endless changes delighted him and fitted his temperament. He was a major performer in its raucous modern circus. At the same time his sympathies were ever more French, in language, tastes, and attitudes. In Autumn 1983 he married Christine Devassoux and they moved into a house in Rue des Sauberands, with her daughter Melanie. He took French nationality and became a member of the Guides Bureau. He became a part of Chamonix and could stand back from the crowds. It was somehow natural that, when a friend was badly injured in Switzerland in 1984, it was Roger and Christine who were at the centre of organizing help and relaying messages in Chamonix, coordinating the concern of French and British friends, and at the same time fed, accommodated and entertained them.
Of late he had avoided the Himalaya, though for how long one always wondered. He died with a friend client on 8 July 1985, when a serac fell on the N face of the Triolet, in a classic Mort du Guide.
Paul Nunn
Quelle: Alpine Journal Volume 91, 1986, Seite 283-284


Geboren am:
1950
Gestorben am:
08.07.1985