Fonds consists of films, video recording, sound recordings, textual records and photographs produced and collected by Hans Gmoser. Film series (I.) includes: A.1. Presentation films by Hans Gmoser Productions, 1956-1967, 10 items. Feature-length adventure/annual films, mainly silent for live narrat…
25 motion pictures: 41 film reels, also audio reels and magnetic track. -- 17 film reels, 7 film strips, 1 video recording. -- 25 sound recordings. -- 15.5 cm textual records. -- ca.640 photographs: negatives, copy negatives, prints. -- 2 photograph albums. -- 39 cartographic records: maps, some annotated.
History / Biographical
Hans Gmoser, 1932-2006 was born in Braunau, Austria in 1932. During his long career he worked as a mountain guide, mountaineer, ski instructor, skier, cinematographer, lecturer, and founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Canadian Mountain Holidays. Hans Gmoser was also an active cyclist and was based in Banff and Harvie Heights, Alberta.
Gmoser gained early skiing and mountaineering experience in post-war Austria before emigrating to Canada with his friend Leo Grillmair in 1951. Lizzie Rummel gave him his first job in the mountains at Mount Assiniboine. By 1953 he was working as a mountain guide and founded Rocky Mountain Guides Ltd. (Canadian Mountain Holidays CMH) in 1957. That year he began filming promotional films containing climbing and skiing adventure sequences. He first used fixed-wing aircraft and later helicopters, starting in 1963, to transport clients for spring skiing and summer climbing. Gmoser toured throughout North America promoting his skiing and climbing films, attracting large audiences with his inspiring lectures.
Gmoser built Bugaboo Lodge in 1968, the first of six lodges which also include Bobbie Burns, Galena, Gothics, Adamants and Cariboo lodges, to serve international heli-skiers and heli-hikers. Gmoser retired from Canadian Mountain Holidays in 1993. Hans Gmoser received honourary memberships in the Alpine Club of Canada and the International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations. He was elected to the Honour Roll of Canadian Skiing and the U.S. National Ski Hall of Fame and received the Banff Mountain Film Festival Summit of Excellence Award. In 1987 Hans Gmoser was awarded the Order of Canada.
Scope & Content
Fonds consists of films, video recording, sound recordings, textual records and photographs produced and collected by Hans Gmoser.
Film series (I.) includes: A.1. Presentation films by Hans Gmoser Productions, 1956-1967, 10 items. Feature-length adventure/annual films, mainly silent for live narration with background music. Some with sound tracks. A.2. Edited versions of presentation films, 1959-1968, 5 motion pictures. B. Other films by Hans Gmoser, 1962-[1969], 8 motion pictures. C. Out-takes, fragment and miscellaneous films, 1960-ca.1970, 17 film reels; Skifarri - Head Hunter film, 1924-1950s, 7 negative strips. D. Collected films, ca.1960, 1972, 2 motion pictures.
Other series are: II. Video recording, 1979; III. Sound recordings (not related to films) include 23 reel to reel tapes of classical and traditional folk songs, 1961 and 1979; IV. Textual records, ca.1955-ca.1995, in the form of film documentation, script to "Ski's over McKinley," certificates, Order of Canada correspondence and information, personal papers and correspondence, maps and other records; V. Photographs, 1950-1986. Photographs pertain to ski trips, climbing expeditions to Mt. Logan, Mt. Robson, Wapta Glacier, Columbia Icefields, Canoe Glacier, Rodgers pass trip, mountaineering clubs, Trudeau/Bugaboo trip, Assiniboine Lodge, portraits of Lizzie Rummel, Erling Strom, and Jim Davies. Albums consist of photographs taken during ski trips in Austria.
Films depict a mixture of skiing and climbing including spring skiing, powder skiing, glacier skiing on Columbia Icefield, heli-skiing in the Rockies and Selkirks and ascents of Mount Logan, Yukon, and Mounts Blackburn and McKinley, Alaska, also rock and ice climbing. Feature length films consist of, or are accompanied by, all or some of the following elements: 16mm originals (A and B rolls); work prints, out takes, 16mm mag track (sound); 1/4" audio tape (background music to accompany narration, 7 items); teasers (TV film clips) and the following items included in the textual records: narration scripts, teaser text, descriptive flyers, press releases, annual pamphlets and ad solicitation for same, censor certificates, related correspondence, maps, oversize promotional posters for Gmoser's films "With Ski and Rope" 1957, and a handmade poster by Banff Ski Runners for "Adventure Bound" and related ephemera.
Pertains mainly to skiing on Bugaboo Glacier and ascent of Snowpatch Spire. Ski participants include Linda Crutchfield, Oakie O'Connor, Scott Henderson, Wayne Henderson, Mike Wiegele and Hans Gmoser. Ascent of Snowpatch Spire includes Leo Grillmair, Mike Wiegele, Lilo Schmid, Dick Lofthouse, Fran…
1 motion picture (4 film reels: ca.1300'ea.) : 16 mm, original, acetate, col., silent
Scope & Content
Pertains mainly to skiing on Bugaboo Glacier and ascent of Snowpatch Spire. Ski participants include Linda Crutchfield, Oakie O'Connor, Scott Henderson, Wayne Henderson, Mike Wiegele and Hans Gmoser. Ascent of Snowpatch Spire includes Leo Grillmair, Mike Wiegele, Lilo Schmid, Dick Lofthouse, Franz Dopf and Hans Gmoser. Film also features Japanese student climb of Mount Logan, skiing on Illecillewaet Glacier and skiing at North American ski resorts,showing numerous internationally renowned skiers. Film is in tqo parts: Adventure Bound #1 and Adventure Bound #2.
Accompanied by out-takes, release prints and textual records (M224 / 9)
Related Material
Re-edited in part as Snowpatch Spire, ca.1968 (V68 / NF - 15)
Album dates to 1947- 1951. Album measures as 35.5 x 28.5 cm, it is blue with “Photographs” embossed in gold, red stains on front. Images relate to skiing, possibly family, mountains, some postcards with writing on back, bike trips.
Album dates to 1947- 1951. Album measures as 35.5 x 28.5 cm, it is blue with “Photographs” embossed in gold, red stains on front. Images relate to skiing, possibly family, mountains, some postcards with writing on back, bike trips.
The pictures are tipped in, mounted on black construction paper, some images missing, several pages have captions and dates written in German, images of varying sizes, many 9.5 x 7 cm.
Album measures as 35.5 x 28 cm and is brown with “Photographs” embossed in gold on the front .Images of Gmoser on hiking trips, annotated images of mountains with routes, postcards, skiing images, one long panorama shot of mountains taped together.
Album measures as 35.5 x 28 cm and is brown with “Photographs” embossed in gold on the front .Images of Gmoser on hiking trips, annotated images of mountains with routes, postcards, skiing images, one long panorama shot of mountains taped together.
Pictures tipped in with black or plastic tips, mounted on black construction paper, some images missing, images of varying sizes. No captions, no dates, all images black and white.
10 pages of photographs glued on black construction paper, 19 black and white photographs, small, of varying sizes, some with textured edges, no captions, 9 photographs missing.
White album with gold embossing titled “The Bobby Burns 1981”. Album with dedication on front cover from Dec 1981. 39 photographs in chronological order documenting the construction of the Bobbie Burns. Aug 1981-Dec 1981, some with captions, pictures measure 10 x 7.75 cm.
White album with gold embossing titled “The Bobby Burns 1981”. Album with dedication on front cover from Dec 1981. 39 photographs in chronological order documenting the construction of the Bobbie Burns. Aug 1981-Dec 1981, some with captions, pictures measure 10 x 7.75 cm.