Fred Beckey is an audacious living legend who is responsible for more first ascents (over a 70-year span) than any other climber in North America. He is also the leading chronicler of the mountains of the Pacific Northwest; his guidebooks for the Cascades remain the standard. Expert in the geology, natural and social history of the mountain places he loves, Beckey is one of the great travel writers of any age. Now in his eighties and still climbing he is revered throughout the North American climbing community as the original dirtbag.”

Barry Blanchard: Barry Blanchard is one of North America's top alpinists, noted for pushing the standards of highly technical, high-risk alpine climbing in the Canadian Rockies and the Himalayas.