Barry Blanchard

Barry Blanchard has been a respected member of a small group of very elite alpine climbers for years. After three decades in the climbing game, he is now considered a mentor for a completely new generation of climbers while he continues to set high standards in his own climbing.

Barry Blanchard's name commands respect throughout the climbing world. In the past three decades, he has specialized in lightweight alpine expeditions in the world's highest ranges. He lists his proudest climbing achievements as "a six-day ascent of the North Ridge of Rakaposhi [Pakistan] with Kevin Doyle and the late David Cheesmond, the first ascent of the North Pillar of North Twin [Canada] with Cheesmond, and surviving an alpine-style attempt on the Central Spur of the Rupal Face of Nanga Parbat [Pakistan] with Mark Twight, Ward Robinson, and Doyle."

Blanchard is also a well-known raconteur, writer and mentor. Explore magazine describes him as "a mountaineer so revered that aspiring alpinists pin his photo in their high-school lockers." Despite the high-level adulation, Blanchard maintains a down-to-earth sense of humour. "If it wasn't for foreshortening," he says, "no one would go up on anything."

Born in Calgary, Blanchard lives in Canmore, Alberta, with his wife, climber Catherine Mulvihill. An internationally-certified mountain guide, he has worked as a climbing advisor and safety rigger on a number of Hollywood films including Cliffhanger, K2, The Last of the Dogmen, The Edge, and Vertical Limit.

Blanchard describes himself as a "proud Canadian half-breed." "I am Metis, and a seventh-generation descendent of the leader of the Metis at the battle of Seven Oaks in the early 1800s. Two hundred years ago my people made their living hunting buffalo from horseback — kinda predisposes me to an adventurous life, don't you think?"

Jason Kruk

I was born in North Vancouver, BC - I lucked out - a place where one could go mountain biking, ski powder snow, and shop for raw denim along the cobbled streets of Gastown all in the same day. Not exactly a hotbed for alpinism, however, but luck again would point me in the direction I currently find myself.

I was 9 years old and my parents dropped me one summer at the local climbing gym, the climbing was okay - but what really drew me was the rack of climbing magazines beside the front counter. Inside I found photos of big mountains, desert towers, and perfect egg-shaped granite boulders. I was hooked, I knew one day I was going to climb all those things. I was 9 years old though, so for now I was trapped in that gym working on the yellow-taped route.

My life changed the summer I graduated, moved permanently up the highway to Squamish, and climbed endless granite everyday. I scraped just enough money together every month to cover my share of the rent and ate a lot of cabbage and potatoes.

I'm 22 now and have come a long way since; the mountains have taught me a lot. Some of my most special experiences include long and difficult ascents in Argentine Patagonia, first free ascents in the Bugaboos, bigwall freeclimbing in Yosemite, the FA of a 5000' mixed face in the Waddington Range, climbing all 14 pitches of my favourite route the Grand Wall in 1:13:33, and winter ice and mixed ascents in the Canadian Rockies... I also sent that yellow-taped route.

As an all around climber, I've never been particularly talented at any one discipline. My biggest strength - probably belief in the existence of luck. I seem to do my best when the chips are down and we just need to try really hard to succeed. I live to crank the amplitude to high.

I am an ACMG assistant alpine guide, working towards full IFMGA certification. In addition to rock and alpine guiding, I am a rigger for the arts and entertainment industry in Vancouver. As a lifelong skier, powder snow, steep ski descents, and endurance traverses do constant battle with climbing over my psyche.

Royal Robbins

Royal Robbins' accomplishments as rock climber are legendary. An early advocate of boltless, pitonless, clean climbing, Robbins did much to transform the climbing culture to minimize the human impact on the vertical wilderness and protect its natural features. As a rock-climbing pioneer, he broke through existing standards to create wholly new skill and difficulty levels. In the 50s, 60s, and into the 70s, Robbins established one daring new climb after another, among them many revered classics on Yosemite's Half Dome and El Capitan. An entrepreneur and prolific author, Robbins brings volume I of his autobiographical series to Squamish.

It's not uncommon for dedicated climbers, mountaineers, and paddlers to get involved with improving their sport's gear. Most of the successful companies selling equipment, technical gear, and outdoor clothing, grew from the athletes and adventurers who modernized expeditions, making equipment lighter, more useful, more efficient, and making money with their expertise. Royal Robbins is one of those athletes and adventurers who was able to improve his sports with innovative design and a great sense of a growing marketplace, eventually creating an outdoor clothing company that still bears his name.

But before becoming an entrepreneur, Robbins was a pioneer in Yosemite climbing, and an avid outdoorsman and kayaker. With Yvon Chouinard (founder of Patagonia), Robbins was one of the earliest proponents of light, clean climbing in Yosemite, helping to evolve a style that left little trace on the rock. Among his first ascents in the park were the northwest face of Half Dome, and the Salathé Wall and North America Wall on El Capitan. He added first ascents on Mount Logan, Wyoming's Devil's Tower, Proboscis on the remote Cirque of the Unclimbables in the North West Territories, Mount Edith Cavell in Jasper National Park, and on Mont Blanc in the Alps, among many others.

With his wife Liz, an accomplished climber herself, Robbins started an acclaimed climbing school based in Modesto, California, called Rockcraft, while both continued to climb and put up new routes. At the same time, Robbins wrote two early bibles of clean climbing, Rockcraft and Advanced Rockcraft.

In the early 1970s they started a business importing and selling climbing and outdoor equipment, and soon after started Royal Robbins, which designed and sold high-quality outdoor and travel clothing. The company was an early proponent of applying a percentage of profits to conservation projects, and of developing products that made use of recycling.

