Wow – 2017 was indeed a busy year for the Mountain Legacy Project – work with our research partners at Library and Archives Canada / Bibliothèque et Archives Canada and Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, a full field season with 74 stations and approximately 700 images repeated, outreach with the Alpine Club of Canada, several papers and articles published, mountain photography work with students from the University of Alberta, and an increased research profile – to hit just a few of the high points!
Now, with 2018 upon us, and before things get hectic preparing for the upcoming field season, we thought it might be a good idea to reflect a bit with a series of blog posts that shine a spotlight on some of 2017’s accomplishments. We thought it might be fun to start “at the top” — well, as it is Mountain Legacy, everything is pretty much “at the top” — but here we go…
Celebrating International Mountain Day
Did you know that Dec 11th has been designated by the United Nations as International Mountain Day, and has been a day to honour all things “mountain” since 2003? This year the Mountain Legacy Project went all-in on celebrating the day with four radio interviews, participation in a live-streamed web-cast, a press release from the University of Victoria, and a front and centre set of images on UVic’s main website. We even went national with an article on the CBC News website and were featured in Bob McDonald‘s Quirks and Quarks blog! Whew — it turned out to be quite a celebration indeed!
Not to blow our own horn — or, at least not to blow it too loudly — but we felt it might be a good idea to gather all this media together, if only for posterity.
Media from the University of Victoria
Dec 7, 2017 – Press Release:150 years of mountain photos show dramatic change to landscapes
Dec 15, 2017– UVic News: 7,000 pairs of images, 150 years of change
CBC News, Chek News, and Quirks & Quarks
Dec 11, 2017 – CBC News online: Historic photos show how Canada’s mountains have changed in 150 years
Dec 7, 2017 – Chek News online: Dramatic change through 150 years of mountain photos
Dec 8, 2017 – Bob McDonald’s Quirks and Quarks Blog: Watch the retreat of glaciers up Rocky Mountain slopes
Dec 11, 2017 – CBC Daybreak South with Chris Walker: MLP interview with Mary Sanseverino (advance 11 min 12 sec into interview)
Dec 16, 2017 – Radio Canada: L’Ouest canadien, 150 ans de métamorphose avec Julie Fortin.
2017 International Mountain Day broadcast
Dec 11, 2017: This year’s IMD web broadcast was sponsored by the Canadian Mountain Network and featured mountain stories and research from all over. Check out the entire stream at Canada’s International Mountain Day website (Fast forward to the MLP component here).
Dec 13, 2017: An article by Michelle Murphy from the Canadian Mountain Network: Capturing Landscape Change through Repeat Photography.
See the full listing of all Canadian events at the IMD Events Calendar — doesn’t this whet your appetite for next year’s International Mountain Day!
The B&W insets are from A.O. 1916 Wheeler’s survey of the inter-provincial boundary between Alberta and British Columbia. They were taken from the top of The Towers: explore.mountainlegacy.ca/stations/2244
This panorama matches the 1916 images taken by A.O. Wheeler. Although not shot on MLP-quality cameras, this pano does give a sense of what has changed (and what has not).
We are at the old Wheeler 1916 cairn on the summit. Here is the location: explore.mountainlegacy.ca/stations/2244