Publishing

Andrew Hempstead and his wife Dianne are the owners of Banff-based Summerthought Publishing, which specializes in regional non-fiction books.

The company opened its doors in 1971 with publication of the Canadian Rockies Trail Guide, by Brian Patton and Bart Robinson. Now in its ninth edition, this title has proved itself as a bestseller with over 280,000 copies having been sold. Summerthought publishes around 35 other books, including Parkways of the Canadian Rockies, Best Day Hikes in Banff National Park, Castle in the Wilderness, Canadian Rockies ABC, and Last of the Buffalo.

Andrew and Dianne also own Gem Trek Maps, best-known for waterproof Canadian Rockies hiking maps. The first Gem Trek maps were published in the early 1990s by Roger and Donna Nelson, of Map Town in Calgary. Today, with over 1,000,000 maps sold, Gem Trek remains a vibrant, proudly independent map publisher. Our cartographers, writers, and photographers are all locals, who love the outdoors and enjoy the challenge of producing the very best maps possible.