Jim has been an active and influential alpinist for over 40 years. Noted alpinist Steve House refers to Jim as the “original Canadian hardman.” Jim’s climbing journey includes seminal first ascents in the Canadian Rockies such as the North Face of Mount Kitchener in winter and the world’s longest ice climb, Slipstream on the east face of Mount Snow Dome. Both mountains are among the eleven peaks at the Columbia Icefield. Snow Dome is the triple hydrographic apex of the Columbia Icefield.
Jim worked as the climbing cameraman on the award winning film Challenge the Canadian Rockies, which featured climbing and filming the 1000 meter Slipstream in extreme winter conditions.
Jim has led and guided multiple expeditions to the Himalaya and the Andes. Significantly, in 1986, he led the most successful Canadian expedition to Everest to date (Everest Light), establishing a new route on the Tibetan side, enabling two members of the team to summit (including Sharon Wood, the first North American woman to summit the mountain) and all without Sherpa support.
He received a rare Award of Recognition from the Sir Edmund Hillary Foundation. recognizing his leadership of the historic Canadian Everest Light Expedition.
Jim’s four years of study at Ryerson University were focused on a BAA in Photography. As a photojournalist he worked for Maclean’s Magazine among others, and was one of the first western photographers into China to document the lives of ordinary people. While acting as Assistant Director and cameraman of a field unit for the feature film The Climb on Nanga Parbat, he photographed the historic opening of the Khunjerab Pass between China and Pakistan on the Karakorum Highway.
Jim has been photographer on multiple expeditions, for some time sponsored by Leica, becoming accustomed to working in extreme conditions. Currently his work explores the beauty of the mountain world and the growing impact of human activity upon it.

A native of Alberta and infused from birth with a deep and life long connection to the mountains of Western Canada, Roger Vernon solidified his love for life behind the camera at the age of 13. He succeeded in combining his love for the mountains and his desire to make images into a flourishing career as an internationally respected cinematographer.  

Although his early passion was rooted in the documentary world, Roger has made significant contributions to numerous feature length dramas, most notably Unforgiven, the western that was nominated for best cinematography and won four Academy awards including Best Picture. 

For over 46 years, Roger has applied his skills throughout the genres in motion picture photography.  Fictional films, documentaries, educational films and TV commercials, are all part of his visual language. He is the recipient of a Gemini Award for Cinematography, The Kodak Spectrum Award and ten awards from the Alberta Motion Picture Industry Association.

While he has traveled and worked in many remote corners of the earth including Tibet, Mongolia, Kashmir, Bhutan, the Karakoram to name a few, he says that nowhere inspires him quite like the Canadian Rockies, which is why he continues to return to his mountain home in the Bow Valley.