Dale Portman Livres

The story of mountain rescue has its roots in the early 1900s, with the Canadian Pacific Railways use of Swiss guidesalpine experts who brought their knowledge of mountain rescue to the Canadian Rockies. As climbing gained in popularity with the emerging middle classes after the Second World War, tragic accidents became more common. Two accidents in 195455 forced the government to develop a professional mountain rescue team through the Park Warden Service, under the tutelage of Swiss guide Walter Perren, considered the father of mountain rescue in Canada. Perren essentially turned cowboys into competent rescue personnel, and the story takes off from there. Guardians of the Peaks traces the first 50 years of mountain rescue in Canada, focusing on the five principal men instrumental in its development. Authors Kathy Calvert and Dale Portman cover all aspects of the rescue experience, juxtaposing the political, cultural and technical developments of the time with gripping accounts of actual rescues. Guardians of the Peaks is a fascinating look at the people who are willing to enter this stress-laced, demanding profession in order to save lives, despite the personal tragedy it often involves.

Set against the backdrop of western Canada's stunning backcountry parks, this memoir offers an inspiring and humorous exploration of the adventurous spirit of the 1960s and 1970s. The author's vivid storytelling captures the essence of the era, filled with memorable experiences and encounters in the great outdoors. Readers are invited to relive the excitement and challenges of mountain life, making it a delightful journey for adventure enthusiasts and memoir lovers alike.

Annotation Don Forest: Quest for the Summits tells the story of one of the most colorful-perhaps eccentric-people of the Canadian West, who is also an award-winning mountaineer. Yet Don Forest didn't take up the sport until he was in his mid-40s. At a time when most men are thinking of retiring from strenuous activities, Don was busy setting records: He was the first person to climb all 27 of the 11,000-foot peaks in the Canadian Rockies and Columbia Mountains in one year, and in 1991, at age 71, he was the oldest person to climb Mount Logan, Canada's highest mountain. In 1992, he celebrated his 72nd birthday with friends, cake, and champagne on the summit of Holy Cross Mountain-a 9000-foot-high mountain in southwest Alberta. Kathy Calvert's biography of Don Forest runs the gamut of emotion: Her narrative swings from the humor in Don's eccentricities and the pathos of Don's dealing with close friends lost in the mountains to the pride and satisfaction felt when Don's climbing career was recognized by his peers across Canada.