Photo by Linda Bily

Photo by Adrienne Marie

Photo by Linda Bily

John Baldwin

Growing up in Vancouver, John Baldwin became fascinated by the Coast Mountains that rise above the city and developed a lifelong passion to explore this incredible range of mountain wilderness.

Over the past 40 years he has completed numerous first ascents and pioneered many long ski traverses, often to remote areas that have rarely been seen or photographed. For John, the purpose of these explorations is to travel through the mountain wilderness, to climb high snowy peaks, to search for sheltered basins where the snow is deep and light, to look at patterns in the new fallen snow, stare at the chaos of a jumbled icefall or experience the stillness of a vast icefield.

The motivation for his writing and photography is to inspire others to discover and connect with the intense beauty of this mountain wilderness. It is a celebration of where we live and how wonderful it is.

Awards

Sir Christopher Ondaatje Medal

The Royal Canadian Geographical Society has awarded the 2022 Sir Christopher Ondaatje Medal for Exploration to John Baldwin, a ski pioneer, who has explored and documented the landscape of the Coast Mountains of B.C., increasing international awareness of the area through his writing.

Alpine Club of Canada Honourary Membership

On October 27, 2020 John was awarded an honourary lifelong membership in the Alpine Club of Canada.

Patron of the 2019 Mountains Guides Ball

John was named Patron of the 2019 Mountains Guides Ball. The Mountain Guides Ball is an annual gala event of The Alpine Club of Canada (ACC) and the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides (ACMG) that brings together the mountain community to celebrate our mountain culture. Each year, a Patron is honoured for their contribution to our mountain community. See article in Pique Magazine.

Summit Series

The Alpine Club of Canada published a biography of John in October 2019 as part of their summit series of mountaineering biographies on Guides Ball Patrons. This booklet is twenty-fifth in the Summit Series of "biographies of people who have made a difference in Canadian mountaineering".

BCMC Honourary Membership

On December 8, 2015 John was awarded an honourary lifelong membership in the BC Mountaineering Club.

For the Environment

All printing, shipping and travel is 100% Carbon Offset.

Exploring the Coast Mountains on Skis is printed on environmentally-friendly paper. Backcountry maps are printed by a carbon neutral printer on long lasting synthetic material that is recyclable.

A percentage of revenues is donated to the backcountry ski community and environmental organizations. Recent donations have been made to the Avalanche Canada, Spearhead Huts Project, Wendy Thompson Hut, Keiths Hut, Hankin-Evelyn Backountry Ski Area, and Friends of Shames as well as CPAWS, David Suzuki Foundation, Ecojustice, Nature Conservancy, Pacific Wild, Pembina Institute, Sierra Club, West Coast Environmental Law and the Wilderness Committee.

Check out ideas on what you can do to save our Melting Landscapes.