The list of past recipients read like a "Who's Who" of the Canadian mountain culture scene, and includes a diverse collection of mountaineers, authors, artists, photographers, mountain guides, musicians, teachers, and rescue specialists.
The award is presented in memory of Calgary climber Bill March, an internationally respected mountaineer, author, and educator, who led Canada's first successful Everest climb in 1982.
Andy Genereux has created a legacy of rock climbs unparalleled in Western Canada. It all began with his first new route in the Ghost River in 1983 which promptly turned into a plethora of mixed bolted and traditional new routes in the 1980s. From this taste of new routing, Genereux set on a personal journey that would last decades, and he would become one of the main instigators who brought modern-era rock climbing to the Canadian Rockies.
At a time when there were strong ethical boundaries surrounding the traditional climbing scene and route bolting was hotly debated, Genereux established new crags and areas. Ignoring the naysayers, he ushered in the opportunity for climbers to seek even steeper climbs and higher grades. Today, his contribution to both the national sport and traditional climbing scene as a pioneer is considered exceptional. Not only is he recognized through his physical work as a route builder, but as an author and mentor as well.
To date, Genereux has put up over 600 new sport climbs along with hundreds mixed protection traditional routes on several well-known local peaks and crags including Yamnuska, CMC Valley, The Ghost River, Moose Mountain, Carrot Creek, Grotto Canyon and Goat Mountain as well as the nearby Selkirk Mountains. All told, he has established more than 2000 pitches and he is revered for his ability to see new lines and create safe and accessible climbs. His commitment and dedication to safety often had him returning to each new route many times to build access trails, remove loose rocks and, in the years that followed, he would regularly replace anchors, maintaining high standards that are part of his personal ethos.
Since his first rock climb on Yamnuska in 1975, Genereux was captivated. In the years that followed he would put up 40 new multi-pitch routes on Yamnuska alone, including first ascents of famous climbs such as CMC Wall Direct 5.11b, Master Mind 5.11d, Glory Days 5.11c, Direct Mail 5.10c, Mixed Emotions 5.10c and East End Boys 5.12a. At the time of these ascents, 5.11 was considered the hardest grade in the Rockies. Continuing to drive the evolution and difficulty of the sport, he also created 35 single pitch routes along the base of the mountain. Genereux is also credited for establishing many major alpine rock routes in the Canadian Rockies. A few in particular stand out, The West Face on Mount Robertson 5.11R (650m), The Warrior on Mount Lougheed 5.10X (550m) and Gatzsch Your Goat 5.12a (650m) on Goat Mountain, Drain Game 5.11c, (600m) on Goat Mountain, Mixed Miester 5.11a, (730m) on Goat Slabs.
Genereux is generous with his knowledge and is the author of five guidebooks including Yamnuska Rock: The Crown Jewel of the Canadian Rockies and Ghost Rock: Front Range Rock Climbs Near Calgary, both of which went to multiple editions. His writing has also appeared in Climbing, Alpinist and Gripped magazines.
When Genereux turned 50 years old in 2010, he made it his mission to climb 50 routes on Yamnuska in a year. Setting aside doubts about the benchmarks of his age, Genereux decided to embrace the challenge and completed 50 routes within the year dodging severe weather and a slow start to the spring climbing season. Genereux is still going strong in his 60s and in 2022 he put up the new nine pitch sport route in the Kahl Wall Area on Yamnuska, No Place for Old Men 5.12.b (290m). Over the past 25 years his pet project has been the development of new routes on Moose Mountain. The nasty rock in this area has taken many long hours to tame into lead climbing. To date of the 400 plus routes found there, Andy is responsible for 290. This climbing area is close to Calgary, although most of his routes here are moderately difficult for the enjoyment of all. With a lot of work, he still manages to climb new routes with grades up to 5.12- grade.
"We are honored to be a part of this community of incredible people who share our passion and long-term commitment to understanding, enjoying, and protecting our local mountains. It is our respect and love for the natural world that compels us to connect with it, as well as to educate and outfit others so they can experience its rewards while understanding the importance of the responsibility we all share in preserving it."
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The North Face Banff Owned and Operated by Highline Outdoors
Joanna grew up and went to university in Eastern Canada but it wasn't until she moved to the Canadian Rockies permanently in 1998 that she really got schooled. In 2007, after a few years working as a gearhead in some local climbing shops, she finally found a dream job that merged mountain culture with her love of outdoor pursuits when she began working for the Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival. Joanna has been the Programming Director of the Festival since 2014; she reads more than 70 mountain literature books and watches 350 mountain films annually. In addition to being a voracious reader and film enthusiast, she is an avid backcountry skier and has skied throughout North America, The Alps, Kashmir, and the Indian Himalaya. As a climber she has summited many of the classic 11,000 ft. peaks in her own backyard of the Rockies. Her writing has appeared in Highline Magazine, Gripped, The Canadian Alpine Journal and Alpinist. She also serves on the Mountain Culture Committee of the Alpine Club of Canada and is a representative of the Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival for the International Alliance for Mountain Film.
