Image courtesy of Barry Blanchard
UIAGM/IFMGA Mountain Guide Barry Blanchard was born in Calgary, Alberta. A six month trip to the French Alps in 1980 set the course of Barry’s life: to climb the steepest and most complicated faces of the world’s great glaciated peaks. Barry is an honorary member of the Alpine Club of Canada, winner of the Summit of Excellence award and his book, The Calling, A Life Rocked By Mountains was shortlisted for the Banff Mountain Book Competition and won the Boardman Tasker prize for mountain literature.
Barry will be interviewed by local climber and writer Geoff Powter. Geoff’s book Inner Ranges won the Climbing Literature Award at the 2019 Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival.
Program subject to change
Related People
Blanchard, Barry
Canmore-based Barry Blanchard is aptly described as the “Bonatti of the Rockies.” Barry travels the globe in search of adventure on high alpine faces. His exploits include the first ascent of Infinite Patience on the Emperor Face of Mt. Robson, the first ascent of the North Pillar of North Twin, and a first ascent on the North Face of Les Droites. In 2002, Barry received the Summit of Excellence Award at the Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival. In 2015 his book, The Calling: A Life Rocked by Mountains won the coveted Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature in the UK.
Powter, Geoff
Geoff Powter has been a long-time fixture in the Alberta and Canadian climbing scenes. He was editor of the Canadian Alpine Journal from 1993-2007, and has written extensively about adventure for much of his life in the outdoors. Geoff has been published in magazines around the globe, and has won 14 National Magazine Awards, and his book, Strange and Dangerous Dreams: The Fine Line Between Adventure and Madness, won the Jury Prize at the 2006 Banff Mountain Book Festival. Geoff has also been the host of the Voices of Adventure interview series, held every year at the festival since 2000. Geoff has climbed around the world, with 13 Himalaya expeditions under his belt, and with nearly 50 first ascents to his name in the Rockies. Geoff’s latest book is Inner Ranges, published by Rocky Mountain Books (2018).