{"id":2451606,"date":"2019-11-26T21:21:00","date_gmt":"2019-11-27T04:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=316710"},"modified":"2019-11-26T21:21:00","modified_gmt":"2019-11-27T04:21:00","slug":"basalts-pete-mcbride-remains-on-grand-mission-for-the-grand-canyon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/basalts-pete-mcbride-remains-on-grand-mission-for-the-grand-canyon\/","title":{"rendered":"Basalt\u2019s Pete McBride remains on grand mission for the Grand Canyon"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Basalt photographer Pete McBride raked in another round of awards for his film and book about the Grand Canyon this month, but he isn\u2019t gloating about the accolades.<\/p>\n

His mission to educate people about the perils facing the national treasure isn\u2019t accomplished. The Trump administration is considering stripping protections from uranium mining in the vicinity, he said, and four dams have been proposed on the Little Colorado River. The dams would affect the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith conservation, you just need to lose once (and risk disaster). It\u2019s a never-ending battle,\u201d McBride said by telephone Tuesday while navigating Denver International Airport and trying to figure out how to get back to the Roaring Fork Valley in a snowstorm.<\/p>\n

He got involved in the Grand Canyon project with buddy and writer Kevin Fedarko to raise awareness to the various man-made threats facing the spectacular setting. They hiked the length<\/a> of the Grand Canyon in sections between September 2015 and November 2016. They covered between 750 and 800 miles during a cumulative 71 days and 70 nights.<\/p>\n

The hiking was physically taxing and occasionally nerve-wracking even for the two experienced adventurers. They had to deal with extreme heat and cold. They had to pick their way through a maze of side canyons and sheer rock walls. They estimated 70% of the route was off established trails during the assignment for National Geographic magazine.<\/p>\n

McBride was so moved by the experience that he documented it in the 2018 book \u201cThe Grand Canyon: Between River and Rim\u201d and the 2019 film \u201cInto the Canyon.\u201d<\/p>\n

The book won a \u201cBest Mountain Image\u201d award while the film won \u201cBest Feature-Length Film\u201d earlier this month at the prestigious Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival.<\/p>\n

On Nov. 14, the book was won the design and artistic merit category in the National Outdoor Book Awards.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always nice to get recognized,\u201dMcBride said. \u201cIt\u2019s like a cherry on top because it was such a long project.\u201d<\/p>\n

Banff officials told him their research indicated it was the first time someone has won both the film and book award in the same year.<\/p>\n

McBride and Fedarko were named National Geographic\u2019s \u201cAdventurers of the Year\u201d after their journey. They are just completing a 28-city speaking tour sponsored by National Geographic. The presentations have attracted between 1,000 and 1,500 people in places ranging from Los Angles to New York and Las Vegas to Kansas City.<\/p>\n

McBride said they have an odd couple routine that keeps an audience entertained. He senses people appreciate learning about one of the last great American wildernesses, the threats facing it and the values at stake with our public lands.<\/p>\n

He will be one of the speakers at an event presented in the Roaring Fork Valley on Dec. 18 by Aspen Public Radio, titled \u201cThe Colorado River: Lifeline of the West\u201d (see fact box).<\/p>\n

McBride said it was rewarding for him to see a proposal for a gondola to the Grand Canyon floor defeated, in large part due to opposition by 12 \u201cNavajo grandmothers.\u201d<\/p>\n

But numerous threats still exist. And if environmental threats are allowed to infringe on Grand Canyon National Park, it can happen to places near and dear to the hearts of Roaring Fork Valley residents, like the Maroon Bells, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s such an iconic park,\u201d McBride said of the Grand Canyon. \u201cIt sets the precedent for everywhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n

scondon@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Basalt photographer Pete McBride raked in another round of awards for his film and book about the Grand Canyon this month, but he isn\u2019t gloating about the accolades. His mission to educate people about the perils facing the national treasure isn\u2019t accomplished. The Trump administration is considering stripping protections from uranium mining in the vicinity, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2451606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-19 04:38:02","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2451606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2451606"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2451606\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2451606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2451606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2451606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}