Barry Blanchard CM (born March 29, 1959) is one of North America's top alpine climbers, noted for pushing the standards of highly technical, high-risk alpine climbing, ice climbing, and mixed climbing in the Canadian Rockies and the Himalayas.
Blanchard was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He first came to note in 1983 with the first ascent of Andromeda Strain (5.11a, WI4, M6) on Mount Andromeda in Alberta, Canada with David Cheesmond and Tim Friesen. In 1984, he climbed the North Spur of Rakaposhi, Pakistan with Dave Cheesmond and Kevin Doyle. With David Cheesmond, he climbed the North Pillar of North Twin, Alberta in 1985. Rather than resting on his laurels, he has continued to push the limits of alpinism since, including eight trips to Asia to climb in the Himalayas and Karakoram.
Blanchard has been involved with Yamnuska Mountain Adventures since its inception in the late 1970s. Blanchard is an internationally certified UIAGM mountain guide.
He helped in the making of Hollywood climbing movies including K2 , Cliffhanger and Vertical Limit .
He lives in Canmore, Alberta, with his wife Catherine Mulvihill whom he met on a Mount Everest expedition in 1994, and their family.
Rakaposhi also known as Dumani is a mountain within the Karakoram range in Gilgit-Baltistan in Pakistan. It is situated in the middle of the Nagar Valley and the Bagrote Valley. The mountain is extremely broad, measuring almost 20 km from east to west. It is the only peak on earth that descends directly and without interruption for almost 6,000 meters from its summit to its base.
Sir Christian John Storey Bonington, CVO, CBE, DL is a British mountaineer.
North Twin (Peak) is one of the two main peaks that comprise The Twins massif located at the northeast corner of the Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada. The other lower peak is named South Twin (3,566 m). North Twin is the third-highest peak in the Canadian Rockies, after Mount Robson and Mount Columbia.
Mount Foraker is a 17,400-foot (5,304 m) mountain in the central Alaska Range, in Denali National Park, 14 mi (23 km) southwest of Denali. It is the second highest peak in the Alaska Range, and the third highest peak in the United States. It rises almost directly above the standard base camp for Denali, on a fork of the Kahiltna Glacier also near Mount Hunter in the Alaska Range.
Mount Hunter or Begguya is a mountain in Denali National Park in Alaska. It is approximately eight miles (13 km) south of Denali, the highest peak in North America. "Begguya" means child in the Dena'ina language. Mount Hunter is the third-highest major peak in the Alaska Range.
Mark Twight is an American climber, writer and the founder of Gym Jones. He rose to prominence as a mountaineer in the late 1980s and early 1990s with a series of difficult, dangerous alpine climbs in various ranges around the world. His radical, light-weight approach to alpinism has seen him regarded as an influential figure in the single-push movement.
Mount Huntington is a striking rock and ice pyramid in the central Alaska Range, about eight miles (13 km) south-southeast of Denali. It is also about six miles (10 km) east of Mount Hunter, and two miles west of The Rooster Comb. While overshadowed in absolute elevation by Denali, Huntington is a steeper peak: in almost every direction, faces drop over 5,000 feet (1,520 m) in about a mile (1.6 km). Even its easiest route presents significantly more technical challenge than the standard route on Denali, and it is a favorite peak for high-standard technical climbers.
Conrad Anker is an American rock climber, mountaineer, and author. He was the team leader of The North Face climbing team for 26 years until 2018. In 1999, he located George Mallory's body on Everest as a member of a search team looking for the remains of the British climber who was last seen in 1924. Anker had a heart attack in 2016 during an attempted ascent of Lunag Ri with David Lama. He was flown via helicopter to Kathmandu where he underwent emergency coronary angioplasty with a stent placed in his proximal left anterior descending artery. Afterwards he retired from high altitude mountaineering, but otherwise he continues his work. He lives in Bozeman, Montana.
Steve House is an American professional alpinist and mountain guide, and winner of the 2006 Piolet d'Or.
Greg Child is an Australian-born rock climber, mountaineer, author and filmmaker.
Mark Wilford is an American rock climber and alpinist known for his bold, traditional style.
Terry "Mugs" Stump was a noted American rock climber and mountaineer, active in establishing difficult first ascents in the Alaska Range and the Canadian Rockies. He died from falling into a crevasse while descending the South Buttress of Denali on May 21, 1992, while guiding clients Bob Hoffman and Nelson Max.
James "Jim" Donini is an American rock climber and alpinist, noted for a long history of cutting-edge climbs in Alaska and Patagonia. He was president of the American Alpine Club from 2006 to 2009, and a 1999 recipient of the AAC's Robert and Miriam Underhill Award.
Mount Fay is a mountain located on the border of Alberta and British Columbia on the Continental Divide in the Canadian Rockies. The mountain forms part of the backdrop to Moraine Lake in the Valley of the Ten Peaks of Banff National Park. It was named in 1902 by Charles E. Fay, an early explorer of the Canadian Rockies. He was a member of the party who attempted Mount Lefroy in 1896 when the first mountaineer to be killed in the Canadian Rockies occurred.
Jeff Lowe was an American alpinist from Ogden, Utah who was known for his visionary climbs and first ascents established in the US and Canadian Rockies, Alps and Himalayas.
Tobin Sorenson was an American rock climber and alpinist famed for establishing bold first ascents on Yosemite big walls, in the Alps, Canadian Rockies, and New Zealand.
Yamnuska Mountain Adventures is a mountaineering school and mountain adventure company located in Canmore, Alberta, Canada. The company was founded in 1975.
Scott Backes is an American mountaineer. Backes has been called "one of the leading alpine mountain climbers in the United States." He was born in 1957 and has lived most of his life in Minnesota.
George Henry Lowe III is an American rock climber and alpinist, noted for his alpine style ascents of difficult and infrequently repeated routes, and his development of traditional climbing routes in the Western United States. He pioneered winter ascents in the North American Rockies along with cousins Jeff Lowe (climber), Mike Lowe, and Greg Lowe. He is also known for his technically difficult ascents of mixed climbing faces in the Himalayas including the North Ridge of Latok I and the first ascent of the East Face of Mount Everest, where the "Lowe Buttress" bears his name. Lowe is currently a resident of Colorado.
Chris Jones was a British–American rock climber, photographer, climbing historian, author, and alpinist. He is known for establishing difficult and influential alpine style climbing routes from 1965–1980 in the Andes and the Canadian Rockies. He was the author of Climbing in North America, one of the earliest books on the history of climbing in North America from the 1800s to the 1970s. He was a co-author and contributed photos to the book, Climbing Fitz Roy, 1968 Reflections on the Lost Photos of the Third Ascent which documented a 1968 expedition to Patagonia by Jones, Chouinard, Tompkins, and Dorworth. The photos included in the book were thought to have been lost in a 1996 wildfire that destroyed Jones's California home but copies were later found by Dorworth.