BANFF – Bow Valley legends Barry Blanchard and Chic Scott, both household names in international and Canadian mountaineering circles, have been appointed to the Order of Canada – one of the country’s highest honours.
A world-renowned alpinist, Blanchard has done numerous complex and demanding ascents in the Rockies, Alps and Himalayas, some of which have never been repeated. For more than 40 years, he has been a guide and mentor to countless mountain enthusiasts.
Similarly, Scott has climbed and skied around the world, from Mount Logan, Canada's highest peak, to the Himalayas. A trailblazer in mountain climbing and ski mountaineering in Canada, he made notable first ascents and ski traverses nationally and internationally.
Both men say they are deeply honoured by the appointment to the member rank of the Order of Canada – which recognizes people across all sectors of society who have made extraordinary and sustained contributions to the country – announced by the Governor General, Mary Simon, on Dec. 18.
“I got an email from the Governor-General’s office, and I have never had an email from the Governor-General’s office so initially, like most people would these days, I looked at it and thought, ‘is this a scam?’,” said Blanchard, 65, of Canmore.
Deciding to make contact, he reached a representative in the Governor-General’s office by phone and was told it was no joke.
“I said to her at the time, wow, my heart is pounding, and then we talked for another minute and I said, OK, now I’m crying,” Blanchard said.
“It was a full rush through my nervous system … it was quite out of the blue and unexpected.”
For Scott, 79, the news was also something he never expected to hear.
“As you can imagine, I’m thrilled. I’m delighted. I’m over the moon,” he said.
“I have such great respect for what the Order of Canada means so all I can say is I’m just really, really honoured."
While there is a 14-year age gap between Blanchard and Scott, there is a fascinating story beyond mountaineering that links the two friends.
They both grew up in southwest Calgary and their homes were only 10 blocks apart. Although at different times, they both went to the same high school.
"On top of that we were both a 'wild child'. We were into trouble and risky activity from an early age," Scott said.
"We have been friends since the late 70s and now have received the Order of Canada at the same time… We both failed the ACMG ski guides exam in 1993. He went back to complete his guides certification process but I dropped out and became a writer."
Blanchard first came to note in 1983 with the first ascent of Andromeda Strain on Mount Andromeda, located on the Columbia Icefield on the boundary of Banff and Jasper national parks, with David Cheesmond and Tim Friesen.
In 1984, he climbed the North Spur of Rakaposhi, Pakistan with Cheesmond and Kevin Doyle. Again with Cheesmond, he climbed the North Pillar of North Twin – a 1,500-metre wall considered the hardest wall in the Canadian Rockies located in Jasper National Park – in 1985.
Cheesmond was one of Blanchard’s best climbing partners, and Blanchard said the North Pillar was one of their finest routes together; however, Cheesmond died in 1987 on a climbing expedition with Catherine Freer to Hummingbird Ridge on Mount Logan.
Blanchard said North Pillar is a “challenging, challenging ascent and it’s been repeated once, I think,” he said.
“It is probably the ascent I’m most known for in the Canadian Rockies, and why that one comes to mind is it was time with my friend, David.”
His survival of the notorious Rupal Face of Nanga Parbat, Pakistan, in 1988 with Mark Twight, Ward Robinson and Kevin Doyle is the stuff of legends. The men reached about 25,250 feet, just 1,300 feet below the summit before a storm forced a descent.
Surviving an avalanche that lasted 27 minutes, they miraculously all came off the mountain alive. Blanchard thought has going to die.
“You lose 20 pounds of body weight or something like that and it was amazingly intense and it was compressed into a very short time,” he said.
“There was everything the mountain and the land and the atmosphere can throw at you…”
Blanchard’s book, The Calling: A Life Rocked by Mountains, explains his drive to climb and to seek solace in the mountains.
His buddy, Montana's Jack Tackle – another climber who has pushed extreme alpinism – once pressed him on this very question.
“We’re climbing and he looks at me and says, ‘so Bubba, when did you figure out you were put on this earth to climb?’,” he said.
It was a six-month trip to the French Alps in 1980 that changed the course of his life.
“I figured it out in my early 20s and I was actually on a trip to Chamonix,” he said. “I was called to climbing. It’s a true calling.”
From the moment he steps onto a trail, and starts with a tobacco offering to the land and permission to be on the land, Blanchard said his soul starts to sooth.
“Being in the land and on the land and part of the land and knowing the reciprocity between myself and the land,” said Blanchard, who is proud of his Metis heritage.
