Chic Scott discusses Climbing Pioneers of Yamnuska

ROB MURRAY: I’m speaking with Chic Scott. We’re here to talk about a film that is premiering through the Whyte Museum website this Saturday called “Climbing Pioneers of Yamnuska”. This is part of a broader multimedia project called “Pushing the Limits: The Legacy” which has a really unique backstory. What can you tell us about how this project came about?

CS: It goes back 25 years when I was doing the research for a big climbing history book called “Pushing the Limits”, which came out in 2000. In ‘96 and ‘97 I went across Canada and interviewed 85 of the leading climbers across the country, and I videotaped them. It’s a snapshot of what climbing was like in that era, the late 90s. The interviews have been safely stored in the Whyte Museum now for 25 years. The Whyte has just recently had them digitized, so we’re trying to make them available for public viewing.

RM: Let’s talk about this film that’s premiering on International Mountain Day this Saturday called “Climbing Pioneers of Yamnuska.” What’s this all about?

CS: Most people know Yamnuska. It’s out there on the front edge of the Rocky Mountains as you drive through the gap from Calgary. Yamnuska has this big south face which is about 400 metres high at the highest point and pretty solid rock. Over the years it has become a hugely popular area for rock climbers. The first climb on the south face was done in 1952 by Hans Gmoser Leo Grillmair, and a woman by the name of Isabel Spreat. Since then, many climbs have been done, most notably by Don Vockeroth, Brian Greenwood, and Urs Kallen. I did interviews with these men telling their stories of how they climbed the big south face on Yamnuska.

RM: I’d imagine it must have been pretty  nostalgic, dusting these old interviews out of the archives and rewatching them.

CS: It has been. I was really pleased that they’re better quality than I thought they might be. I’m a writer and not a filmmaker, so my interviews were done in a fairly amateurish fashion. I just set up the camera over my shoulder and let it run, but the quality is actually surprisingly good.

RM: With the rest of the interviews, are you planning more films like this?

CS: We are, down the road. We haven’t made any definite plans yet, but we have some ideas. One that I’m hoping we might do would tell the story of waterfall ice climbing in the Rockies in the early years. We also plan to take 11 interviews, the really good ones with some of the local stars like Sharon Wood, Barry Blanchard, Pat Morrow, Hans Gmoser…polish them up, add a few photographs, and make them easily viewable and accessible on the Whyte Museum website.