Barry Kenneth Blanchard (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 Alpine climbing () is a type of mountaineering that uses any of a broad range of advanced climbing skills, including rock climbing, ice climbing, and/or mixed climbing, to summit typically large routes (e.g. multi-pitch or big wall) in an alpi ...

ice climbing Ice climbing is a climbing discipline that involves ascending routes consisting entirely of frozen water. To ascend, the ice climber uses specialist equipment, particularly double ice axes (or the more modern ice tools) and rigid crampons. ...

, and mixed climbing in the

Canadian Rockies The Canadian Rockies () 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 of the Canadian Cordillera, w ...

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 Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...

Climbing career

Blanchard was born in

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

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

first ascent In mountaineering and climbing, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in climbing guidebook, guide books), is the first successful documented climb to the top of a mountain or the top of a particular climbing route. Early 20th-century mountaineers a ...

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 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 and Bagrote valleys. The mountain is extremely broad, measuring almost from east to west ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

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 the Kashmir region spanning the border of Pakistan, China, and India, with the northwestern extremity of the range extending to Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Most of the Karakoram mountain range is withi ...

Other 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 abbreviations: UIAGM, Union Internationale des Assoc ...

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 situation, facing a difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction or bef ...

'' and '' Vertical Limit''. He was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2024.

Personal life

He lives in

Canmore, Alberta Canmore is a List of towns in Alberta, 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 Rockies, Alberta's Rocky Mountains. The to ...

, with his wife Catherine Mulvihill whom he met on a

Mount Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...

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, 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 Ulri ...

, Mont Blanc Massif, French Alps - hard new route with Mark Twight. * 1999 ''M-16'', East Face of Howse Peak, Canada - first ascent (in winter) with Steve House and Scott Backes. *1999 ''Pugilist at Rest'', (VI 5.10 A3 M5, 1000m), Mount Alverstone,

Saint Elias Mountains The Saint Elias Mountains () 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 spans Wrangell-St. Elias ...

, Canada. FA with Mark Wilford. * 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, ...

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

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

Works

*''The Calling - A life Rocked by Mountains'', for which he was awarded the 2015 Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature.

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 Ice climbers Climbing and mountaineering writers Members of the Order of Canada People from Canmore, Alberta