2026 Summit of Excellence Award
Congratulations to the 2026 recipient Sarah Hueniken.
This award will be presented during the 2026 Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival in the Jenny Belzberg Theatre on November 7. Join us in Banff to celebrate this incredible recipient! Hueniken will also be speaking at the festival in Banff on November 6, together with climber Ines Papert.
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.
Nominations are open for 2027! See nomination details below.
2026 Recipient: Sarah Hueniken
The Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival celebrates Sarah Hueniken as the recipient of the 2026 Summit of Excellence Award. Since 1987, this annual award has recognized outstanding individuals who have made a significant contribution to mountain life in Canada.
Sarah Hueniken is a certified ACMG Alpine Guide, who has spent over 25 years in the Rockies sharing and pursuing her passion for climbing. Hueniken was the first North American woman to climb the mixed rock-and-ice grades of M11, M12, M13, and M14 and as a former North American Ice Climbing Champion, her achievements include first ascents worldwide—from the high peaks of China to frozen cliffs in Iceland.
Beyond her athletic feats, Hueniken’s career has been deeply committed to empowering others to step into their own strength. For over a decade, she has developed and led women-specific mountaineering programs designed to shatter barriers in the backcountry, fostering a self-sufficient community of female leaders who are confident in taking the sharp end of the rope.
Hueniken’s trajectory was completely rewritten after a tragic avalanche claimed the life of a close friend. Recognizing a profound void in the outdoor industry for emotional support for climbers who have experienced trauma, she sought to fill the gaps she saw in her mountain community. Hueniken co-founded the Mountain Muskox Mentorship Program—a Bow Valley non-profit providing professionally facilitated peer support circles for individuals coping with trauma and loss in the outdoors which now has branches in other Canadian mountain communities. As the Executive Director for the past six years, Hueniken has helped it grow from one pilot chapter to six chapters throughout Western Canada reaching hundreds of people through monthly circles and a yearly two-day immersion. As well, the Mountain Muskox Memorial bench was built with the intent of sharing both the beauty of the mountains and the memory of loved ones as a community—a place where everyone can come and sit with the amazing people we all miss in an incredible setting. Says Hueniken, “Mountain Muskox is what I am most proud of and what I devote most of my time and energy towards.”
In 2020, after the accident, Hueniken became Avalanche Canada’s first Ice Climbing Ambassador and co-created the Rockies Ice Climbing Avalanche Atlas. Along with the mapping skills of past Summit of Excellence recipient Grant Statham, Hueniken’s idea was to gather all of the knowledge and experience from the ice climbing community and share it publicly so others could learn and make informed decisions about ice climbing routes. Through community surveys, data was collected which formed the foundation for a summary document mapping the exposure zones above ice climbing routes. The result is a cutting-edge, groundbreaking information system. Says Statham, “A sea of change of awareness has happened (in the climbing community), and Sarah has been a crucial player in making that happen.”
Hueniken’s contributions to the outdoor community have earned her the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides (ACMG) Gold Distinguished Service Award, the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal, and recognition as one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women.
This award will be presented on Saturday, November 7 during the evening show in the Jenny Belzberg Theatre.
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 in the middle 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
We encourage you to nominate someone today!
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.
David Smart
David Smart is a climber, author, journalist, and editor. He has been climbing rock since the 1970s and remains an enthusiastic new route climber with a deep passion for the sport. Early in his career, he authored four guidebooks to rock climbing in Ontario and Quebec. A veteran journalist and editor, he is the founding editor of Gripped Magazine, Canadian Running Magazine, Cycling Magazine Canada, and Triathlon Canada. Over four decades, his work has appeared in Climbing, Alpinist, Rock and Ice, the Canadian Alpine Journal, and the American Alpine Journal, among other publications.
His 2023 biography, Royal Robbins: The American Climber, won the Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival's Award for Climbing Literature and was short-listed for the Boardman Tasker Prize. Previous works include Emilio Comici: Angel of the Dolomites (2021), Paul Preuss: Lord of the Abyss (2019), and his memoir, A Youth Wasted Climbing (2015). His books have been translated into five languages. In 2022, he received the H. Adams Carter Award for Mountain Literature from the American Alpine Club in recognition of his lifelong contributions to mountain writing. In 2026, his book, Among the Pale Spires, will be published by Rocky Mountain Books.
2025 Recipient: Dr. Alison Criscitiello
The Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival celebrates Dr. Alison Criscitiello as the recipient of the 2025 Summit of Excellence award, which, since 1976, has recognized outstanding individuals who have made a significant contribution to mountain life in Canada.
Dr. Alison Criscitiello is a world-renowned ice core scientist, glaciologist, advocate for gender equity, mother, and high-altitude mountaineer. She is an Assistant Professor and the Director of the Canadian Ice Core Lab at the University of Alberta, co-founder of Girls* on Ice Canada, and received the first PhD in glaciology ever conferred by MIT.
As a scientist, her work has taken her to ice caps around the world, including Antarctica, Greenland, and the Canadian High Arctic, not to mention the summit of Canada’s highest peak, Mount Logan. Criscitiello explores the history of climate and sea ice in polar and high-alpine regions by tracking environmental contaminant histories using ice core chemistry. Many of the glaciers she has visited are at extreme risk due to climate change, and Criscitiello is at the forefront of data capture and documentation of ice loss in these volatile zones.
Criscitiello’s expedition to collect ice core samples from close to the summit of Mount Logan was groundbreaking (and back-breaking) work. While polar ice coring science has been around for half a century, no one had conducted such an extensive collection from such a high altitude. Alongside her academic and scientific accolades, she is also an exceptional storyteller whose work has appeared in high-impact film projects, print, and television. Her article Contraindications won a Banff Mountain Book Competition award in 2018.
Criscitiello is committed to making science more accessible to young women. As a founder of the Girls* on Ice Canada program, Criscitiello hopes to merge science, art, and adventure to inspire leadership, curiosity, and confidence in the next generation of leaders. Her work has motivated a community of young women to pursue their interests in science and dive into their passions in the outdoors.
In 2021, she was elected to the Royal Canadian Geographic Society’s College of Fellows, and she is a Fellow International with The Explorer’s Club. She was recently awarded Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee Medal for her significant contributions to Arctic climate research. She has been the recipient of three American Alpine Club (AAC) climbing awards, the John Lauchlan Award and the Mugs Stump Alpine Climbing Award.
*Girls* on Ice Canada welcomes cisgender girls and transgender, agender, Two Spirit, nonbinary, intersex, and genderqueer youth.
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