“It’s every step of the way from being down in the valley floor, and being in the forest, going up the mountain, getting into the rock and on certain mountains, snow and ice and glaciation.”
Blanchard’s elite accomplishments led Hollywood to come knocking on his door, working as a mountain safety expert on such films as The Edge, starring Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin, Cliffhanger, starring Sylvester Stallone, and Vertical Limit, a survival thriller film about a rescue mission on K2 with Chris O’Donnell and Bill Paxton.
But life took a turn in 2021, when Blanchard suffered a serious head injury after slipping and falling on stairs, hitting his head multiple times on the way down to a concrete landing while on vacation in Saskatchewan, sending him to hospital.
It was a tough comeback, but he was surrounded by family and friends, including his three buddies from Nanga Parbat.
“They showed up when I suffered a traumatic head injury and that kind of love over time… that’s what it’s about,” he said.
“That’s another part of why climbing is, oh man, it's such a belief and a religion and a spirit for me, is the human side of it.”
For Scott, it was more than half a century ago that he discovered the magic of high places. During a lifetime of adventure, he has climbed and skied around the world, organized clubs and foundations, written books, worked as a mountain guide and has become a respected historian.
His odyssey has taken him from the icefields of the Canadian Rockies to the historic climbs of the European Alps, from the grandeur of the Himalayas to the icy solitude of Mount Logan. In all seasons, on foot and on skis, he has followed his passion.
“I'm a real generalist,” Scott said. “I'm one of those very lucky guys who fell in love with something early in life who found a real passion – and that was the mountains."
Growing up in Calgary, Scott initially made a name for himself on the junior golf circuit.
But the year after he represented Alberta at the 1961 Canadian Junior Golf Championship, Scott took up mountain climbing and skiing.
At the age of 17, he went on his first trip to the mountains and “it was love at first sight.”
“It was like that scene in the film, The Wizard of Oz, where the film all of a sudden goes from black and white to colour,” Scott said.
Some of his major adventures over the years have been a first winter ascent of Mount Assiniboine (1967), the Aiguille du Dru North Face in the French Alps (1973), and Myagdi Matha (1973) — the first Himalayan summit reached by a Canadian.
But Scott’s most memorable adventure was with friends Don Gardner, Neil Liske and Charlie Locke – the first successful Great Divide Traverse from Jasper to Lake Louise in May 1967. While others had tried and failed the 320-km traverse, which crosses eight major icefields, Scott’s group did it in 21 days.
"I was only 21 years old but I still have wonderful memories of it,” he said, noting he remains good friends with his three companions on that trip to this day.
“I think that was the most enjoyable and the finest adventure I've ever had. We were young and we never had any doubts about whether we could do it or not.
“There were no fights, nothing went wrong, there were no close calls, no equipment broke, and for 21 days we were way back there in the wilderness, completely out of touch.”
Back then, there was no way of communicating if something did go south, though the adventurers did register for 35 days with the park warden service.
“If we didn't show up down at Kicking Horse Pass after 35 days, we were somewhere between there and Jasper,” Scott said.
“There are so many mountain adventures where there’s tragedy or there’s drama, but this was just such a positive trip. It was just a beautiful, beautiful mountain experience, I think for all of us.”
Books were yet another passion for Scott.
He went on to pen many books, including Deep Powder and Steep Rock, The Life of Mountain Guide Hans Gmoser, Pushing the Limits: The Story of Canadian Mountaineering, considered the authority on the subject, and guidebook Summits and Icefields, which opened up the backcountry for skiers.
“I loved books right from an early age. I went to the library and I read all sorts of stuff all during my teen years and my 20s and my 30s,” he said.
“I’ve always loved books so that’s what my life has been – books and mountains.”
On being awarded the Order of Canada, Scott reflected on his parents – his father Charles, who was elected Calgary Sportsman of the Year in 1971 and was inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame in 1974, passed away in 1994, and his mother Lillian, who died in 1999.
“My mom and dad would be so proud and so pleased,” he said.
“I was a difficult child. I was wild, I was adventurous, I had problems growing up, but mom and dad always supported me and always had faith in me and they would have enjoyed this moment so much.”
In announcing the 88 new appointments to the Order of Canada, including one Companion, 24 Officers and 63 Members, Gov.-Gen Simon said members of the Order of Canada are builders of hope for a better future.
“Each in their own way, they broaden the realm of possibilities and inspire others to continue pushing its boundaries,” she said.
“Thank you for your perseverance, fearless leadership and visionary spirit, and welcome to the Order of Canada.”
