BURSTCanadian alpinist and mountain guide Barry Blanchard has received the Order of Canada, which was appointed by Mary Simon, governor general of Canada. Blanchard was one of 88 people appointed this year. Other mountaineers have been appointed the Order of Canada over the years, including B.C. climbers John Clarke and Les McDonald.
About the moment he learned about being included, Blanchard shared on social media, “I never, in my wildest dreams, thought that I would become a Member of the Order of Canada.” American climber and one of Blanchard’s longtime partners, Mark Twight, shared a speech he wrote about Blanchard after hearing the news here, in which he said, “Barry guards those memories for me, for us. His razor-sharp memory and command of language allows me to rediscover experiences we lived and shared and nearly died for. He has preserved the details that I lost, and he is a damned good storyteller.”
Blanchard’s routes up the north face of North Twin, the east face of Mount Fay, and the Emperor Face of Mount Robson are among the hardest in Canada. In the Himalayas, his climb of the North Face of Rakaposhi in 1984 with Kevin Doyle and Dave Cheesmond was a monumental ascent at the time. And in 1988, with Twight, Kevin Doyle and Ward Robinson, he almost succeeded in an alpine-style ascent of the Rupal Face of Nanga Parbat. Read a story by Blanchard and Peter Arbic about climbing The Wild Thing here. In 2015, Blanchard’s book The Calling received The Boardman Tasker Award.
As stated on the Order of Canada website, “The contributions of these trailblazers are varied, yet they have all enriched the lives of others and made a difference to this country. Their grit and passion inspire us, teach us and show us the way forward. They exemplify the Order’s motto: Desiderantes meliorem patriam.” Another of Blanchard’s longtime friends, Andy Arts, shared the news on Instagram, see below.
The post Barry Blanchard Receives the Order of Canada appeared first on Gripped Magazine.