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
Originally, the CMC was the meeting point of Canada's top climbers who gathered together to plan expeditions, plot potential first ascents and discuss the advancement of their chosen sport. Today, it still provides this function but also serves as a means for new climbers to meet.
Scope & Content
Series consists of photographs pertaining to the Calgary Mountain Club and its activities.
Series is comprised of digital images (copies) and interviews used for research and final publication of book "Pushing the Limits". Includes 126 individual interviews recorded on Fuji Hi-8 tapes.
This is the work of a lifetime. It tells the story of Canada’s 200 year mountaineering history from the early pioneers to modern day climbing athletes. Discover the story of Canadian climbing from the crags to the gyms, from Squamish to Val David and from the Yukon to the Rockies.
Read about the Swiss guides hired by Canadian Pacific Hotels who ushered in the glory years of the first ascents. Discover the British and American men of leisure who struggled with the wilderness to reach the summits and unravel the complex geography. Learn about the European immigrants of the 1950s who pushed the limits on the rock walls and the Americans who led the search for frightening new routes on the north faces. Join the British expatriates as they pioneer the exciting new sport of waterfall ice climbing. Then witness the popular growth in sport climbing both on the crags and in the gyms.
Finally discover how home grown Canadian climbers, initially slow to take up the challenge of mountaineering, have become world leaders in the sport.
Scope & Content
Series is comprised of digital images (copies) and interviews used for research and final publication of book "Pushing the Limits". Includes 126 individual interviews recorded on Fuji Hi-8 tapes.
Notes
Interviews are arranged alphabetically in series by last name of interviewee [see "Content Details"].
The classic guidebook to cross country ski trails in Waterton, Banff, Kootenay, Yoho and Jasper National Parks as well as Mount Assiniboine and Mount Robson Provincial Parks and Kananaskis Country, now greatly expanded to includes ski trails in the front ranges of the Rockies, in the Crowsnest Pass and in the Columbia Valley. Jointly authored with Darren Farley.
This book also covers topics such as accommodation, regulations, weather and snow conditions.
Scope & Content
Series consists of 3 CD's with photo scans pertaining to the creation of Ski Trails of the Canadian Rockies.