20 2a

.

LIFE BEGINS AT 65

Outward Bound Mountain School, which is
located in the mountains 11 km. West of
Keremeos, offers a two weeks summer course
to prepare people for survival in a rugged out-
door environment. To this senior short course
come adults of all ages and from all walks of
life’- office workers, housewives, stockbrokers,
sawmill operators, teachers, doctors, secretaries -
and this year included Frank Cserey, a 65-year
old accountant from Cassiar.

The course begins at the school where students
are whipped into shape for a six-day expedition
which is the climax of the program. Participants
are also prepared for a two day solo outing. The
purpose of this solo outing is to provide students
with a chance to reflect and contemplate on
their lives. Most students, however, are too pre-
occupied with survival to think about anything
else.

And how did Frank Cserey enjoy his physically
demanding two weeks with Outward: Bound?
Here is his account.

Frank Cserey - Senior participant in Outward
Bound Mountain School in 1977.

It really started when | saw a poster in one of
the ABC Sports stores in the summer of 1976
telling about the Outward Bound Mountain
School. | read it. Rock climbing? Oh, no, that
is strictly for the birds, | thought. | had taken.a
short course on rock climbing back in Hungary
quite a few years ago and hadn't really enjoyed

it. | had completely forgotten about this poster -
until | read an ad in a February, 1977 issue of -

Time magazine telling about Outward Bound.
| thought it over and said to myself,'Why not?’

-|-wrote to the school, got an application form

+o

and, later, a letter stating ‘.....we do not have
any age limit, but ..... "| thought it over again
and decided that it was a challenge and a chance
to find out how old | really am. And so during
my holidays | arrived at Keremeos to attend
the Senior Course at Outward Bound.

The course runs from Sept. 10 to Sept. 24 and
is for those people who do not find time to
attend the reqular four week course. There were

seventeen participants ranging in age from a 21

yest old fejiaie recreational director ‘from

KG Sronta to a BLS yveev-old sai wml operator from

Camptell, River<anc t3 . 2:'1 “he oldest -stu-

Ay Rea i erie qu. We fora? dat Kida 1NtO twe

“reais, one for Tha veweagar people and one
-theolders s35

ce

After our reception and settling in on Sept.10
we changed to shorts and sneakers to follow
Adrian Todd, the school director, and Tom
Whittaker, the instructor, for a look over our
surroundings. Adrian started to jog while giving
us a guided tour and after a long jog we ended
up in a strip of woods beside the Similkameen
River facing a wall approximately 12 feet high.
‘All right, everybody over the wall,’ Adrian said.
After the initial surprise and confusion we all
did it, with a little help from each other. We
continued jogging through the woods, down
the shore of the Similkameen, and then waded
the river - clothing, sneakers, and all. Up the
other bank, a bit more jogging, and then
waded back at a different point where the water
was chest deep. Then home for a change of
clothes and supper. That ‘introduction’ gave us
a foretaste of what was to come. It was funny,
indifferent of age and sex, and we enjoyed it.
It was ununusual - it was some introduction!

The next morning we started our training
and school. The day began at 7:30 a.m. - out
from the hard bed into light clothing and
sneakers for a 142 mile run around the hayfield
and then a dip (clothing and all) into the
Similkameen. (The water was unheated!) Then
clean up and dress for the day and enjoy a
very healthy breakfast. (1 must give credit to
our cook, Mrs. Ev Smith, who served excellent
meals, some times cooking for as many as 100
people.) After breakfast we had a morning
assembly at 9:00. Every one attended and we
heard a reading or report dealing with mountain-
eering, adventures, and wilderness. It was one
of the highlights of the day. After this assembly
the patrols went their separate ways.

In our first week we learned about compasses
and maps, first aid, rapelling (descending on
ropes), mountain rescue, knots, basic and more
advanced rock climbing, kayaking and canoeing.
The kayaking included voluntary turnover and
escape from overturned kayaks, emptying the
water from the kayak while floating and then
climbing back into the kayak. The week also
included a two-day trip over the mountains
using a compass and maps. The mountains

“ranged from 1800 to 2500 metres.

There were many memorable happenings and
people during this training session. There was 57
year old Jim who, because of an old foot
injury, could use only the front part of his
right foot when running or going uphill. Yet
he managed to do all the climbing and walking.
That man had guts. He was one of the first
to be tied in a stretcher for rescue practice and
lowered to the ground from a height of approx-
imately 100 feet. After the first 20 feet of
lowering the stretcher turned upside down and
Jim. was looking straight down to the ground
80 feet below. He confessed, afterwards, that
it was a bit unnerving.

And there was Verna, a 25 year old Victoria
housewife, who was deathly afraid to turn
over in her kayak as she always panicked when
her face went under water. But she gamely
got into the kayak, face deathly white, and
talking to herself all the while, turned over
and came up, still white-faced, but smiling at

_ the cheer we gave her.

Tom, a-47-year old stockbroker from Van-
couver, noticed a couple of rattlesnakes, one

only about. 20 feet from him, while he was ,

helping to steady the end of a rapelling rope.
Tom remembered. what Adrian had told us,
‘Don't bother them and they won’t bother
you,’ and so he watched and waited and soon
the snakes slithered on their way.

After the seven days of training and condition- '
ing we were ready to start on our six day exped- |

ition into the Cascade Mts. near the U.S. border.

~ Packs were packed and repacked because when
you have to carry everything on your back '
every ounce counts. We set out on Sept. 18 and

climbed eadily upwards ever upwards, first
Se ‘weather, later oy. in cloudy; -windy,.
ay vweeacher. | felt as if my’ pack weiahed > #}

“on fined ‘ort papes2”

iF

assiar Courier
the Voice of Cassiar seas
_VOL 1 NOU OCTOBER. 1977

10 cents

Fresident of the Cassiar

Rudi Gasparelli,
Flying Club .

RENOVATIONS at
CASSIAR AIRPORT

The newly formed Cassiar Flying Club has
been doing extensive work at the landing
strip. Rudi Gasparelli, the club president,
reported, ‘We are going to put the landing
strip upto the standards laid down by M.O.T.
Presently our airstrip is for emergency use;
consequently it is not recognized as a regular
landing strip. We are also enlarging the service

area for the airplanes to eliminate the crowd-

ing on the runway. It should also prevent
accidents from vehicular traffic from the
adjacent roadway. Unfortunately, several
accidents have occured recently to some of
the airplanes which is distressing to the
Owners.

We used to have to’ purchase the special
aviation fuel from outside airports but now
we have our own supply depot.’

The Cassiar landing strip has seen its busiest
year. Local residents have reported hearing
a steady drone overhead with flights from
contractors, exploration crews, private planes
and of course ‘Medivac’. The landing strip
now boasts of being the home for seven

aircraft.
With all this activity, who yesh what the
future may bring....... Charter Service? We are

optomistic for the future.

We have heard through the grapevine that a
landing strip is being built at Telegraph
Creek. Dease Lake is not without it’s air-
port. Terrace is installing DME at its airport.
Certainly the viability of Charter Service for
Cassiar Country is increasing.

IN THIS ISSUE

beni peter Hunting Ban «............ss000.e0000.-. Page 2
... Page 3
ws. Page 4
... page 5
; Curling Club News{..tesniccie leleenae ld

| Town Council .
1 Yukon News .

_ Cassiar Coattiaiy cuit Neve

page 5
; News from Ottawa
Tourist Industry Talk
. Dog Control Team
‘Airfares Hiked
Economic Report
Classificd eee sccreneterteaves sat tactactstancvenen eves