magazine / nd05
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November/December 2005 issue |
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Reach for the top
Five years ago, Chad and Cory Gardeski attempted to scale Banff National Park’s Cirque
Peak with their father Larry, who had never climbed a mountain. Foul weather prevented them
from reaching the top, but they promised to return. Three years later, Larry was diagnosed
with cancer. He died in early 2005.
On Canada Day, the brothers made it to the summit of the 3,000-metre crag in tribute to
him. They also became unofficial participants in a mountaineering expedition that saw volunteers
ascend 100 of Alberta’s peaks between May and September to mark the province’s
centennial.
"The project was created for just that kind of experience," says Angus Taylor,
33, a recreational mountaineer and head of the Alberta Centennial Mountain Expedition, a
multi-faceted campaign of which the 100-summit climb is one component.
"My goal for this project has always been to get people to express how important the
mountains are to them," says Taylor. "When you have a physical connection to land,
you are further motivated to protect and conserve it."
For Taylor and four friends, the expedition, sponsored in part by The
Royal Canadian Geographical Society, also included a threemonth, 1,200-kilometre ski
traverse from the Alberta- Montana border past the northern reaches of Jasper National
Park. But unseasonably warm weather in January and April reduced the Rockies’ snowpack,
and the route was truncated to 600 kilometres.
Yet for Taylor, a significant part of the project is its educational focus, a perfect fit
for someone working on a master’s degree in distance learning from Royal Roads University
in Victoria. Taylor and his colleagues are producing a documentary and online multimedia
learning tools to be used in conjunction with Alberta’s grade-four social studies curriculum.
Taylor has also helped guide schoolchildren to the summits of two nearby peaks, which stretch
to almost 2,500 metres. The reward for Taylor is the children’s response: "There’s
a real genuineness in their expressions."
Climbers were asked to record their experiences online. The Gardeski brothers’ entry
illustrates that mountaineering often proves an apt paragon for life: "Today, Cory and
I carried an urn containing a small amount of Dad’s ashes to the summit of Cirque Peak.
You finally made it, Dad."
For more information, visit www.climbalberta.com.
Michael Vlessides
To protect and save
Woodland caribou wander in and out of Nahanni National Park Reserve, crossing an imaginary
line that separates them from danger. The park covers less than 15 percent of the Northwest
Territories’ South Nahanni River watershed, leaving out key wildlife habitats and
the sources of all but one river. It is also losing ground in the battle against trophy
hunters and mining companies.
This year’s Royal
Canadian Geographical Society Fraser Lectureship in Northern Studies aims to raise
awareness about the movement by conservationists and First Nations to expand the park.
"The Nahanni is the jewel in the Dehcho crown," says Herb Norwegian, one of the
speakers on the tour and grand chief of the Dehcho First Nations, which occupies 80 percent
of the land in the Nahanni watershed. "Parks Canada needs to buy out the mines and get
the big-game outfitters out of the park." The five-day tour in late November will visit
five universities throughout southern Ontario.
Proposed zinc mining poses serious concerns for the virtually roadless wilderness. "It
would be tragic to compromise this for short-term mineral development," says Alison
Woodley, northern conservation specialist for the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society,
a partner in this year’s lecture series. "We recognize that mining is a part of
Canada’s economy, but we also recognize the importance of protecting something so special
and unique."
For more details on the lecture, visit The
Royal Canadian Geographical Society website.
Tanya Manoryk
Arctic eye-opener
 Rebecca
Cameron admits she didn’t know much about the Arctic before she travelled there this
summer as a winner of Canadian Geographic’s Polar Bound contest. "I thought it
was all covered in snow and ice," she says. But the 14-day Students on Ice trip aboard
the Explorer helped the 17-year-old from Kitchener, Ont., understand how climate change has
reduced the snow and ice that covers Iceland, Greenland and Baffin Island.
Returning home was equally revealing for fellow winner Jessica Pietrusiak, 15, of Newmarket,
Ont. "Seeing all the cars made me realize, wow, our world has been built up so much." For
Cameron, the highlight of the trip was seeing two blue whales surging just off the ship’s
bow as it travelled between Iceland and Greenland. The experience inspired her to pursue
environmental projects at home, including hooking up a windmill to run the pump for the family
swimming pool, and has led her to consider a career in geology. "I like discovering
new places, going into uncharted areas," she says. "I never knew there were places
like this left on Earth."
Charity begins at home
As a young man, Ed Rooney travelled the globe. But these days, the 90-year-old former grain
farmer, originally from Marshall, Sask., and now resident of Surrey, B.C., says he lives
vicariously through the pages of Canadian Geographic.
To show his appreciation, the long-time reader and member of The
Royal Canadian Geographical Society recently donated $100,000 to the RCGS endowment
fund. The goal of the fund, launched in the spring of 2004, is to raise $7.5 million to
mark the 75th anniversary of the Society.
Interest from the fund will be used to further the Society’s work in geography education. "The
work the Society is doing is rather basic to Canada," Rooney says. "The rest of
us don’t know a lot about Canada other than where we’ve lived."
Though he’s visited many different countries, Canada remains Rooney’s favourite. "The
world is changing so much," he says. "One kind of feels glad to get back to one’s
own country."
 By
the numbers
Canadian Geographic’s interactive world map and
development statistics, provided in partnership with the Canadian International Development
Agency, are changing with the times. The online map was launched last year, and in September,
key figures on population, education and other development markers were updated to provide
the most current information available from the United Nations. The data will be updated
each year as new figures become available.
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