Nancy has been alpine, rock and ice climbing and ski mountaineering for over 20 years. She is the only female to have climbed all 54 peaks over 11,000 feet in the Canadian Rockies. She was also the first woman to have climbed all 34 routes in Urs Kallen's classic 1977 guidebook to rock climbing on Yamnuska.
Nancy has successfully completed 46 of the 50 routes described in the iconic mountaineering book Fifty Classic Climbs of North America, a feat matched only by two others. For the past three years, she has been climbing in Europe, Nepal, Pakistan, and Asia.
Nancy has been honoured with both the Guy Lacelle Pure Spirit Award and the Denali Pro Award. In addition to her 20 years of management experience at the Alpine Club of Canada, Nancy worked for a decade as a presenter and emcee at the Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival and its World Tour. She has contributed her thoughts, ideas, and opinions to the Summit of Excellence Award since 2010.
Geoff Powter is an organizational development and leadership consultant, and one of the co-founders of the Watershed Organizational Development Group, based in Canmore, AB. Geoff has been faculty with Leadership Development at Banff Centre for the past 30 years, and served a member of the Board of Directors of Travel Alberta from 2016-2020.
Geoff trained as a clinical psychologist, and early in his career found an opportunity to blend his interest in the human mind with his passion for mountain adventure.
Geoff has been an avid climber for more than four decades, and has climbed all over the globe, including 13 expeditions to the Himalaya. He was the editor of the Canadian Alpine Journal for 13 years, and has written two award-winning books — Strange and Dangerous Dreams: The Fine Line Between Adventure and Madness (which won the Jury Prize at the 2006 Banff Mountain Book Festival), and Inner Ranges (which won the Mountain Literature Prize in Banff, won the National Outdoor Book Award in the US, and was shortlisted for the Boardman-Tasker Award for Mountain Literature). He has written extensively about adventure travel, including regular pieces for The Globe and Mail.
In 2012, Geoff received the prestigious Summit of Excellence Award for lifetime contribution to Canadian mountain culture.
Louis began rock and ice climbing at age 15. Between 1999 and 2010, Louis made several expeditions to the Andean Cordillera which allowed him to accumulate several ascents of mountains over 6000m. Starting in 2007, he began turning his attention to the great peaks of the Himalayas. That year he summited Broad Peak (8051m) and climbed up to 7350m on K2 (8611m). In 2009, he climbed a new route on Nanga Parbat (8125m) and made two attempts on K2 (up to 8360m). His Himalayan tick-list continued to grow with an attempt on Gasherbrum I (8068m) by a new route on the south face in the winter 2011 (the first winter attempt on the mountain). The following summer 2011, he attempted Gasherbrum I again (up to 7950m) via the Japanese couloir route, and he summited Gasherbrum II (8035m). More recently, Louis went to Kyrgyzstan to climb Khan Tengri (7010m) and to Nepal to climb Tilicho Peak (7134m). Louis lives in Quebec, Canada and when he's not climbing, he works as a public health adviser for the Ministry of Health of Quebec.
Ever since her introduction to climbing in a dusty Ontario gym, Senja Palonen has made climbing a defining part of her life. World-famous Squamish granite soon drew her out west where she has become a prominent figure in the local climbing community.
For over ten years Senja coordinated the granting program at Mountain Equipment Co-op. Here, her expertise was integral in shaping the success of local and national grants supporting and promoting outdoor activity throughout Canada. Additionally, Senja ran the MEC Expedition Support program and co-created the MEC Adventure Grant with the Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival (VIMFF), helping many ambitious expeditions happen around the world each year.
Although Sarah climbs in some of the coldest places, she has the biggest, warmest heart in climbing. As one of the most sought after Association of Canadian Mountain Guides alpine guides in Canada, Sarah has also been a part of a number of first ascent teams worldwide and was the first North American woman to climb grades M11 - M14. It turns out that recognition is not what motivates her, rather what really drives her is usually curiosity. For well over a decade, Sarah has been offering female-only mountaineering courses. These courses have fostered hundreds of women to become self-sufficient in the mountains. The numbers jump to the thousands when you add in the co-ed courses she offers as well as her private guiding. For Sarah, the mountains are about connecting to herself and others.