The Calling

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 found mountain climbing in the books of his high school library, some of which are still in his possession. A six-month trip to the French Alps in 1980 set the course of Barry’s life: to climb the steepest and most complicated faces of the world’s great glaciated peaks. 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 K2, Cliffhanger, and  The Vertical Limit in his professional life.  In 2024, Blanchard was awarded the Royal Honor of Canada. Barry lives in Canmore, Alberta, with his fiancé, Nicole, and his two daughters, Rosemary and Eowyn, and cats, Orion and Lemmy, and dog, Strummer.