Barry Blanchard (born March 29, 1959) is one of North America's top alpinists, noted for pushing the standards of highly technical, high-risk alpine climbing in the

Canadian Rockies The Canadian Rockies (french: Rocheuses canadiennes) or Canadian Rocky Mountains, comprising both the Alberta Rockies and the British Columbian Rockies, is the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains. It is the easternmost part ...

and the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

Climbing accomplishments

Blanchard was born in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada. He first came to note in 1983 with the

first ascent In mountaineering, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in guide books) is the first successful, documented attainment of the top of a mountain or the first to follow a particular climbing route. First mountain ascents are notable because they en ...

of Andromeda Strain on Mount Andromeda in Alberta, Canada with David Cheesmond and Tim Friesen. In 1984, he climbed the North Spur of

Rakaposhi Rakaposhi ( ur, ) is a mountain in the Karakoram mountain range of the Gilgit-Baltistan territory of Pakistan. Geography Rakaposhi is a mountain in the Karakoram mountain range in the Gilgit-Baltistan territory of Pakistan, about north of the ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

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 The Karakoram is a mountain range in Kashmir region spanning the borders of Pakistan, China, and India, with the northwest extremity of the range extending to Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Most of the Karakoram mountain range falls under the ...

Guiding career

Blanchard has been involved with Yamnuska Mountain Adventures since its inception in the late 1970s. Blanchard is an internationally certified

UIAGM The ''Union Internationale des Associations de Guides de Montagnes'' is the International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations, known alternatively by its French, German and English English usually refers to: * English language * Engl ...

mountain guide. He helped in the making of Hollywood climbing movies including '' K2'', ''

Cliffhanger A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode or a film of serialized fiction. A cliffhang ...

'' and ''

Vertical Limit ''Vertical Limit'' is a 2000 American survival thriller film directed by Martin Campbell, written by Robert King, and starring Chris O'Donnell, Bill Paxton, Robin Tunney, and Scott Glenn. The film was released on December 8, 2000, in the United ...

''. He lives in

Canmore, Alberta Canmore is a town in Alberta, Canada, located approximately west of Calgary near the southeast boundary of Banff National Park. It is located in the Bow Valley within Alberta's Rocky Mountains. The town shares a border with Kananaskis Countr ...

, with his wife

Catherine Mulvihill Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria. In the early Chris ...

whom he met on a

Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow heig ...

expedition in 1994, and their family.

Notable ascents

* 1983 ''The Andromeda Strain'', Mt. Andromeda, Canada - first ascent with David Cheesmond and Tim Friesen. * 1984 North Ridge of

, Pakistan - first alpine ascent with David Cheesmond and Kevin Doyle. * 1984 ''East Face'' (V/VI 5.8 WI5) of

Mount Fay 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 wa ...

, Canadian Rockies, FA with David Cheesmond and Carl Tobin. * 1985 North Pillar of North Twin, Canada - first ascent with David Cheesmond * 1991 North Face of Kusum Kanguru, Nepal - first ascent of route. * 1991 ''Blanchard-Twight'' on

Les Droites Les Droites () is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif in the French Alps and is the lowest of the 4000-metre peaks in the Alps. The mountain has two summits: * West summit (3,984 m), first ascent by W. A. B. Coolidge, Christian Almer and Ulrich ...

Mont Blanc Massif The Mont Blanc massif (french: Massif du Mont-Blanc; it, Massiccio del Monte Bianco) is a mountain range in the Alps, located mostly in France and Italy, but also straddling Switzerland at its northeastern end. It contains eleven major indepen ...

, French Alps - hard new route with

Mark Twight Mark Twight (born November 2, 1961) 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 ...

. * 1999 ''M-16'', East Face of

Howse Peak Howse Peak is the highest mountain in the Waputik Mountains, a subrange of the Canadian Rockies. It is located west of the Icefields Parkway, above Chephren Lake, on the continental divide between Alberta and British Columbia. At , it is the ...

, Canada - first ascent (in winter) with Steve House and

Scott Backes 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. Backes started climbing in 1975. He climbs in t ...

. *1999 ''Pugilist at Rest'', (VI 5.10 A3 M5, 1000m),

Mount Alverstone Mount Alverstone or Boundary Peak 180, is a high peak in the Saint Elias Mountains, on the border between Alaska and Yukon. It shares a large massif with the higher Mount Hubbard to the south and the slightly lower Mount Kennedy to the east. The ...

Saint Elias Mountains The Saint Elias Mountains (french: Chaîne Saint-Élie) are a subgroup of the Pacific Coast Ranges, located in southeastern Alaska in the United States, Southwestern Yukon and the very far northwestern part of British Columbia in Canada. The range ...

, Canada. FA with

Mark Wilford Mark Wilford (born January 27, 1959, Boulder, Colorado) is an American rock climber and alpinist known for his bold, traditional style. Biography Wilford graduated from Poudre High School in Fort Collins, Colorado in 1977 and attended the Univer ...

. * 2000 ''Infinite Spur'' on

Mount Foraker Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

- third ascent with Carl Tobin. * 2002 ''Infinite Patience'' on the Emperor Face of

Mount Robson Mount Robson is the most prominent mountain in North America's Rocky Mountain range; it is also the highest point in the Canadian Rockies. The mountain is located entirely within Mount Robson Provincial Park of British Columbia, and is part of ...

- first ascent.

Works

*''The Calling - A life Rocked by Mountains'', for which he was awarded the 2015

Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature The Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature is an annual prize of £3,000 awarded by the Boardman Tasker Charitable Trust to an author or authors for "an original work which has made an outstanding contribution to mountain literature". The pr ...

References

External links

Yamnuska Mountain Adventures

Ambassador of Patagonia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blanchard, Barry 1959 births Living people Canadian mountain climbers Sportspeople from Calgary People from Banff, Alberta