“Awe. How many thoughtful people can claim that awe is or was at the centre of their lives or careers? Inhabiting mountains permits, engenders, and upholds that blessing”.

Ian S. MacLaren in the forward to Mountain Voices: The Mountain Legacy Project and a Century of Change in Western Canada.

Event Details:
Strathcona Wilderness Institute is excited to hold a fundraising presentation by Mary Sanseverino on the University of Victoria’s Mountain Legacy Project. Expect an image-rich evening of lively discussion centred on mountains, why they matter to us, and how we can turn mountain awe and awareness into mountain advocacy and action. 

For 30 years the University of Victoria’s Mountain Legacy Project (MLP) has been using repeat photography to examine the awe-filled landscapes of the Canadian mountain west. Working with Library and Archives Canada, provincial archives, museums, and individuals to uncover historical mountain images (many over a century old), MLP teams seek to determine the location images were taken from, go to the same place, and rephotograph them as accurately as possible. The historic and modern images are then aligned, analysed, and made available to anyone – from scientist to mountaineer – interested in exploring Canada’s mountain heights.

These remarkable historic/modern image pairs are the basis of the MLP collection. The data from these pairs have been used primarily in academic and land-management research. But as climate change overtakes us we need to tell mountain stories in a different and more personal context.  One that not only stirs the awe that mountains can evoke, but reminds us – almost on an individual level – of what is at stake in a rapidly warming world.

With this in mind, join mountain researcher and author Mary Sanseverino as she guides us through an exploration of the transformative power of mountains. We’ll look at why Canada has the world’s largest systematic collection of historic mountain images, and examine some of the science (and adventure!) behind repeat mountain photography. We’ll close with a peek into Mountain Voices – a compelling new work which directly lifts and connects MLP’s world-renowned mountain imagery with a diverse range of personal mountain interactions.

Expect an image-rich evening of lively discussion centred on mountains, why they matter to us, and how we can turn mountain awe and awareness into mountain advocacy and action. 

Added Bonus – a free in-person draw for a copy of Mountain Voices: The Mountain Legacy Project and a Century of Change in Western Canada (U of Calgary Press) and for Native Plants of BC’s Coastal Dry Belt (Harbour Publishing).