Table of Contents

1 The Rupal. Kevin Doyle, Ward Robinson, Marc Twight, and Barry Blanchard try to climb the biggest mountain wall in the world --the Rupal- in pure alpine style. Their attempt is stuffed by avalanche and storm 14, 000 feet up, 1500 feet below the summit. Two climbing ropes are swept into the night, the team's only ropes, their descent is miraculous. 2 Barry. How the mountains called to a wild young half-breed boy, and how he had the nascent good sense to listen. 3 Kevin. Kevin Doyle, the most naturally gifted and driven climber that I have ever climbed with. It was like God touched him at birth granting him a sense of balance that would take my 300 days of imitation to learn. At 21 we quit our jobs and took off to Chamonix in 1980 to climb until our money ran out. The next year was Yosemite, then the Cassin Ridge on Mt McKinley in 1982, and then the Karakorum in 1984. 4 David. I was a capable alpinist when I met David Cheesmond, but he was older and better. David mentored me: the first ascent of the Andromeda Strain in 1983, the first ascent of the East Face of Mt Fay in 1984, the North Ridge of Rakaposhi in 1984, the first ascent of the North Pillar of North Twin in 1985. 5 Ward. Ward Robinson is classic Canadiana. The son of an Air Canada pilot who died in a landing crash, Ward is the only one of four brothers not to be employed in aviation. Ward is a tree faller, he falls trees for a living. Enigmatic, tough, and determined, in an arena were the hard test themselves Ward is the hardest of all the hardmen that I've climbed with. The first ascent of the Wild Thing on Mt Chephren in 1987 and the first ascent of the North Face of Howse Peak in 1988. 6 Marc. The katabasis, we raced each other to the bottoming out of our lives. Black clothing, black music, black poetry. Long and late phone conversations between Chamonix and Canmore ending in the 'hour of the wolf'. My favorite 'alpinist in agony', we stepped down into the basement of our psyches and stayed there awhile. Mt Everest in 1988, a first ascent on the Northwest Face of Les Droites in 1991 -the Richard Cranium Memorial Route (the dickhead route, neither of our marriages made it out the other end). 7 Catherine. I met Catherine Mulvihill at the Katmandu Airport. She was a member of our expedition to the Kangshung Face of Mt Everest. We fell in love in the high plains of Tibet, which not many people can say, unless they're Tibetan. Catherine moved to Canmore for love --me- and fell in love with ice climbing, an interesting journey for a woman who had been born dirt poor in North Carolina. 8 Steve. I've pursued my alpinism into the new millennium partnered with Steve House, a man destined to become one of the best alpinists in the world. The Emperor Face of Mt Robson, the first ascent of M-16 on Howse Peak in 1999, the South Face of Nuptse in 2002. 9 Rosemary and Eowyn. 2004 and 2007, Catherine and I have been blessed with two of the most fascinating souls I've ever met. The only real measure of wealth is biological.

About the Author

Barry Blanchard is one of North America's top alpinists, noted for pushing the standards of highly technical, high-risk alpine climbing in the Canadian Rockies and the Himalayas. Blanchard is a Patagonia Ambassador. He lives in Calgary, Alberta.

Reviews

Shortlist for The Boardman-Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature, 2015 Finalist, Banff Mountain Book and Film Festival, Adventure Memoir, 2014 "The Calling is sure to make any reader with a shred of adventurous inclination wish to have climbed with Mr. Blanchard during the storm years of his strength. Once upon a time, the classics of the genre impelled Barry Blanchard into the alpine game. It is as inevitable as one of his cherished mountain sunrises that some young men and women will glean the same inspiration from The Calling." -- Wall Street Journal "A legacy of technical and literary pioneers in alpine climbing in this extraordinarily well-written mountaineering memoir." -- Foreword Magazine "Certainly not disappointed by the tales of climbing, I was also deeply impressed by the bravery, quality, tenderness, and vulnerability of Blanchard's writing." -- Elevationoutdoors.com "What makes The Calling powerful is the fact that Blanchard does not varnish the story of where his chosen path takes him. As a result, the narrative is at times heartbreaking. The closeness that Blanchard discovers with certain climbing partners becomes painfully obvious as they are killed in accidents." -- Adventure Sports Journal "I laughed. I cried. I thought about life. I couldn't put down [this] long-awaited memoir." -- Rocky Mountain Outlook "A memoir that reads like a conversation over beers around the campfire, deep into the night. It offers the reader intimacy, captivating stories, and a unique chance to get the know the man described as Canada's best alpinist. Blanchard is a solid writer, and while he is already known for his poetic, descriptive prose, it shines in his first, full-length book." -- thecampsiteblog.com "Blanchard the master-storyteller writes as Blanchard the young alpinist climbed: passionately, full of heart. These stories are raw and superbly entertaining. Blanchard chronicles the "I hurt, therefore I am" era of mountain climbing." -- Steve House, alpinist, author, Training for the New Alpinism and Beyond the Mountain "Blanchard describes the essence of an era when climbing was dangerous and sex was safe. Like listening to classic rock music, Barry's writing is just something I couldn't stop reading; it makes me feel good. Keep rockin'." -- Marko Prezelj, alpinist, photographer "Blanchard is a great storyteller, and through his vivid characters and dramatic adventures he takes us on a journey through his early climbs in the Canadian Rockies to his later alpine-style ascents in the Himalaya. It's a compelling book -- I couldn't put it down." -- Steve Swenson, alpinist "Blanchard's story of how, after growing up in a broken family on the prairies, he found his purpose and meaning in the mountains. Told through raw dialogue and striking images, what shines throughout is the respect and love Barry bears for his climbing partners. For Barry, sharing a rope on a mountain is emblematic of a deeply lived friendship." -- Raphael Slawinski, alpinist "Conservative librarians are going to hate this book. The rest of us will love it. Sex (first time), drugs, (oxygen deprivation and others) and rock and roll (OK, more punk than pure rock, but definitely full volume), all against a backdrop of hard climbing on the world's wildest peaks. This is a story of brothers putting it all out there together, to a soundtrack of full-bore punk, sex and wild mountains." -- Will Gadd, climber, host of documentary series Fearless Planet