Once the business was launched, and gaining success, Robbins took up adventure kayaking, racking up as many early accomplishments as he had in climbing. Among his first descents – multiple rivers in Chile, the San Joaquin Gorge and Upper Kern in the Sierra Nevada, and the Tuolumne Grand Canyon in Yosemite. After retiring from Royal Robbins in 2003, Royal and Liz Robbins have continued to pursue adventure around the world, and have traveled to speak on the subject of lightweight mountaineering, donating speaking fees to outdoor organizations like the Yosemite Fund and the American Hiking Society.

Tommy Caldwell

Most kids grow up with shopping malls, Monday Night Football and birthday parties at Chuck E. Cheeses. Athletics to them might mean club soccer and t-ball; the adventurous ones try out for the swim team. Growing up in the mountain town of Estes Park as the son of a mountain guide meant t-ball was for pansies, swimming was handy only if you were caught in a flood and adventure wasn't an adventure unless there was at least one unplanned bivy.

As a professional climber I like to say that my gift in life is the ability to relentlessly beat my head against a wall. I live by the ethos that if you hit your head hard or long enough, it really feels good when you stop. As a teenager I spent my evenings training in grungy garages and basements with older smelly men… and the occasional misplaced cute girl (who never stuck around that long) with the hopes that I would one day be able to ascend a more difficult 100 foot artificial wall than anyone else in the room. I would travel to the sport climbing crags on weekends in pursuit of… numbers?

At the age of 17 I discovered the only reliable love of my life (as of yet) El Cap. I found peace and adventure while suffering in the sun and the wind. For over a decade El Cap has beaten me until I cry for mercy, and in the process I have free climbed 11 routes, including the two hardest big wall free climbs in the world.

In my quest to endure ever increasing amounts of misery, I turned my attention to the granite spires of Patagonia. Ninety percent of my time there has been spent utterly humiliated and intimidated. The one shining exception has been the first free ascent of Linea De Eleganza, 4000-foot 5.12c free route that was done with partners Eric Rhode and Topher Donahue on a continuous 50-hour push.

Rob Pizem

Looking back, Rob Pizem had a wonderful 2009 with his wife and of course, with rock climbing. Having been introduced to the sport in 1994 and taken a real interest in climbing in 1995, he never dreamed of accomplishing some of the things that he has been able to achieve. 2009 was full of adventure, successes and failures, all of which were great learning moments.

Early in January 2009, he was able to free an aide climb in Zion National Park called The Gentleman's Agreement. A sandstone big wall free route that had a finger tips lie-backing crux at the bottom and some varied and challenging climbing up high.

His next adventure was also in Zion in March, where he was able to open up a three pitch free climb deep within the enchanting Zion Narrows. The route was called Walking on Water due to the long approach through the cool, clear water of the Virgin River.

A week later, Rob was working on another first free ascent in Castle Valley outside Moab, Utah. The crumbly and sketchy Fisher Towers is the home to an aide climb called West Side Story. After a few days work, Rob was able to free the route after withstanding sandstorms, snow storms, his partner's broken foot, and the rain and wind.

Not every route that Rob tried was a success; later that spring he attempted a hundred foot dead horizontal roof crack project of his in Utah. There he was met with challenging moves and many failed attempts. In the fall, he was hoping to open a new free route which was an old Layton Kor aide climb in Dinosaur National Monument only to find that a portion of the route was completely blank.

Locally in Colorado, he began investing time on a granite roof crack near his home in Denver. The route which is short and bouldery, repeatedly spit him from the crux move mono time and time again.

By summer time Rob flew to Norway with some close friends and was able to climb many of the local gems on the beautiful Lofoton Islands. The team was even able establish a new big wall route called Man Hands on a deserted island only accessible by boat.

Once summer vacation was over and he was back at work, Rob trained for a canoe trip down the Green River in Utah where he and friends established about 10 new crack climbs and freed a once aided Green River Tower.

By the time fall was setting in he was drilling and bolting a new sport climbing area in southern Colorado. In addition to the sport climbs, many quality boulder problems were brushed and sent. One route that falls in at 5.13 at his new area was named the Flight of the Peacock for the air time taken while falling at the top of the short sandstone wall. Rob is excited for the snow to melt, so he can establish more boulder problems and sport climbs.

Finally, days before the New Year, Rob and Mike Brumbaugh raised money for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado in the form of a climb-a-thon at El Potrero Chico in Mexico raising nearly a thousand dollars for the organization.

Rob is ready to continue pursuing his climbing goals and giving back to the climbing community in 2010. Keep an eye out for his slide shows and appearances at local climbing events and crags throughout the west.

Cedar Wright

Cedar learned climbing at the age of 21 on Northern California's majestic sea cliffs. While he worked toward his B.A. in English from Humboldt State, he quickly progressed as a climber and was soon establishing numerous first-ascent free climbs throughout the area. After earning his degree he started wintering in Joshua Tree and spending the rest of the year in Yosemite, where he became an accomplished free soloist, speed climber, aid climber and free climber.

For five years, Cedar worked for Yosemite Search and Rescue while pursuing a career in writing. Cedar holds numerous speed records throughout Yosemite and is one of the few people to take these techniques to the alpine realm. Cedar is a prolific "first ascensionist" whose passion and positive energy are inspiring and contagious. His zeal for climbing, however, is balanced by his Zen approach to his downtime, with meditation, yoga, guitar, painting, and writing poetry among the ways in which he relaxes.

In the future, Cedar hopes to take his speed-climbing techniques around the world, climbing the biggest faces in the fastest times. He’d also like to explore the potential of big-wall free climbing and try his hand at high-altitude mountaineering. When he is not exploring the far-off reaches of the globe he can be found in Yosemite, California, "living the dream."