The mountain parks are for all Canadians for all time and their value cannot be measured in terms of how many access roads, motels, souvenir shops and golf courses we've provided. -Bob Jordan, 1971 The Alpine Club of Canada imagined the Rockies and neighbouring ranges to the west and the north as a "climber's paradise." Through a century of adventure and advocacy, the ACC led the way to mountain pursuits in spectacular regions. Historian and mountain studies specialist PearlAnn Reichwein's research is informed by her experiences mountaineering and by her interest in mountain culture. She presents a compelling case for understanding wild spaces and human activity within them as parts of a whole. A work of invaluable scholarship in the areas of environmental history, public policy, sport studies, recreation, and tourism, Climber's Paradise will appeal to many non-specialists, mountaineers, environmentalists, and travellers across Canada and beyond. Tenacious activism of the Alpine Club of Canada leads to mountain recreation and conservation. "At a time when civil society and environmental organizations are being vilified in the media as 'special interest groups,' it is important to understand the crucial roles played by the Alpine Club of Canada not only in the creation of our magnificent mountain parks but in shaping the Canadian identity." "Wilderness. Symbol of nationhood. Playground. Sanctuary. Revenue source. Over the last century Canada's mountain parks have been imagined and reimagined through a spectrum of meanings and contending desires. PearlAnn Reichwein's history of the Alpine Club of Canada explores these incarnations and tells the fascinating stories of the people who cared fiercely for the mountains and struggled over their use and value. Just as importantly, Reichwein traces out the less visible tracks of class, race, and gender that weave through the grand narratives of adventure and conquest. This is vital reading for anyone who cares about our vanishing wild heritage." "This is a remarkable story. It's about how a small group of urban, middle-class, Anglo Canadians, working through the Alpine Club of Canada, sought to assert their narratives of alpinism, the environment, nation, and interpersonal relations on Canada's western Canadian mountain parks, and the conditions they faced, the institutions they created, the political victories they achieved, and the struggles and setbacks they encountered.
Professor Reichwein tells it brilliantly, bringing both a climbers' love of the mountains and a social historian's critical distance and research to her subject. Her analysis is illuminated with mini-biographies of the key players, grounded in their speeches and personal correspondence resourcefully dug out of archival collections, and an extensive collection of photographs.
It's an important contribution to the history of Canadian sport and recreation and a telling case study of volunteering, but anyone who has ever holidayed or even contemplated a hike in a mountain national park would enjoy and benefit from this book." All the various design decisions contribute to an expansive, light, airy feel befitting of the book's content. The typography is clean and precise and creates an inviting reading experience." 80 B&W illustrations, 4 tables, 1 map, bibliography, notes, index "There has been a definite need for a finely crafted book on the relationship between the Alpine Club of Canada (ACC) and Canada's Mountain Parks: Climber's Paradise tells the tale in an exquisite manner and, in doing so, reveals much about the complex paradise of Canada's mountaineering history and ethos.... Reichwein has certainly emerged...as one of the primary keepers of the distinctive Canadian mountaineering tradition, and Climber's Paradise confirms yet again why this is the indubitable case." [Full review at bit.ly/1nYxnCK] "The social and cultural history of mountaineering can go far beyond the simple
