During almost 20 years at the helm of the Banff Mountain Festivals, Bernadette McDonald hosted a who’s who of mountaineering, outdoor adventure, filmmaking, photography, and literature, from Sir Edmund Hillary to Jon Krakauer to Reinhold Messner. At this year’s Festivals, she will be recognized for her immeasurable contribution to mountain culture with the 2007 Summit of Excellence Award.
During her tenure at The Banff Centre, McDonald was director of the Banff Mountain Film Festival, founding director of the Banff Mountain Book Festival and massively expanded the scope of the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour, which now travels to hundreds of locations on seven continents. Mountain people worldwide know the name Banff, not necessarily because they have physically experienced the Rocky Mountains of Canada, but because they have seen a film program from the festival that entertained, educated and, most of all, inspired them.
McDonald served on film juries around the world, is a founding member of the International Alliance for Mountain Film, received the King Albert Mountain Award and even addressed the United Nations during the International Year of Mountains. She’s the author of two recently published books on key figures in mountaineering, and is at work on a third.
"There is no one who has done more to contribute to the understanding of Mountain Culture in Banff, or in Canada, or likely anyplace in the mountain world, than Bernadette MacDonald,” says Marty von Neudegg, Director of Corporate Services at Canadian Mountain Holidays. “Aside from her professional accomplishments of being a first rate leader, creator and writer she is also an aficionado of these wonderful high places. She simply exudes passion for all things mountain in everything she does. CMH is very proud to have worked closely with Bernadette for nearly 20 years. We will miss her skills, but we will always have her many contributions."
Sponsored by Canadian Mountain Holidays, the Summit of Excellence Award is given annually to a person who has made a significant contribution to mountain life in the Canadian Rockies. This year’s award will be presented on Sunday, November 4, the final night of the Banff Mountain Film Festival.
Originally arriving at The Banff Centre as a resident in the music program in 1979, Bernadette found time to continue the mountain life she was passionate about — climbing, backcountry skiing, horse trips, hiking and canoeing. This led her to volunteer for the Banff Mountain Film Festival, of which she became director in 1988, subsequently taking the festival from an annual weekend film series to the premier event of its kind in the world. In 1994, she launched the first Banff Mountain Book Festival, which has become a top draw in the increasingly popular world of adventure literature.
In 2005, having edited and co-edited several books during her tenure with the Festivals, McDonald published I’ll Call You in Kathmandu, a biography of Elizabeth Hawley, the grande dame of Himalayan mountaineering reportage. The success of the Hawley book and the satisfaction she got from research and writing led her to step down from her position as vice president, Mountain Culture at The Banff Centre.
This year, she published Brotherhood of the Rope (The Mountaineers Books), a biography of eminent physician, high-altitude researcher and mountaineer Dr. Charles Houston. She is currently at work on a biography of daredevil Slovenian alpinist Tomaz Humar.
McDonald and her husband Alan now divide their time between their home in Banff and a new vineyard they’re establishing near Naramata in B.C.’s Okanagan region.
In addition to receiving the Summit of Excellence Award on November 4, Bernadette McDonald will appear as a guest speaker at the 2007 Banff Mountain Book Festival during the daytime program on Thursday, November 1. She will present her new book, Brotherhood of the Rope.
Given annually since 1987, the Summit of Excellence Award is named in memory of Calgary climber Bill March, an internationally respected mountaineer, author and educator. Past recipients of the award include: Gill and Tony Daffern (2006), Glen Boles (2005), Craig Richards (2004), Willi Pfisterer (2003), Barry Blanchard (2002), Bob Sandford (2001), Chic Scott (2000), Guy Lacelle (1999), John Martin (1998), Sharon Wood (1997), Tim Auger (1996), Brian Greenwood (1995), Kiwi Gallagher (1994), Roger Vernon (1993), Jon Whyte (1992), Don Forest (1991), Pat Morrow (1990), Hans Gmoser (1989), Jim Davies (1988), and Bruno Engler (1987).
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For a high resolution photograph of Bernadette McDonald:
http://www.banffcentre.ca/mountainculture/media/images/2007/events.asp
For more information on the Summit of Excellence Award:
http://www.banffcentre.ca/mountainculture/
