Beulah Barss
Author of Come'n Get It At the Ranchhouse and Cowboys and Chuckwagons
The daughter of a Saskatchewan pioneer family, Beulah "Bunny" Barss lives and works in Calgary as a dietician and home economist. She graduated with a home economics degree from the University of Saskatchewan, qualified as a dietician at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal, and received an M.A. from the University of Calgary. Her interests include preserving the rich heritage of ranching and pioneer experiences, particularly regarding food and cooking. She is also the author of The Pioneer Cook, Favorite Ranch Recipes, Oh! Canada and co-author of Prairie Homesteaders and Alberta Pictorial Cookbook.
Don Beers
Author of Lake O'Hara Trails, The Wonder of Yoho, The World of Lake Louise, Jasper-Robson: A Taste of Heaven and Banff-Assiniboine: A Beautiful World.
Don Beers has spent over forty years hiking and climbing in his favorite areas of the Canadian Rockies. Personal acquaintance with some of the pioneers and his diligent research into old manuscripts has led to many an anecdote never before published.
Bob Blaxley
Author of The Whaleback: A Walking Guide
Bob Blaxley studied the Whaleback area as a master's degree project with the University of Calgary. In order to generate support for preserving the area, he decided to expand his research to include the development of this guide.
John D. Buchanan
Author of Canoeing Manitoba Rivers Vol 1 South.
John "Bucky" Buchanan, is a well-known Manitoba paddler with extensive river experience. He enjoys all aspects of canoeing, but has a preference for wilderness tripping. His compulsion for taking notes had led to him becoming a source of information for local paddlers.
Gillean Daffern
Author of Kananaskis Country Trial Guide, Vol 1 and Vol 2, Kananaskis Country Ski Trails, and Short Walks for Inquiring Minds #1: Canmore and Kananaskis Country
Gillean Daffern has delved into every corner of Kananaskis Country over the past twenty years and enjoys researching its natural and human history.
Doug Eastcott
Co-author of Backcountry Biking in the Canadian Rockies
Doug Eastcott is a native Calgarian who has spent most of his life exploring the Rockies. He holds a BSc in zoology from the University of Calgary and has worked as both a park naturalist and as a warden in the mountain national parks.
Dave Elphinstone
Author of Inglewood Bird Sanctuary: A Place for all Seasons. Dave Elphinstone's passion for natural history and his dedication to conservation led him to apply for a job at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary in 1975. As a Naturalist for the City of Calgary, he has experienced the many moods of Inglewood and helped thousands of Calgarians enjoy the wonder of nature through tours, natural history courses, media appearances and the Peregrine Falcon program. Dave was the driving force behind the initiation of a 100-person volunteer program to help protect the area from vandalism. His empathy for wild species and open spaces is also reflected through his photography, which he sees as another means of helping visitors appreciate the beauty of nature.
Joanne Elves
Author of Explore Southern Alberta with Joanne Elves
Joanne Elves is a freelance writer who with her husband and two small children loves to explore southern Alberta.
Ernst Hanisch
Author of Kananaskis Ram: A Story from Kananaskis Country
Ernst W. Hanisch, born in the Sudeten area of Czechoslovakia, immigrated to Canada in 1954. While serving in the German Air Force from 1942-1945, he was taken prisoner and released in 1947. Retired in 1990, he lives in Calgary, where he enjoys hiking, sketching and writing.
Peter Jowett
Author of Nahanni: the river guide
Peter Jowett has been with the Canadian Parks Service since 1981 when he worked as a park ranger in Alberta and as a canoeing instructor/guide for the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. Since joining the warden service in 1984 he has worked all over western Canada, including a two year stint in Nahanni - his favorite park. He is currently stationed at Pacific Rim on Vancouver Island. For more years than he can remember, Peter has been plying the waters of Canada from Ontario to the Yukon, first solo, then with his wife Judy and now with his newborn son and future bowsman Dawson Alexander.
