Barry Blanchard First Ascents: Episode 1

Andromeda Strain and the East Face of Mt Fay.
After four attempts David Cheesmond, Tim Friesen and Barry finally succeeded in cracking The Strain in April 1983. Commonly the first ascent party names the route, but because this alluring alpine couloir on Mt Andromeda had been attempted over a dozen times by some of the best alpinists in North America, it had become an unrelenting strain, "The Andromeda Strain". The next winter Carl Tobin, David Cheesmond and Barry battled their way up the East Face of Mt Fay surviving a leader jump/fall, an avalanche, a relentless storm and a box of smarties split 3 ways for dinner before being two days late for work.

[@john26razor340]

Thank you Barry!

[@hugocouturier3668]

Barry Blanchard is a national treasure, whether he wants it or not.

[@wills.7626]

How can there be no comments? This is the most awesome thing on KZbin imo. Can’t wait to watch them all, this is almost as good having a beer with Barry. Cheers!

[@YamnuskaMtAdv]

Thanks Will. We're glad you like them.

[@MrCdrant]

It's pretty cool hearing the stories come to life. Just finished The Calling, Barry has had some amazing adventures.

[@YamnuskaMtAdv]

@@MrCdrant He truly has.

[@hc_ox4842]

Wow, This is amazing!!

[@YamnuskaMtAdv]

@@hc_ox4842 glad you like. Join us on March 30th for Barry's episode 6 on Facebook Live

[@namelastname2449]

what a giant is Mr Blanchard

[@drewcunningham2]

lIstening to Barry brings back so many great memories of my decade living in Banff National Park. I was never a very accomplished climber by any means but I truly loved the sport and the adventure that came with it. One of my more memorable trips was with Barry back around 1990 while participating in a week-long winter alpinism course offered through Yamnuska. We first attempted Hado Peak in the middle of January with temps around minus thirty and about twenty centimeters of fresh snow on the ground.....we skied a good ten clicks into where we planned to build a snow cave. Unfortunately, it was not possible thus we had to bivi in the open. This turned out to be one of the most torturous nights of my life as I spent the entire night shivering and sleepless in this shitty old three-season bag while staring up at the stars wondering what in hell I had gotten myself into. Barry and the two other participants snored away in their large four-season down bags as the minutes ticked by very, very slowly..the night seemed to last an eternity!....at dawn, Barry awoke and saw that I was struggling and had not slept a wink...he immediately reached into his backpack and pulled out a large down jacket and handed it to me. I put it on and it soon brought me some comfort and warmth....we had a quick brew then started making our way up the tongue of the glacier which was low-angle ice but hard as cement...I led one rope while Barry led the other....after much exertion, on my part, we finally all made it to the snowfield which led us toward the final summit slope.....we post-holed for what seemed an eternity across the snowfield arriving at the final thirty-degree slope around ten or so in the morning. Once there, Barry wisely assessed the situation and decided the avalanche danger was too high and probably also noticed that myself and the two other dudes that were part of the course were all pretty much done so he quickly pulled the plug - no one complained about his decision as I know I was personally fried having not slept a second the night before. Thus we turned around and began our long descent. We trudged our way back across the snowfield and then made two raps down the tongue of the glacier hanging from a foot-long piece of electrical conduit. We finally reached our skis and slowly but surely made our way back to the parking lot by nightfall on the second day.....We were stripping down and getting ready for the ride back to Canmore when I looked over at Barry who was now only wearing only a light fleece jacket...on the back of the jacket was embroidered "STOP TORTURE HANDCUFF AN ALPINIST" ....I laughed to myself and thought just how appropriate that quote was..... We took the next day off then headed out to climb Polar Circus....Barry lent me one of his own personal bags for this trip and although we did not finish the last two pitches I can't say the entire trip was a failure. It was a fantastic learning experience and being with Barry, a guy I had so much respect for and had read so much about while sitting alone in the Banff Library thumbing through old Alpine Journals, I couldn't have been happier! I continued to ice and rock climb for the next 15 years or so, never getting much past leading grade four to five ice and 5.10 rock on trad gear into the 11s on sport routes.....nothing earth-shattering to be sure but for me climbing wasn't so much about summiting or grades, it was more about camaraderie and the journey, not the destination. Now 57 and living in suburbia outside of Toronto, I look back on those days with great fondness. I will never forget my week with Barry and just how encouraging he was and what a super nice guy he is = really enjoy listening to your series Barry - hope you are well and happy in your life!!!

[@Greg-bz2bf]

I enjoyed these stories, listening to them on the Gold Coast of Australia; and they brought me back to my repeat accents of test pieces such as Cascade Falls, Midget's Mantel, Grillmair's Chimney and Silverhorn. LOL. Big routes for this guy from Regina inspired by Barry, Jim, and James who taught and guided me in the early 1980's. Thanks.

[@yamnuskamountainadventures9660]

Thanks for tuning in Greg and those are all great routes. Stay tuned for more with Barry!

[@ab-jd6kj]

Thanks for sharing this and presenting such amazing climbing history

[@YamnuskaMtAdv]

Our pleasure!

[@user-yw4hs6jp4l]

Amazing stories, thanks for sharing Barry.