It was while riding a motorcycle across British Columbia for over a decade that Trevor Marc Hughes began writing about the history of his home province in Nearly 40 on the 37 and Zero Avenue to Peace Park. He then developed late B.C. naturalist Hamilton Mack Laing’s account of his 1915 motorcycle travels across the United States for the Ronsdale Press title Riding the Continent. In Capturing the Summit, Hughes looks into Laing’s expedition career while he was “the tail of the kite” during one of his greatest adventures, accompanying the mountaineers who made the first ascent of Canada’s tallest peak, Mount Logan.
Visit him at www.trevormarchughes.ca
Capturing the Summit: Hamilton Mack Laing and the Mount Logan Expedition of 1925
by Trevor Marc Hughes
A century ago, Hamilton Mack Laing was a successful freelance naturalist, photographer and writer. He would regularly be employed by museums on expeditions within Canada.
In April 1925, he was suddenly ushered in by the Victoria Memorial Museum to act as naturalist and cinematographer on the expedition attempting to make the first ascent of Mount Logan, the highest peak in the Dominion of Canada, with mountaineers such as W.W. Foster and Allen Carpe.
Soon Laing would be facing the challenge of the Alaskan wild. The mountaineers would face the test of their lives.
Author Trevor Marc Hughes will introduce the subject of Canadian mountaineering expeditions at this time. How, in their own historical context, they were focused on understanding the natural world, yet at the same time sought to conquer nature, and illustrate the challenges of mounting an expedition far away from human habitation, without the use of maps or today's transportation options, such as aircraft. It was a leap of faith, into the unknown.
Capturing the Summit: historical writing from diary sources
presenter: Trevor Marc Hughes
A century ago, Hamilton Mack Laing was a successful freelance naturalist, photographer and writer. He would regularly be employed by museums on expeditions within Canada.
In April 1925, he was suddenly ushered in by the Victoria Memorial Museum to act as naturalist and cinematographer on the expedition attempting to make the first ascent of Mount Logan, the highest peak in the Dominion of Canada, with mountaineers such as W.W. Foster and Allen Carpe.
Soon Laing would be facing the challenge of the Alaskan wild. The mountaineers would face the test of their lives.
Author Trevor Marc Hughes will delve into the process of researching from diary sources, pulling from recent experience at British Columbia Archives and the Whyte Museum in Banff, Alberta. The diaries of two members of the expedition became key in setting the structure for a linear tale, and sources beyond that (including journals, reports, photography and correspondence) filled in the blanks. When entering an archive building, what do you search for? How do you retain the information within diaries? What will the archival institution allow? What are the benefits/shortcomings of online/in-person research? How can diaries help flesh out the human story, including conflict, making for greater drama in your tale? This workshop will ideally allow participants to benefit from the recent experience of Trevor Marc Hughes while he wrote his tale of one of the greatest adventures in Canadian mountaineering history.
Capturing the Summit: Hamilton Mack Laing and the Mount Logan Expedition of 1925
by Trevor Marc Hughes
A century ago, Hamilton Mack Laing of Comox, British Columbiawas a successful freelance naturalist, photographer and writer. He would regularly be employed by museums on expeditions within Canada.
In April 1925, he was suddenly ushered in by the Victoria Memorial Museum to act as naturalist and cinematographer on the expedition attempting to make the first ascent of Mount Logan, the highest peak in the Dominion of Canada, with mountaineers such as W.W. Foster and Allen Carpe.
Soon Laing would be facing the challenge of the Alaskan wild. The mountaineers would face the test of their lives.
Author Trevor Marc Hughes will introduce the subject of mountaineering expeditions at this time, how, in their own historical context they were focused on understanding the natural world, yet at the same time sought to conquer nature, and illustrate the challenges of mounting an expedition far away from human habitation, without the use of maps or today's transportation options, such as aircraft. It was a leap of faith, into the unknown. The talk will also look at how the motion picture photography practiced during the expedition was very much a precursor to today's nature documentary and helped to pave the way to a more comprehensive, and less invasive, study of nature.
