John first started hiking in the White Mountains of New Hampshire in 1992, but it was a climb of the Grand Teton (the Owen-Spaulding Route) in 2010 that really ignited his love for mountaineering. In addition to climbs in the Bighorns of Wyoming, the Whitney-Gilman and Moby Grape routes on Cannon Cliff in NH, and Red Rock Canyon in Nevada, John also assisted as co-lead on the successful 2013 SSMC Mt. Rainier Expedition. John led a climb of Mt. Sanford, Alaska in 2014, climbed Mt. Baker in 2015, and led the 2016 Ecuador expedition. In 2017 John led the Canadian Rockies expedition, with attempts on Mt. Robson and Mt. Assiniboine. John also successfully led the Kautz route on Mt. Rainier in 2018, getting all 7 climbers to the summit and back. During a Covid-limited season in 2020, John climbed the Grand Teton and Teewinot. In 2022, John led a team of six SSMC climbers to within 100 feet of the summit of Mt. Assiniboine. In 2023, John led the club Mt. Adams expedition, successfully ascending the entire Adams Glacier Route. In 2025, John co-lead the successful North Glacier ascent of Mt. Athabasca with Brandon Freeman.
Besides climbing the bigger peaks, John has been focused on spending time in the NH backcountry, finishing the 48-in-1 Winter challenge in 2009-10, completing the Wilderness First Aid Course thru SOLO twice and climbing routes like Moby Grape, the Whitney Gilman Ridge, and the NE Ridge of the Pinnacle multiple times.
John is a former U.S. Air Force Pilot, logging nearly 2000 hours (combat and peacetime), in the B-1B Lancer, T-6A Texan II, T-38 Talon, and T-37 Tweet.
John holds an Undergraduate Degree in Computer Science from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (1999), as well as an M.B.A from the University of West Florida (2006). John was President of New England Truck Tire Centers, Inc from 2015-2018 after 11 years in his family’s business. He served as Chief Operations Officer at MPX/SFX in Portland, ME from 2018-2024.