KARL NAGY Memorial Award - The Alpine Club of Canada

BACKGROUND
The Karl Nagy Memorial Award was established in 2001 to assist aspiring
amateur leaders and guides in the development of their leadership and people
skills. Until his death in 2000, Karl set an outstanding example as a mentor in the
mountains and was well known for his leadership, safety and success. Karl was
admired and loved for his exuberant attitude in the mountain environment that he
played and worked in.
Karl Nagy was born in Winnipeg in 1963 and moved to Calgary when he was a
teenager. He attended Forest Lawn High School in Calgary, and then the
Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in Edmonton.
In the late 70’s, while living in Edmonton, Karl became a member of the
Northwest Mountaineering Club and discovered what was to become one of his
biggest passions in life, the mountains. NAIT completed, Karl moved to Calgary
to begin a career as a Denturist. Karl was an avid student in every aspect of
climbing and quickly excelled at it. He soon became a top climber in the area,
particularly as a leading ice climber in the Calgary-Banff climbing community. He
became an active member of the Calgary Section of The Alpine Club of Canada
in 1984. He was a member and Chairperson of the Climbing Committee, and
Associate Editor of the Section newsletter, “The Chinook”. During this time Karl
led and participated in countless trips and camps with the Calgary Section.
The draw of the mountains soon won over a dental career and in the late 80’s
Karl found himself working on his guide’s exams. Karl was one of only a few
guides to pass all four exams on his first attempt. He soon became one of the top
full guides in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Karl guided in Canada, United
States, Europe, South America and the Himalayas. He worked in the heli-ski
industry for Canadian Mountain Holidays. Karl became a highly respected mentor
and instructor with the ACMG Training and Certification Program.
After Karl became a guide he continued his relationship with The Alpine Club of
Canada, teaching courses both at the National and Section levels. The early 90’s
saw Karl working at The Alpine Club of Canada’s General Mountaineering
Camps. He became very fond of the GMCs and was soon a regular.
Besides being a very fit and an extremely able climber, Karl’s real strength was in
his ability to make the climbing seem secondary to enjoying a day in the
mountains. Karl’s people skills were exemplary and his enthusiasm was
contagious - he simply loved being in the mountains.
Karl was killed in a tragic climbing accident on Mount Little in the Canadian
Rockies while he was examining assistant alpine guides in August of 2000. The
Karl Nagy Memorial Award was initiated by the ACMG and the ACC to inspire
future ACC amateur leaders and aspiring guides entered in the ACMG training
program.