2024 Summit of Excellence Award: Karsten Heuer and Leanne Allison
2024 Summit of Excellence Award Announced!
Presented at Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival since 1987, the annual Summit of Excellence Award has recognized an individual who has made a significant contribution to mountain life in the Canadian Rockies. In 2016, the award was expanded to recognize individuals from across Canada.
The list of past recipients read like a "Who's Who" of the Canadian mountain culture scene, and includes a diverse collection of mountaineers, authors, artists, photographers, mountain guides, musicians, teachers, and rescue specialists.
The award is presented in memory of Calgary climber Bill March, an internationally respected mountaineer, author, and educator, who led Canada's first successful Everest climb in 1982.
2024 Recipients: Karsten Heuer and Leanne Allison
Karsten Heuer and Leanne Allison have committed decades of their lives to the conservation and documentation of both wildlife and the landscape of the Canadian Rockies. What began as curiosity stemming from a mutual love for the outdoors, eventually matured into action and ultimately education and advocacy. Together their work has created not only awareness but measurable success, especially for projects like the reintroduction of bison to their natural habitat throughout Western Canada.
In 1998, Karsten walked 3,400km, the length of the Rockies, from Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming to Watson Lake, Yukon. It was a trip of personal growth but also attracted media attention to the then newly established Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y), a forward-thinking organization that believes preserving large tracts of interconnected land is the key to thriving ecosystems. During the 188 days of hiking, Karsten had plenty of time to think about how humans impact landscapes and he understood that they have a large role to play in speaking up for the animals that cannot.
Karsten worked as both warden and biologist for Parks Canada and eventually as the Executive Director for Y2Y. In all his roles, he has championed the vision of animal movement through wildlife corridors and has confronted developers who would threaten those wild spaces by leading a local group called Bow Valley Engage. His most recent ambitious project saw the successful return of wild bison to Banff National Park, perhaps the most celebrated event in the Park’s recent history and a testament to his determination. His best-selling books have won multiple international awards and are widely read and celebrated to this day.
Leanne is an award-winning filmmaker and storyteller whose adventures have inspired audiences worldwide through films like Finding Farley, Being Caribou, and Losing Blue as well as her innovative, interactive media project Bear 71. Being Caribou is the story of Leanne and Karsten’s journey to follow the porcupine caribou herd across Alaska and the Yukon for more than 1,500km. Their expedition brought attention to the threat of resource extraction in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Finding Farley is the remarkable 5,000km cross-Canada journey that Leanne and Karsten undertook with their dog and 2-year-old son Zev. It was a love letter to Farley Mowat, one of Canada’s most celebrated wildlife authors. They would paddle, hop a train, and sail for 5 months from Canmore, AB to Cape Breton, NB. Finding Farley won both the People’s Choice and Grand Prize at the Banff Mountain Film & Book Festival in 2010. Leanne’s latest film, Iniskim - Return of the Buffalo celebrates the reintroduction of bison in Banff National Park and the ambitious, Indigenous-led Buffalo Treaty which commits to bringing buffalo back throughout North America.
Karsten and Leanne’s national legacy is felt by all who have met them, read their books or watched their films. Their impact on the conservation of Western Canadian ecosystems is undeniable and their work has crossed borders, and its impact will be felt by many generations to come.
Nomination Information
Award Logistics
- One award is given annually
- An individual or group of individuals is eligible to be nominated
- An individual may not nominate him/herself
Award Timeline
- Summit of Excellence nominations are accepted year round with the adjudication committee meeting in late summer every year
- Award will be announced to the public at the end of September
Nomination Guidelines
- Nominators are encouraged to read profiles of past award winners
- The volunteer selection committee reviews each nomination individually and considers all information provided to ensure a high degree of fairness, accuracy, and integrity during the judging process.
- Each nomination should be submitted separately
- Nominees must have demonstrated long-term commitment in their contribution to mountain life in Canada
- Nominees may include but are not limited to those making contributions in areas such as mountain sport, mountain environment, mountain culture, mountain art, or mountain science
- Nominations should clearly describe how the nominee’s accomplishments have significantly benefited the mountain community in Canada
- Nominations should include descriptions of some or all of the following:
- level of contribution
- longevity of service
- impact to sport/environment/culture/art/science (for example – did the nominee help to elevate their field?)
- demonstration of excellence
- peer feedback
- motivating or inspiring others
Sponsors
Norseman Outdoor Specialist is pleased to support Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in celebrating mountain life in Canada by sponsoring the 2020 Summit of Excellence Award:
"We are honored to be a part of this community of incredible people who share our passion and long-term commitment to understanding, enjoying, and protecting our local mountains. It is our respect and love for the natural world that compels us to connect with it, as well as to educate and outfit others so they can experience its rewards while understanding the importance of the responsibility we all share in preserving it."
