| Barry
Blanchard |
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| Canadian Mountain Guide and alpinist,
Barry Blanchard, was born in Calgary, March 29, 1959. Twelve
years later three boys navigated the Bow River through the western
side of the city on a raft of nailed together railway ties,
Barry was at the helm steering the adventure. He started climbing
in his late teens as an alternative to juvenile delinquency.
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In 1980, he quit his job and headed to Chamonix for six months
where he completed nine alpine routes including the Bonatti
Pillar on the Dru and the North Face of the Droites. It was
here that Barry discovered his true calling: alpinism. The
following spring he suffered through six days of storms on
the Cassin Ridge of Denali. In 1983 along with David Cheesmond
and Tim Friesen, Barry made the first ascent of Andromeda
Strain in the Columbia Icefields. In May 1984, Barry took
part in the Canadian Rakaposhi Expedition. Two and a half
months and 12,000 feet of climbing later, Barry reached the
summit of this 25,500' summit with Dave Cheesmond and Kevin
Doyle.
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| Since then he's returned to Asia eight times
including three trips to Everest, K-2 and the Rupal Face on
Nanga Parbat. |
More importantly, Barry has enjoyed
all of his outings, even the ones not included in the narrow
definition of “success”. Barry moved to the mountains
in 1982 to pursue his Mountain Guiding career (he is an internationally
certified UIAGM mountain guide) and has included making Hollywood
features such as “K-2”, “Cliffhanger” and
“The Vertical Limit” in his professional life. |
| Barry lives in Canmore, Alberta,
with his wife Catherine Mulvihill, whom he met on a Mt. Everest
expedition in 1994, and their Irish sled dog, Finnigen. |
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| Barry's
achievements include: |
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| 1983 |
North Face of Mt. Alberta |
| 1984 |
The North Ridge of Rakaposhi |
| 1985 |
First Ascent of The North Pillar of
North Twin |
| 1987/88
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The North Faces of Mt. Cephren and
Howse Peaks in winter |
| 1988 |
Attempt on the Rupal Face of Nanga Parbat |
| 1991 |
A solo ascent of the North Face of Kussum Kanguru |
| 1991 |
A new route on the Northwest face
of Les Droites |
| 1993 |
Attempt to climb K-2, Pakistan |
| 1998 |
FA "The Silver Lining" 5.10,
Grade 6+, Columbia Icefields |
| 1998 |
FA of two routes on Mt. Alverstone
in Alaska's St. Elias range |
| 1999 |
"M-16",
a first ascent in winter on the East Face of Howse Peak |
| 2000 |
Third ascent of
the Infinite Spur on Mt. Foraker, Alaska |
| Read an account
of a climb that Barry did with Steve House and Scott Backes:
M-16 Under The Gun
on Howse Peak in the Canadian Rockies |
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And for a really interesting bit of personal history read
Barry's account of his first
fall onto an ice screw.
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