Born in Austria in 1932, he came to Canada in 1951, and was a major driving force behind the growing popularity of climbing, skiing and guiding.

[1][2] In the 1950s he pioneered new rock climbs, most notably Grillmair Chimneys (1952), Calgary Route (1953) - with Franz Dopf leading, and Diretissima (1957) on Yamnuska.

For years he travelled throughout North America, presenting his films[4][5] and promoting the Canadian mountain experience.

In 1963 he was a founding member of the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides (ACMG) and was its first technical chairman.

[7] Gmoser was elected an honorary member of The Alpine Club of Canada (1986), was awarded the Order of Canada (1987) and Golden Jubilee Medal (2002),[8] received the Banff Mountain Film Festival Summit of Excellence award (1989), was elected to the Honour Roll of Canadian Skiing (1989),[9] was named an honorary member of the International Federation of Mountain Guides Association (1992), in 1997 was elected Honorary President of the ACMG, presented a Lifetime Achievement Award from the North American Snowsports Journalists Association in 1998,[10] was inducted to the US National Ski Hall of Fame[11] and the Canadian Tourism Hall of Fame.