Selection Committee
Joanna Croston
Programming Director, Banff Mountain Festival
Joanna grew up and went to university in Eastern Canada but it wasn't until she moved to the Canadian Rockies permanently in 1998 that she really got schooled. In 2007, after a few years working as a gearhead in some local climbing shops, she finally found a dream job that merged mountain culture with her love of outdoor pursuits when she began working for the Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival. Joanna has been the Programming Director of the Festival since 2014; she reads more than 70 mountain literature books and watches 350 mountain films annually. In addition to being a voracious reader and film enthusiast, she is an avid backcountry skier and has skied throughout North America, The Alps, Kashmir, and the Indian Himalaya. As a climber she has summited many of the classic 11,000 ft. peaks in her own backyard of the Rockies. Her writing has appeared in Highline Magazine, Gripped, The Canadian Alpine Journal and Alpinist. She also serves on the Mountain Culture Committee of the Alpine Club of Canada and is a representative of the Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival for the International Alliance for Mountain Film.
Nancy Hansen
Summit of Excellence Jury
Nancy has been alpine, rock and ice climbing and ski mountaineering for over 20 years. She is the only female to have climbed all 54 peaks over 11,000 feet in the Canadian Rockies. She was also the first woman to have climbed all 34 routes in Urs Kallen's classic 1977 guidebook to rock climbing on Yamnuska.
Nancy has successfully completed 46 of the 50 routes described in the iconic mountaineering book Fifty Classic Climbs of North America, a feat matched only by two others. For the past three years, she has been climbing in Europe, Nepal, Pakistan, and Asia.
Nancy has been honoured with both the Guy Lacelle Pure Spirit Award and the Denali Pro Award. In addition to her 20 years of management experience at the Alpine Club of Canada, Nancy worked for a decade as a presenter and emcee at the Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival and its World Tour. She has contributed her thoughts, ideas, and opinions to the Summit of Excellence Award since 2010.
Geoff Powter
Facilitator
Geoff Powter is an organizational development and leadership consultant, and one of the co-founders of the Watershed Organizational Development Group, based in Canmore, AB. Geoff has been faculty with Leadership Development at Banff Centre for the past 30 years and served as a member of the Board of Directors of Travel Alberta from 2016-2020.
Geoff trained as a clinical psychologist, and early in his career found an opportunity to blend his interest in the human mind with his passion for mountain adventure. Geoff has been an avid climber for more than four decades, and has climbed all over the globe, including 13 expeditions to the Himalayas. He was the editor of the Canadian Alpine Journal for 13 years, and has written two award-winning books — Strange and Dangerous Dreams: The Fine Line Between Adventure and Madness (which won the Jury Prize at the 2006 Banff Mountain Book Festival), and Inner Ranges (which won the Mountain Literature Prize in Banff, won the National Outdoor Book Award in the US, and was shortlisted for the Boardman-Tasker Award for Mountain Literature). He has written extensively about adventure travel, including regular pieces for The Globe and Mail.
In 2012, Geoff received the prestigious Summit of Excellence Award for lifetime contribution to Canadian mountain culture.
Louis Rousseau
Louis began rock and ice climbing at age 15. Between 1999 and 2010, Louis made several expeditions to the Andean Cordillera which allowed him to accumulate several ascents of mountains over 6000m. Starting in 2007, he began turning his attention to the great peaks of the Himalayas. That year he summited Broad Peak (8051m) and climbed up to 7350m on K2 (8611m). In 2009, he climbed a new route on Nanga Parbat (8125m) and made two attempts on K2 (up to 8360m). His Himalayan tick-list continued to grow with an attempt on Gasherbrum I (8068m) by a new route on the south face in the winter 2011 (the first winter attempt on the mountain). The following summer 2011, he attempted Gasherbrum I again (up to 7950m) via the Japanese couloir route, and he summited Gasherbrum II (8035m). More recently, Louis went to Kyrgyzstan to climb Khan Tengri (7010m) and to Nepal to climb Tilicho Peak (7134m). Louis lives in Quebec, Canada and when he's not climbing, he works as a public health adviser for the Ministry of Health of Quebec.
Senja Palonen
Ever since her introduction to climbing in a dusty Ontario gym, Senja Palonen has made climbing a defining part of her life. World-famous Squamish granite soon drew her out west where she has become a prominent figure in the local climbing community.
For over ten years Senja coordinated the granting program at Mountain Equipment Co-op. Here, her expertise was integral in shaping the success of local and national grants supporting and promoting outdoor activity throughout Canada. Additionally, Senja ran the MEC Expedition Support program and co-created the MEC Adventure Grant with the Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival (VIMFF), helping many ambitious expeditions happen around the world each year.
Sarah Hueniken
Although Sarah climbs in some of the coldest places, she has the biggest, warmest heart in climbing. As one of the most sought after Association of Canadian Mountain Guides alpine guides in Canada, Sarah has also been a part of a number of first ascent teams worldwide and was the first North American woman to climb grades M11 - M14. It turns out that recognition is not what motivates her, rather what really drives her is usually curiosity. For well over a decade, Sarah has been offering female-only mountaineering courses. These courses have fostered hundreds of women to become self-sufficient in the mountains. The numbers jump to the thousands when you add in the co-ed courses she offers as well as her private guiding. For Sarah, the mountains are about connecting to herself and others.