Celebrating our 2022 Volunteer Award recipients
Volunteers are the heart and soul of The Alpine Club of Canada.
Season to season, day in and day out for over a century, volunteers run the sections, write articles, lead trips, protect the alpine environment and demonstrate their commitment to the club. Every season, and in every part of Canada, volunteer trip leaders take enthusiastic groups and new members on climbing, hiking and skiing outings. They are skilled, dedicated, giving and tireless. Without them there is simply no ACC.
The ACC Volunteer Awards recognize those members who have made significant contributions in furthering the aims and goals of the club and Canadian mountaineering in general in the previous year. This year, please join us in recognizing the outstanding volunteers mentioned below.
2022 recipients
SILVER ROPE FOR LEADERSHIP AWARD
This award is presented to members in good standing with the ACC who have demonstrated technical skills and leadership abilities of a high caliber in mountaineering or ski mountaineering over a number of years.
Zac Robinson - Unaffiliated
Zac Robinson has contributed to the Canadian mountain community and The Alpine Club of Canada for more than two decades. An accomplished mountaineer, he has summited Mount Robson and Mount Logan, has skied the Great Divide Ski Traverse and guided Aconcagua in Argentina twice.
Zac is a history professor at the University of Alberta, specializing in Mountain culture and history. With The Alpine Club of Canada he has served as a manager and amateur guide at the General Mountaineering Camps for 18 years. He served as ACC Vice President in charge of activities from 2010-2014 and is currently the Vice President of Mountain Culture, having served in this position for 8 years.
Zac has contributed to our mountain community in so many ways – he has organized three Thinking Mountains Conferences, written or edited several books and created the highly successful online Mountains 101 course. Zac also serves as the Chair of the Expeditions Committee for the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.
Helen Sovdat - Rocky Mountain
Helen Sovdat is one of Canada’s finest mountain guides. She a long-time guide with The Alpine Club of Canada, Canadian Mountain Holidays and is an instructor with the ACMG certification program. She has led a variety of expeditions in Canada and abroad, with travels to the St Elias, Andes, Himalaya, and Altai mountains. Her accomplishments as a climber and skier are stunning. She has pioneered long traverses along the crest of the Coast Mounatins. She has stood on nearly all of the peaks in the Canadian Rockies that exceed 11,000 feet (3,353m). She has climbed in the high ranges of Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru. In Asia she has scaled some of the world’s highest mountains: Ama Dablam, Cho Oyu, and Manaslu. Many of these adventures were with members of her loyal legion of clients along. Helen was chosen as the patron of the 2015 Mountain Guides Ball.
DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD
For members who have contributed outstanding service to the Club or a section over a period exceeding five years:
furthering aims of the club or a section
on a committee or project of the club or a section
providing leadership for a large undertaking for the club or a section
contributing towards the activities of the club or a section
been award the Don Forest Service Award prior to consideration for this award
DAVID DORNIAN - Unaffiliated
David Dornian has been a member of the ACC since 1992. David has won many volunteer awards already including: The A.O. Wheeler Legacy Award in 2010, The Silver Rope For Leadership Award in 2003 and The Distinguished Service Award in 1992. David has volunteered all over the club and was an integral part in the ACC’s Competition Climbing Team (now Escalade Canada) and the Competition Ski Mountaineering Team (past chair). He’s still involved in the Competition Ice Climbing team and volunteers at Skimo races each winter. Dave has also been the chair of the GMC Committee for many years and each year hires, evaluates and schedules the volunteer leaders. Dave also writes the GMC report for the CAJ every year. He is on the Jim Colpitts Committee that choses winners for the annual Jim Colpitts Grant. Dave is a wealth of knowledge of the club’s history and always ready to lend a helping hand.
ERIC BROOKS LEADER AWARD
For members who have demonstrated a strong, consistent commitment to learn and apply technical and leadership skills in mountaineering or ski mountaineering on club or section organized activities over a minimum period of one to five years.
Marcus Tomlinson - Vancouver
Marcus is one of the Vancouver Section’s most active leaders and course instructors. Over the ten years of his rock climbing and mountaineering experience he has taken courses to learn skills and the section sponsored him for the 2017 North Face Winter Leadership course. Equally important as his technical skills, Marcus has also developed his soft skills to a high level of competence. In the field he makes a point of keeping trip participants informed and including them in the decision-making process. His trip preparation includes detailed route planning and accounting for repair and first aid kits. He is active from the gym to multi-day ski traverses in the Coast Mountains.
Phong Nguyen - Ottawa
Phong Nguyen has made a variety of contributions to the Ottawa section of the ACC. He has served as a Climbing Coordinator for four years and during that time has helped to grow their pool of leaders. He has served as a mentor to new trip leaders. He continues to lead several trips each year, including at least one weekend of multi pitch climbing, giving members experience beyond the beginner level. Phong is also appreciated for his humorous trip accounts, blending fact and fiction to create stories we all look forward to reading! He has an easygoing and encouraging way about him that makes others appreciate the section and want to step up to help out themselves.
Derek Sou - Vancouver Island
Tyler Hallman - Calgary
DON FOREST SERVICE AWARD
Recipients of the Don Forest Service Award have contributed significant service to the club or a section over a minimum period of one to five years.
