Canadians Louis-Philippe Menard and Maxime Turgeon ("Spice
Factory"), who both grew up in the cold Quebec winters, met with ice
axes in hand. Their home province lacks neither remote lands nor great
climbing, but rather big mountains, a shortcoming that inspired their
first trip to the Greater Ranges. Devoted to mixed climbing, they adhere
to traditional style and ethics. While literature is far from their
common engineering background, the experience of writing "Spice Factory"
proved compelling: it may have blunted their tools, but they like to
believe it sharpened their minds.
Tommy Caldwell ("A Long Time Coming") started climbing at age three in
Estes Park, Colorado, with his mountain-guide father, Mike. It's not
surprising that he gained a love for the mountains early on; by the time
he turned ten, they'd already traveled to places like Yosemite, Devils
Tower and Indian Creek. Though he has dabbled in every form of rock
ascent, he currently finds inspiration in big-wall free climbing. He
spends most of his time either at home in Estes Park or on climbing
trips to Yosemite Valley and around the world, always accompanied by his
wife, Beth Rodden.
Pete deLannoy ("The Needles") first learned to climb in Wyoming's Wind
River Mountains nearly thirty-eight years ago. What began as a general
love for the mountains grew into a passion for rock climbing and a
mission for new routes. Today he works as a full-time mountain guide for
Exum Mountaineering, teaches middle-school science and writes about his
exploits. He has a daughter, Tanner, and makes his home with his wife,
Linda Salzmann, in Phoenix, Arizona.
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Based in Chamonix, France, Monica Dalmasso ("Ice") divides her passion
between the mountains, climbing, travel and photography. In ten years of
the latter, she has shifted her focus from sport to commercial to agency
work. Since 2001 she has been the official photographer of the Raid
World Championship (formerly the Raid Gauloises). Her search for the
perfect movement, her work on blurring and speed, as well as her
detached view of the sports world enables her to work with all subjects
related to motion.
By the time you read this, forty-six-year-old Canadian mountain guide
and alpinist Barry Blanchard ("The Calling") will have spent exactly
half his life in Canmore, Alberta. Those days are now gone: Barry, his
wife, Catherine Mulvihill, their one-year-old miracle, Rosemary, and
their two dogs have pulled stakes in favor of a smaller mountain
town—Banff. "I'll continue working as an ambassador with Patagonia (do
yourself a favor and read Yvon's new book, Let My People Go Surfing),
guiding for Yamnuska Mountain Adventures, and trying to get after it in
the alpine. And 'it' is evolving—all the time, partner, all the time."
