The UIAA in Banff : Women who have made a difference to the Mountaineering Community

Bernadette McDonald

Bernadette McDonald is the former vice president, Mountain Culture, at The Banff Centre. Within that division, Bernadette was director of the Banff Mountain Film Festival, now in its 31st year, and founding director of the Banff Mountain Book Festival.

Bernadette has degrees in English literature and music, with specialization in performance and analytical theory. She spent two years in the music program at The Banff Centre performing contemporary music with her ensemble, Fusion 5.

Bernadette has taught music privately and at the college level. She spent six years with Jasper National Park before moving to the Banff Mountain Film Festival. She was director of the festival since 1988, as well as acting as festival juror on festivals around the world. During her time with the Festival, it grew from a weekend film event to a 12-month, global touring program with an international program of films, authors, speakers, and exhibitions spanning seven continents. Bernadette is the co-editor of Voices From the Summit: The World’s Great Mountaineers on the Future of Climbing, published by National Geographic, is author of a chapter on heli-skiing in a National Geographic publication, is editor of Extreme Landscape, and co-editor of Whose Water Is It. She is author of Ritratti dalle vette, alpinisti fotografati da Craig Richards, published in Italian in 2003. Her most recent book is I’ll Call You in Kathmandu: The Elizabeth Hawley Story, published in 2005 by The Mountaineers Books.

Bernadette is past chair of the board of trustees for the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, and a founding member of the International Alliance for Mountain Film. She was an invited speaker at the General Assembly of the United Nations in 2001 to launch International Year of Mountains.

Bernadette spends most of her discretionary time in the mountains, climbing, ski touring, hiking and riding. These travels have taken her to the mountains of Japan, South America, Africa, Europe, and Tibet, as well as the North American Ranges.