Further the aims of the club or a section
On a committee or project of the club or a section
Contributing to a large undertaking of the club or a section
Towards the activities of the club or a section
Heather Chamberlain - Rocky Mountain
Originally from Guelph, Ontario, Heather has been calling Banff, Alberta her home for ten years. She has been involved in volunteering for The Alpine Club of Canada Rocky Mountain Section as an active member and a trip leader since she moved to the Canadian Rockies. She has held many roles on the Rocky Mountain Section executive committee over the past several years, currently the Rocky Mountain section representative for the national office. Heather continues to exemplify the positive traits necessary to meet the section’s mission. She helps to serve as a member of the board and also leads members to actively engage with our beautiful and fragile mountain environment.
Janelle Curtis - Vancouver Island
A long-term executive member of Vancouver Island Section, Janelle has served tirelessly as Membership Coordinator; Editor of quarterly "Island Bushwacker Newsletter" and the magazine quality "Island Bushwacker Annual" which celebrates Vancouver Island Section trips. Another special gift to the section are her amazing "Beginner Backpacking Trips for Women."
Katarzyna Dyszy - Manitoba
Kaisa has been volunteering for the Manitoba Section for several years as a trip leader, on the board and various committees. She currently holds positions as Membership, Social and Winter Activities Coordinators. She volunteers as the volunteer coordinator for the annual Banff Mountain Film Festival screening the section hosts. She is always eager to volunteer for projects needing a leader or volunteer. Kasia is an active trip leader and participant for summer and winter activities often bringing her family along.
Lida Frydrychova - Calgary
Through the ACC Calgary Lida discovered many remote locations in the Canadian Rockies. For years Lida has been an active contributor to the Calgary Section leading multiple trips each season. Her skill set allows her to lead rock climbing trips and both summer alpine climbs and winter ski-mountaineering trips. Each year Lida includes a trip to one of the ACC huts.
On several occasions she has led international trips for her section to Europe, South America and Mexico. A couple of Lida’s personal high points are summiting Denali and Mount Alberta. When she was the section’s Alpine Chair she developed the Alpine Mentorship Program to train new leaders and introduce new climbers to safe climbing. Lida continues to give back to the mountain community and has now taken on the role of Section Vice-Chair.
Ray Hope - Manitoba
Ray has been volunteering for the Manitoba Section for several years as a trip leader and on the board. He served as secretary for a few years and now as chair of the Training and Development committee. In his current role he has organized trip leader training events and wilderness first aid courses. As a trip leader he has organized rock and ice climbing trips to NW Ontario and Minnesota and summer mountaineering trips to the Rockies. Ray has also taken on projects such as redevelopment of the section website, organizing photo contests and volunteering for the Banff Mountain Film Festival committee. He has participated in the TNF summer course and is a certified ACMG top rope climbing instructor. He is active in the club and getting his family outdoors.
William (Bill) Barrett - Ottawa
Bill has always been active in a variety of outdoor activities - hiking, climbing, skiing, biking, canoeing. And he is very keen to pass his passion for the outdoors on to others.
Bill has been part of the Ottawa Section for more than 13 years. He joined the ACC Ottawa executive team in 2010 and has held a number of different positions — Safety Coordinator, Training Coordinator, Hiking Coordinator, Access Coordinator, and Section Chair & ACC Section Representative. In his different roles, he has provided leadership and guidance for members as they get involved in leading and/or participating in section activities. He encourages members to participate in the different activities the section offers, providing support to members to motivate them to step outside of their comfort zone and try new activities. He is also available to mentor those members who want to develop their leadership skills, guiding them with best practices and helping them to plan and run their trips.
Bill is also involved with some organizations in the Ottawa area which focus on giving youth important opportunities to be active in the outdoors: St Bridget’s Summer Camp and Trips for Kids Ottawa. He is also interested in climate issues supporting the work of Protect Our Winters Canada.
Bryan Thompson - Toronto
For many, Bryan Thompson's energy and enthusiasm have been the welcome mat when joining the ACC's Toronto Section. Food is Bryan's love language. He expresses his feelings for the club through preparing meals for our annual Thanksgiving and Ox Roast events and many, many fund raisers. Since joining the section, Bryan has chaired several committees, served on the board, run clinics and events. Bryan has been integral to the continued life and success of the section.
Ben Wilkey - Columbia Mountains
Born and raised in Revelstoke, Ben Wilkey is a founding member of the Columbia Mountains section who has dedicated years of his life to sharing the region's mountains and trails with others. As a commercial helicopter pilot, father, climber, splitboarder, and biker, he shares his passion for the outdoors by creating the section's kids climbing, mountaineering, and ski touring programs as well as leading maintenance programs for some of Revelstoke's most iconic local hiking trails and remote campsites. His close knowledge of the Columbia Mountains, as well as his lifelong relationships in the community, make him an invaluable asset to the club.
Frank Spears - Prince George
Frank Spears has been a member of the ACC since 2006. He joined so he could learn how to head out into the mountain safely with his daughter Angeline Spears (also a long-time volunteer and past chair of the Prince George Section). Frank quickly became involved in the PG section and served as chair, vice-chair and section rep. Frank has now been the VP of Activities on the ACC board of directors since 2014 and serves on many committees: The Leadership Development Committee, The Safety Committee, The GMC Committee, The Karl Nagy Committee, The Philip Delesalle Committee, The Louise and Richard Guy Fund and The Jim Colpitts Committee. Of note is the project Frank has led on the Leadership Development Committee to create Leader Handbooks for sections leader training. Frank also volunteers regularly at the GMC. Franks passion for getting people out into the mountains safety shows through the many hours he volunteers and the projects he drives at the ACC.
Wayne Campbell - Jasper/hinton
Bill Pacholka - Great Plains
Nominate a volunteer
The deadline for nominations for the current year is December 31. To nominate a member, click the button below and follow the links to the nomination form on individual award pages.