Fonds consists of materials pertaining to Ben Gadd's personal life and career as an environmental researcher, educator, interpretive guide, publisher, public speaker and author, ca.1956-2018. Fonds includes maps, research materials, publication notes/drafts, correspondence, contracts, photographs, …
ca. 7.9 metres of textual records -- ca. 274 maps -- 29 VHS tapes -- ca.15 discs with digital files -- 21 cassettes -- photographs -- oversized materials -- USB stick with 15 sldeshows
History / Biographical
Ben Gadd (1946-) is a retired naturalist, guide, geologist, instructor, freelance writer and award-winning author based in the Canadian Rockies.
Ben was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado in 1946. He met his wife, Cia (Langdon) Gadd at Colorado College in 1965, and the couple married four weeks later. Ben and Cia had two sons, Will and Toby. Ben and his family relocated to Jasper in the late 1960s. Ben later attended the University of Lethbridge and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Earth Science in 1972.
Between 1976 and 1980, Ben taught classes at Mount Royal College and the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology; he later taught additional classes at Grant MacEwan College and Lakeland College. From 1981, Ben also worked as a seasonal naturalist/guide for Parks Canada. Ben left Parks Canada in 1985 to start an independent naturalist guiding business with Cia based in Jasper and other parts of the Canadian Rockies, which the couple continued to operate for over two decades.
Ben published his best-known work, "Handbook of the Canadian Rockies", through his publishing company Corax Press in 1986. The second edition of "Handbook of the Canadian Rockies" received multiple awards after its release in 1995. Ben's fiction book, "Raven's End" won the title of Best Canadian Rockies Book at the Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival in 2001 and became a Canadian bestseller. Overall, Ben has authored or co-authored 11 books and received nearly one dozen awards for his achievements as a writer, researcher and guide.
Ben continued to lead guided hikes and school programs until his retirement in 2016.
Scope & Content
Fonds consists of materials pertaining to Ben Gadd's personal life and career as an environmental researcher, educator, interpretive guide, publisher, public speaker and author, ca.1956-2018. Fonds includes maps, research materials, publication notes/drafts, correspondence, contracts, photographs, video and sound recordings, and other related material. Materials donated in 2024 include one USB stick containing
Notes
Ben Gadd fonds arrangement:
Series I : Personal records
- Subseries A : Travel guides and maps
- Subseries B : Education and early writings
- Subseries C : Personal interest files
- Subseries D : Other personal and collected
Series II : Research and publication records
- Subseries A : Handbook of the Canadian Rockies
- Subseries B : Other publications
Series III : Professional records
- Subseries A : Parks Canada Records
- Subseries B : Interpretive guiding
- Subseries C : Teaching records
- Subseries D : Other contracts and projects
Series IV : Legal and financial records
- Subseries A : Legal records
- Subseries B : Financial records
Files consist of summit notes and summit registers from Fortress Mountain produced by the Alpine Club of Canada between 1992 and 2005. Summit records include entries from visitors to the various summits which pertain to individuals' hiking and climbing trips; details of specific events which occurr…
Summit Registers and Notes produced by Alpine Club of Canada
Date Range
1992-1999
2002-2005
Physical Description
3 volumes
4 cm of textual records
History / Biographical
Fortress Mountain is located in Kananaskis Country, near Spray Valley, Banff National Park and Peter Lougheed Provincial Park. It was originally a mountain ski resort. The films, Inception, The Bourne Legacy, The Claim, The Revenant and others were filmed in the area. Canadian climate researchers have used the area of Fortress Mountain Resort to study the effects of climate change in the area.
Scope & Content
Files consist of summit notes and summit registers from Fortress Mountain produced by the Alpine Club of Canada between 1992 and 2005. Summit records include entries from visitors to the various summits which pertain to individuals' hiking and climbing trips; details of specific events which occurred while at the summit, wildlife sightings, trail updates, and related topics.
Files include:
M200 / V / A / 34: Fortress Mountain Summit register Aug. 16, 1992 - Aug. 13, 1995
M200 / V / A / 35: [Fortress Mountain? 1995 - 1999]
M200 / V / A / 36: Fortress Mountain Sep 15, 2002 - Aug 13, 2005
Fortress Mountain and the false promise of public participation in Alberta, March 2020, Shaun Fluker, In Wildlands Advocate, Vol. 28, No.1, March 2020, p. 6 - 8, The Alberta Wilderness Association Journal.
Whyte Archives Library Call Number: P
Files consist of summit notes and summit registers from Gap Peak produced by the Alpine Club of Canada between around 2006 to 2016. Summit records include entries from visitors to the various summits which pertain to individuals' hiking and climbing trips; details of specific events which occurred …
Summit Registers and Notes produced by Alpine Club of Canada
Date Range
ca. 2006-2016
Physical Description
2 cm of textual records
2 volumes
History / Biographical
Gap Peak is located in Kananaskis near Mount Fable, AB. Gap Peak is within the Grotto Mountain Provincial Recreation Area. Grotto Mountain, Mount Fable, and Anklebiter Ridge are in the surrounding area of Gap Peak.
Scope & Content
Files consist of summit notes and summit registers from Gap Peak produced by the Alpine Club of Canada between around 2006 to 2016. Summit records include entries from visitors to the various summits which pertain to individuals' hiking and climbing trips; details of specific events which occurred while at the summit, wildlife sightings, trail updates, and related topics.
Files include:
M200 / V / A / 61: Gap Peak [ca. 2006 -2015]
M200 / V / A / 62: GAP PEAK [2016]
File consists of 5 magazines dated between 2002 - 2015, some scanned pages from a 1978 newspaper, and an article with attached correspondence, each with content pertaining to Aileen Harmon. Includes 2 [duplicate] Canadian Wilderness magazines and an Alpine Club of Canada magazine with posthumous ar…
Items produced by Canadian Wilderness, Alpine Club of Canada, Univrsity of Alberta, Parks and Wilderness Quarterly, The Spectator and Fred Roots
Date Range
1978
2002
2011 - 2015
Physical Description
1.5 cm of textual records
Scope & Content
File consists of 5 magazines dated between 2002 - 2015, some scanned pages from a 1978 newspaper, and an article with attached correspondence, each with content pertaining to Aileen Harmon. Includes 2 [duplicate] Canadian Wilderness magazines and an Alpine Club of Canada magazine with posthumous articles on Aileen Harmon, a University of Alberta alumni magazine, a Parks and Wilderness Quarterly magazine with an article written by Aileen, scanned pages from The Spectator of an article quoting Aileen with a photograph of her included, and an article by Fred Roots published in Island Bushwacker magazine about Aileen, accompanied by a letter to Aileen from Fred Roots.
Notes
Contains two copies of the same magazine [Canadian Wilderness Spring/Summer 2015 issue].
File consists of published materials produced by Ben Gadd between 1989 and 1992. File includes various newspaper articles pertaining to wildlife and the environment in Jasper National Park and other areas of the Canadian Rockies; letters by Ben Gadd sent to various newspaper editors pertaining to e…
File consists of published materials produced by Ben Gadd between 1989 and 1992. File includes various newspaper articles pertaining to wildlife and the environment in Jasper National Park and other areas of the Canadian Rockies; letters by Ben Gadd sent to various newspaper editors pertaining to environmental issues and industrial development; and copies of a speech written by Ben summarizing how he and his wife Cia met and describing their wedding day in 1965, which Ben presented in honour of their 25th wedding anniversary.