Just over a year after publishing her first book 50 Percent of Mountaineering is Uphill, local author Susanna (Susi) Pfisterer鈥檚 novel has been shortlisted for the Alberta Readers鈥� Choice Award.
Her book is among four other finalists to make the final cut for the prestigious award sponsored by the Edmonton Public Library.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very exciting and I鈥檓 honoured,鈥� said Pfisterer. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know my publishers were putting me in for this.鈥�
Her book chronicles the life of her late father Willi Pfisterer, who was a mountain guide, avalanche specialist and Jasper National Park warden.
鈥淚 think he鈥檇 be really happy,鈥� said Susi. 鈥淥n one hand he really wanted to put the story out there, but on the other hand I think it kind of intimidated him a bit.鈥�
Originally from Austria, Willi immigrated to Canada in the 1950s to conquer the Rockies, but ended up staying and became an integral part of mountain safety in Western Canada and the Yukon鈥攇uiding climbers up to the highest peaks and rescuing them from perilous situations.
Throughout his long life in the West, Willi became one of the founding members of the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides and the Canadian Avalanche Rescue Dog Association. He also helped advance snow and avalanche programs while working in Jasper National Park. On top of all that, Willi climbed approximately 1,600 peaks and was involved in more than 700 mountain rescues, doing everything from avalanche extrication to writing up the paperwork for management.
All of his responsibilities allowed him to rack up tons of exciting, yet sometimes devastating stories.
The mountain man died at the age of 83 in the summer of 2010, but not before his daughter began to chronicle his stories.
鈥淏efore he passed away we had done a lot of taping and I gathered up a lot of stuff for the book. That included writing letters to different parks to see if they had tapes or different bits of information about him,鈥� explained Susi.
鈥淚t took a long time to write so when he passed away I had roughly written the first two chapters and he heard that, but the rest of it was all pieced together after that.鈥�
Over the years several authors had approached him to write a book about his life, but he remained reluctant to let someone else write his story until Susi moved back to Jasper in 2004 with her two young children and convinced him to do it for his family.
鈥淚 think I got him,鈥� said Susi. 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 what he was worried about with someone else doing it, that it wouldn鈥檛 be quite how he wanted it, but I knew how he would鈥檝e written it so I tried to stay as true to that as I could.鈥�
While a lot of the stories found in the book are about rescuing people from dangerous situations, the stories also delve deeper into the human emotion of those rescues and their toll on him and his fellow rescuers.
鈥淚 think it shows the whole person and I think that鈥檚 what he wanted to do. He didn鈥檛 want to just show what they accomplished, he wanted to show what the difficulties were and what was hard for them emotionally,鈥� said Susi.
鈥淚鈥檝e had comments from people who have nothing to do with mountains at all. It takes them into a different world.鈥�
To vote for her book visit: www.epl.ca/ARCAvote.
Paul Clarke
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