In this interview with Canadian alpinist, Barry Blanchard, we get beyond the pages of his first book, The Calling: A Life Rocked By Mountains, and dig into his writing process, favourite climbs, tactics for enduring a sufferfest, and how fatherhood has affected his climbing.

Nancy Hansen never talks about her objectives before she climbs them, with one exception: Mt. Everest. This spring, the 46-year-old Canmore mountaineer will attempt to climb the world’s highest mountain with German alpinist, Ralf Dujmovits, 53, via the Norton Couloir on Everest’s northern (Tibet) side. We caught up with Hansen while she’s in Bühl, Germany, to train in the Alps, and discussed her fears about this upcoming expedition, what drives her, and why she compares climbing to a game of chess.