Smart Risk Taking with Barry Blanchard

How can you know when to actually take a risk on a personal or professional level? What would a good risk, or a smart risk look like before and after?

In this episode Chris and Jordy are joined by world renowned Alpinist, ACMG / IFMGA Mountain Guide, speaker, author and friend of the show, Barry Blanchard to discuss what a Smart Risk looks like.

Barry Blanchard taps into his long career of risk taking and guiding to share the essential elements of what good risks look like, and what we should be wary of.

Barry is a recent recipient of the Order of Canada and is an honoured member of the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides. He is respected for his ability to complete technical, high-risk ascents on a personal level and leading others as professional guide.

Barry has worked on numerous movie projects as a stuntman including Cliffhanger and Vertical Limit. He is the star of his own documentary called Spindrift: The Barry Blanchard Story.

He is also the author of The Calling: A Life Rocked by Mountains. Barry has another book coming out in 2026 called The Echo.

Always engaging, thoughtful and honest, Barry shares some dark moments he has had in his career and many of the highlights. Along the way we define what makes a Smart Risk to take.

Key Takeaways:

Smart Risks: Are calculated, acceptable, necessary and prepared for. They are risks we can justify in the moment and after the fact because they are carefully considered, acceptable, needed to be taken and we were ready for the choice that we made.

Calculated Risk: Calculated risks are ones that are well analyzed weighing the potential consequences against the potential for both positive and negative outcomes. The hazards are known and if you decide to take it, the benefits outweigh the potential costs.

A calculated risk is a risk worth doing based on careful analysis.

Acceptable Risk: Acceptable risks are the ones we can justify to ourselves and others. They should fall within everyone’s risk tolerance. They should also prioritize your safety ahead of safety or providing service someone else. Acceptable risks for professionals fall within industry best practices.

Acceptable risks fall within personal, professional and legal responsibilities and limits.

Necessary Risks: Necessary risks are the ones that need to be taken. They add value to the experience and contribute to towards achieving the objective. They are also the best option for what needs to get done.

A risk might be acceptable to take, but also unnecessary.

Prepared for: These are the risks we are ready for because we have prepared and built in an adequate margin of error. Worst case scenarios have been considered and planned for.

Not Taking the Risk: This is also a risk. Smart Risks are the ones we did take for the right reasons.

Guest Bio

Barry Blanchard is an ACMG / IFMGA Mountain Guide, author, speaker, and sometimes movie stunt man. Barry has recently been the recipient of the Order of Canada and has just been recognized as an honoured member of the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides.

Both of these awards have been given in recognition of his numerous complex and demanding ascents in the Rockies, the Alps and the Himalayas, some of which have not been repeated. For more than 40 years, Barry has been a guide, resource and mentor to countless mountain enthusiasts.

Barry is one of North America’s top alpine climbers. He has spent his life pushing the standards of highly technical, high risk alpine climbing and ice climbing from the Himalayas to the Canadian Rockies. Barry is also renowned for his ability to guide complex, high risk alpine ascents.

Some of the movies that Barry has been in or has worked on include...

When it comes to delivering adventure, the difference between control and chaos can be as little as one small mistake. A situation can seem to be under complete control one moment and the next it can be spiralling away.

The worst-case scenario for leaders often starts with something small. It can be a trip, a fall, a moment of butter fingers, or some other unforeseeable fumble or mistake.

In this episode, Madeleine Martin-Penney shares a situation where a small misstep from one of her guests put her and her group in a potentially tough bind. Madeleine walks us through what happened and how she reacted to keep control.

Madeleine Martin‑Preney is a certified ACMG Ski Guide, Hiking Guide, and Apprentice Rock Guide based in Revelstoke, BC. Born and raised in Nelson, BC, she earned her full ski guide certification in 2018. An avid backcountry adventurer, she completed the first full ski traverse of the Selkirk Mountains (520 km, 43 000 m elevation) and participated in the Bugaboos‑to‑Rogers Pass expedition featured in the film Mind Over Mountain.

Guest Bio

Madeleine Martin‑Preney is a certified ACMG Ski Guide, Hiking Guide, and Apprentice Rock Guide based in Revelstoke, BC. Born and raised in Nelson, BC, she earned her full ski guide certification in 2018. An avid backcountry adventurer, she completed the first full ski traverse of the Selkirk Mountains (520 km, 43 000 m elevation) and participated in the Bugaboos‑to‑Rogers Pass expedition featured in the film Mind Over Mountain.

Madeleine has served on the ACMG Board of Directors with Chris and I for the past nine years. She is also involved with Mountain Muscox. Mountain Muskox is a community-based organization that provides peer support circles for individuals who have experienced loss or trauma in the mountains.

Guest Links

Madeleine’s Instagram: @madoalpine

Geary’s Guiding: https://gearysguiding.com

Mountain Muscox: https://www.mountainmuskox.com

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How can we improve the decision making in others? When we are delivering adventure to others, it isn’t just the leader that needs to have good judgment. In every activity, there is a degree of decision-making skills that participants are going to need to be able to have, and if they don’t, the odds of achieving a good outcome start to go down.

There is of course another dimension to this in that many guides and instructors aren’t just leading guests, friends or family. They may also be supervising or working with other guides or instructors.

In this episode, we are joined by master guide, instructor, outdoor educator and friend of the show Bruce Wilson. Bruce returns to Delivering Adventure to explore how we can help others to improve their decision-making skills.

When it comes to outdoor education and leadership training, Bruce is literally a Jack of all trades. Bruce is an ACMG Hiking Guide. He is a sea kayak guide and guide trainer for the Association of Sea Kayak Guides. He is an avalanche educator for Avalanche Canada.

Bruce is a certified instructor in the Wim Hof Method, he has a master’s degree in leadership, and is a Vision Quest instructor, just to name a few of his many qualifications and certifications.

He currently instructs the Outdoor Recreation Management Program at Capilano University in North Vancouver. He also provides coaching and guiding through his company Warrior Wolf Guide Services and Coaching.

In this episode of Delivering Adventure, Bruce shares key strategies that leaders can use to help others to improves their decision making.

Key takeaways

How can we help others to make better decisions?

Trust Them: Whether we like it or not, we have to trust the decision making and judgement of others. Micromanaging everything is not a sustainable option for anyone in a leadership position, and it can be argued that that isn’t even leadership!

Create Opportunities: We need to give people the opportunity to make decisions. Decision-making is a skill. To develop skills, people need time on task to practice.

Right Process: Teaching them the right process can help to set them up for success. Part of this requires us to model and then explain what a good decision-making process is.

Go to Completion: It is important to let people bring their decisions to completion: this allows them to see and experience the consequences firsthand. This increases learning.

Take it Seriously: Treat every moment as if it is real. This can eliminate the risk of developing bad habits. It also maximizes the learning.

Guest Bio

When it comes to outdoor education and leadership training, Bruce is literally a Jack of all trades. Bruce is an ACMG Hiking Guide. He is a sea kayak guide and guide trainer for the Association of Sea Kayak Guides. He is an avalanche educator for Avalanche Canada.

Bruce is a certified instructor in the Wim Hof Method, he has a master’s degree in leadership, and is a Vision Quest instructor, just to name a few of his many qualifications and certifications.

He currently instructs the Outdoor Recreation Management Program at Capilano University in North Vancouver. He also provides coaching and guiding through his company Warrior Wolf Guide Services and Coaching.

Guest Links

https://www.snowolf.ca

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Don’t forget to follow the show!

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https://linktr.ee/deliveringadventure