Alan Kane
Author of Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies
Alan Kane was born in Banff in 1954. He attended school in Golden, British Columbia, where he explored the rugged mountains surrounding beautiful Columbia Valley. A love of heights led him to hang gliding. In 1974, he flew his home-built craft off nearby Mount Seven, now an internationally acclaimed flying site, thereby joining the ranks of the Mile High Club. Skydiving came next, but after close calls in both pursuits, common sense prevailed. Returning to his original passion, Alan took mountaineering courses and delved into climbing peaks. Calgary became home in 1976 when he moved there to study electronics. Weekends were spent exploring yet more of the Rockies. His photographing and documenting of numerous ascents later led to the book, Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies. Alan also enjoys visiting other mountain ranges of the world; his real job is an electronic technician.
Daniel Kyba
Co-author of David Thompson Highway: A Hiking Guide
Dan Kyba is the owner of Kyba & Associates, a marketing research firm based in Edmonton. He loves the outdoors and has hiked in Baffin Island, the Himalayas, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the Canadian Rockies. He is also an amateur historian specializing in Eastern Europe.
Dan and Sandra Langford
Authors of Cycling the Kettle Valley Railway
Dan and Sandra Langford are true adventurers who have spent most of their lives exploring the countryside of British Columbia and Alberta.
Lawrence Letham
Author of GPS Made Easy
Lawrence Letham lives in Arizona and is an avid camper and hiker who has always been fascinated by maps and by the art of navigation. An electrical engineer who designs integrated circuits, his favorite outdoor tool is his GPS receiver.
Jeff Lowe
Author of Ice World
Jeff Lowe was skiing by the time he was four and at seven scaled the highest mountain in the Tetons. Ever since his first ascent of Colorado's Bridalveil Falls in 1974, he has been one of the world's premiere ice climbers, with a list of first ascents on ice that includes the Hungo Face of Kwangde in the Himalayas, Keystone Green Steps in Alaska, Asteroid Alley in Canada and Birdbrain Boulevard in Colorado. In 1994 he created Octopussy, currently the most difficult mixed climb in the world. In addition to designing innovative equipment and clothing for climbers, he has written numerous articles for such periodicals as Sports Illustrated, Rock & Ice, Outside and Climbing, and two books: The Ice Experience and Climbing (with Ron Fawcett, Paul Nunn and Alan Rouse). He and his wife, Teri Ebel, and their two children live in Nederland, Colorado.
Grant MacEwan
Author of Coyote Music and other humorous tales of the Early West, Grant MacEwan entertained Canadian readers for almost 60 years. With close to fifty published books covering a wide range of topics in Canadian history, he is without a doubt one of Canada's most cherished and widely known popular historians.
Doug McKown
Author of Canoeing Safety and Rescue
Doug McKown, who works as a paramedic in Banff, has been canoeing for more than twenty years. Apart from canoeing for pleasure, Doug has participated in closed boat white water racing both on the national and international scene. He also instructs canoeing and has developed instructional programs for many institutions across Canada. For the past ten years he has been involved in developing standardized canoe rescue techniques across Canada and in the teaching of rescue techniques to such organizations as the National Parks Service and the Department of National Defense.
Keith Morton
Author of Planning a Wilderness Trip in Canada and Alaska
Keith Morton is a well-respected, experienced outdoors person who has spent many summers as a professional guide in the north. He is a professional outdoors instructor and contributes articles to outdoor magazines. He is also equipment editor for Explore magazine, where he tests new clothing and equipment and writes a regular column. During forty-five years of recreating he has travelled to every part of North America, from Nova Scotia to Alaska, from southern Ontario to the high Arctic, as well as to many other parts of the world. He guides canoe trips, ski tours and arctic raft trips and instructs a wide range of outdoor topics including group trip organization, emergency situation management, canoeing, backpacking, skiing, outdoor cookery, map and compass and avalanche safety. Keith lives with his librarian wife Mary Enright in Calgary.
