Barry Blanchard Author

Canadian Mountain Guide and alpinist, Barry Blanchard, was born in Calgary, March 29, 1959. Twelve years later three boys navigated the Bow River through the western side of the city on a raft of nailed together railway ties, Barry was at the helm steering the adventure. He found mountain climbing in the books of his high school library, some of which are still in his possession. A six-month trip to the French Alps in 1980 set the course of Barry’s life: to climb the steepest and most complicated faces of the world’s great glaciated peaks. Barry moved to the mountains in 1982 to pursue his Mountain Guiding career (he is an internationally certified -UIAGM- mountain guide) and has included making Hollywood features such as K2, Cliffhanger, and  The Vertical Limit in his professional life.  Barry lives in Canmore, Alberta, with his fiancé, Nicole, and his two daughters, Rosemary and Eowyn, and cats, Orion and Lemmy, and dog, Strummer.

Jeremy Dean (cover artist) has had a mildly successful career over the past 30 years as a designer, typographer and creative director. Starting his career at International type foundry House Industries, Jeremy was the first design hire before graduating from college as well as the first to leave. His time in the industry later took him from varied Art Director and Creative Director roles in corporate America. In early 2017 Jeremy struck out on his own, and currently manages a roster of clients that have included the Rolling Stones, John Mayer, Dead & Company, Green Day, Phish, Nike, K2, and Stella McCartney, under the studio name D.E.S. His “Wonders of Black Flag” t-shirt/art project  has built a cult following over the past few years with releases selling out in a matter of minutes much to the dismay of frustrated customers.