About Us
Vista Publishing was registered in 1982 after the completion of the Cordillera Expedition, the amazing wilderness horse journey across the North American Mountain system. Because of the great amount of publicity and national viewings of the award-winning movie, it made sense to form Vista Publishing and market the book and movie directly to stores and the public. The book was a National Best Seller within the first few months of its release. The movie earned Best Documentary and Stan Walchuk Jr. Best Producer Awards.
It was not until the 1990’s that Blue Creek Outfitting’s Trail Riding and Packing book and DVD entered the fold, along with monthly magazine columns written for The Equine Trader, Saddle-Up, Pacific and Prairie Horse, and The Canadian Horse Journal. But family always came first. Family and adventure and operating Blue Creek’s programs were always more important to Stan and Marlene Walchuk then promoting product. With the addition of the books Common Man/Uncommon Life, Hockey is Life, and Horribilis, Vista Publishing took on a life of its own. With the retirement of Marlene from teaching and the sale of Blue Creek Outfitting in 2022, Vista Publishing became the focus of their creative and business efforts and will remain so into the foreseeable future.
For the past 30 years Vista Publishing has been based at McBride, British Columbia, Canada. But it is interesting to note that the writing that created the books, the reason for VISTA’s existence, took place at various locations, where-ever Stan happened to be at the time, often at remote locations somewhere in mountain wilderness. You are reading adventure that was often written during adventure!
Stan Walchuk Jr. Biography
Stan Walchuk Jr. is your partner in adventure. He was born at Edmonton, Alberta, Canada under normal circumstances, but for the fact that he was stamped with a passion for wild places and wanderlust. He took his first solo wilderness trip at the age of 13, hiking across remote lakes in northern Alberta. He has ridden literally thousands of wilderness miles in remote areas of Alberta, BC, NWT, and the Yukon, beginning with a Yukon Outfitter at 16. Stan is best known for the Cordillera Expedition, the amazing 1000-mile wilderness horse journey across the North American mountain system. The documentary movie of the journey earned Best Documentary and Best Producer Awards. The book, also titled ‘The Cordillera Expedition’, is a National Best Seller. Stan has written many articles for magazines including the Canadian Horse Journal, Pacific and Prairie Horse, Saddle Up, Western Horse Review and The Equine Trader.
Although best known for his horse adventures, Stan is an avid hiker and has canoed more than twenty remote rivers in Alberta, British Columbia, and the North-West Territories. In between these regular escapes from civilization, Stan managed Biology and Education Degrees from the University of Alberta. Stan met Marlene while teaching at Grouard, Alberta. They settled at McBride, British Columbia, where they became a family or four. Settled is a relative term as wilderness journeys continued as lifestyle. The Walchuk family operated Blue Creek Outfitting’s Trail Riding, Training and Packing Clinic for 29 years.
In summary, Stan’s biography from the book, Common Man/Uncommon Life, said it well – ‘Stan Walchuk Jr. was born a common man but lived a truly uncommon life. More than a hundred wilderness adventures, a wild and wacky youth, a life so full of drama, adventure, and comedy, as to seem nearly impossible. Experience wild places, bear charges, brawls, near death experiences, drama with horses, an inside look at life, and much, much, more…..’