Ruth Oltmann
Author of My Valley The Kananaskis and Lizzie Rummel, Baroness of the Canadian Rockies
Ruth "Ruthie" Oltmann came to Alberta 35 years ago from eastern Canada and has been hiking and climbing in the Rocky Mountains ever since. She moved to the mountains "for six months" in 1970, and since then she has run youth hostels at Spray River, Castle Mountain and Ribbon Creek and worked as a cook at Skoki Lodge, Bugaboo Lodge and the Kananaskis Centre for Environmental Research. She is currently the Regional Supervisor of Information Services for Kananaskis Country. She says "my life took a turn for the better when I moved to the mountains six months ago!"
Anna Robertson
Author of Exploring Central Alberta's Parkland and Fish Creek Provincial Park
Anna Robertson is a freelance nature writer living in Lacombe, Central Alberta. With her husband and two small children she spends much of her free time exploring the surrounding parklands and the foothills of the mountains to the west.
Jane Ross
Author of Hiking the Historic Crowsnest Pass and David Thompson Highway: A Hiking Guide
Jane Ross is trained as a historian and has worked in the heritage resources field for twenty years. She is currently a senior Research Historian with Alberta Culture and Multiculturalism, Historic Sites and Archives branch in Edmonton, Alberta. Since joining the department's planning team for the Crowsnest Pass in 1984, she has been responsible for the storyline and historical accuracy of all exhibit components of the Frank Slide Interpretive Centre and the Leitch Collieries Provincial Historic Site. Jane has written several social studies textbooks and historical monographs. She has hiked in Baffin Island, New Zealand and the Canadian Rockies and she especially enjoys hiking in areas with historical interest.
Chic Scott
Author of Summits & Icefields, Ski Trails in the Canadian Rockies and Pushing the Limits
Ever since Chic Scott took up nordic skiing in 1962 he has skied most of the trails in the Canadian Rockies. He is perhaps best known for his lengthy glacier expeditions, such as the Jasper to Lake Louise High Level Ski Traverse and the Rogers Pass to Bugaboos Ski Traverse. Since 1967 he has completed nine major ski traverses, four of them as a guide. His other achievements include notable winter ascents (Mount Assiniboine)and new rock and alpine climbs as well as expeditions to the Himalaya and the St. Elias Mountains. During the 1960s and 1970s he guided in Switzerland and France for the International School for Mountaineering. A member of the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides and a nordic ski instructor, Chic presently lives in Canmore, Alberta, where he makes his living as a freelance mountain guide and writer.
Janice Strong
Author of Mountain Footsteps: Selected Hikes in the East Kootenay
Janice Strong is an avid hiker and backcountry skier whose articles in the Kootenay Advertiser have inspired many people to explore the trails of the East Kootenay. Janice is also a freelance reporter for Spokane's Daily Bulletin and The Daily Townsman in Cranbrook. When not writing, hiking or taking photographs, she can be found in her woodworking shop or growing vegetables in her organic garden in the Purcell Mountains.
William Tracy
Co-author of Hiking the Historic Crowsnest Pass
William Tracy's M.A. in anthropology has given him a keen interest in the ethnology of historic areas. A native of Bangor, Maine, he has resided in western Canada for the past fifteen years and is currently employed as Senior Planner for the Historic Sites and Archives Service of the Department of Culture and Multiculturalism. He was the planner for both the Frank Slide Interpretive Centre and Leitch Collieries Provincial Historic Site since their inception.
Jenn Voss
Author of Stikine River: A guide to paddling The Great River
Jenn Voss began canoeing at the age of 13 and has been organizing and participating in wilderness canoe trips for the past 20 years. She has a degree in civil engineering with a specialty in hydrology and is a certified flatwater canoe instructor in British Columbia. Jenn lives in Port Moody with her husband Jan and her daughter Kelsey. Another bambino is on the way!
Terry Willard
Author of Edible and Medicinal Plants
For twenty years, Terry Willard, Ph.D, has studied the plants of the Rockies. In the early '70s, after several seasons living in a tipi among the plants, he began training as a professional herbalist. In 1986, he was appointed to the Canadian federal goevernment's Expert Advisory Committee on Herbs and Botanical Preparations. He currently serves as the President of the Canadian Association of Herbal Practitioners. Dr. Willard maintains clinics in Calgary and Vancouver and is director of the Wild Rose College of Natural Healing, which serves students around the world.
