Events › Mountains On the Edge: Canadian Mountain Field Guide - 120 Years of Mountaineers, Artists, and Skiers

This program is a partnership with The Faculty of Science at the University of Alberta. 

Celebrate Canadian mountains on the 120th anniversary of the Alpine Club of Canada, founded in March 1906. Historian PearlAnn Reichwein surveys mountain stories as your field guide. From early mountaineers in the Rockies and on glaciers in the Yukon St. Elias, artists at the Banff School of Fine Arts, to women on ski adventures in Banff and Jasper, her talk explores the history of the Canadian mountain west to understand people, places, and ideas. Featuring mountain landscapes and rare archival photographs, this account travels through time and reimagines mountain memory.

Speakers: Dr PearlAnn Reichwein

PearlAnn Reichwein, PhD, is a professor at the University of Alberta who studies mountain history and the Canadian west. Reichwein is the author of Climber's Paradise: Making Canada's Mountain Parks, 1906-1974, awarded the Canadian Historical Association Clio Prize and commended by INDIEFAB Book of the Year Awards. Her first book was Mountain Diaries: The Alpine Adventures of Margaret Fleming, 1929-1980, co-edited with Karen Fox. Both titles were shortlisted in the Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival. She co-authored Uplift: Visual Culture and the Banff School of Fine Arts with Karen Wall. Recently she collaborated with Graham McDowell and various co-authors of The Canadian Mountain Assessment: Walking Together to Enhance Understanding of Mountains in Canada, the Alberta Book Publishing Scholarly & Academic Book of the Year in 2024. 

Currently, Professor Reichwein writes about Canadian women in Nordic skiing and hosts the Ski Like a Girl Podcast – available on Spotify – with her research team in the Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation. Invited to guest lecture at the University of Gustave Eiffel in Paris and the University of Innsbruck in the Alps, Reichwein lives in Edmonton and enjoys giving public talks at museums and libraries.

Let’s Show Some Love With Toques and Mittens!

Our speaker and the Ski Like a Girl Podcast team are pleased to host a private toque and mitten drive in support of Spirit North. Please note that this is an independent initiative and is not connected to EPL.

Spirit North is a national charitable organization that connects Indigenous youth to the land. Donations help reduce barriers and ensure warm winter outdoor play for young participants (ages 5–18). New toques and mittens (with a nylon or polyester cover—no knits or thin mitts) are welcome as optional donations at the door, but donations are not required for entry.

The Mountains On the Edge speaker series is offered in partnership with the University of Alberta's Faculty of Science.