University of Alberta Edmonton, Canada June 13, 1997

Let the adventures begin . . .

The U of A offers a summer of adventrues, from luxurious cruises to challenging climbs on mountain peaks

By Michael Robb

Riding the Trans-Siberian railway, climbing a Rocky Mountain summit, digging for artifacts in central Italy, cruising the Danube River, kayaking the Broken Islands on Canada's west coast. Looking for an adventure this summer?

No one walks up to the counter of the Campus Outdoor Centre and says emphatically, "Hey, I'm looking for an adventure. What do you have to offer?" Nevertheless, many people have the time and resources, but lack know-how, explains the Centre's manager, Jacqueline Hutchison. So, they rely on the professionals to make their adventures possible.

Across campus, instructors, centres and institutes are making adventures possible this summer for many people. Instructors in the Department of History and Classics are conducting field schools for students in Italy and Africa.

In Anthropology, professors and students are travelling to the far northern regions of this continent and conducting a field school in Jasper. Across the world, Dr. Andrzej Weber is leading 10 students on a grave excavation of a hunter-gatherer cemetery dating back 4000 to 6000 years. The students will set up 300 kilometres east of the Siberian city of Irkutsk, at Lake Baikal. To get there, they'll travel the historic Trans-Siberian Railway.

"It will be a unique cultural experience for the students-a chance to experience a totally different culture," says Weber.

Closer to home, Campus Outdoor Centre instructor Cyril Shokoples, an internationally certified mountain guide, will introduce participants to mountaineering. They'll tackle the basic rock, snow and ice climbing methods and culminate the week-long course with a summit climb. Shokoples will also lead another group, teaching them the intermediate skills of mountaineering. They, too, will climb a Rocky Mountain peak.

People interested in getting from point A to point B on water will be able to take courses from the Centre such as introductory kayaking, an introduction to moving water, an introduction to whitewater and river rescue. A group of enthusiasts will paddle their kayaks off the Broken Island group on Canada's west coast. From August 18-22, they'll paddle among the killer whales, while bald eagles soar overhead.

Finding adventure with the help of the University of Alberta doesn't always have to involve testing one's physical abilities, however. Alumni who want to watch the sun set over the Danube can do so in July aboard the M.S. Ukraina. They'll cruise past baroque buildings of extraordinary beauty, down the romantic Wachau Valley and spend some time wandering the streets of Vienna.

Another Alumni Association-sponsored tour, aboard the M.S. Maadsam, will set sail in early August to visit seven ports in England, Norway, Demark, Germany, Sweden, Finland and Russia.

And while alumni sip champagne as the sun sets on the Baltic and North Seas, teenagers will explore the badlands of southeastern Alberta on the Red Deer River. Last year, the Outdoor Centre had 210 children and teenagers sign up for camps, explains Hutchison. "They come back to our programs year after year."

And why not? Two "adventure" camps will run in August. They include outdoor camping, canoeing, inline skating, orienteering, new games, nature awareness, sport climbing and crafts. An advanced rock climbing course will run in the Bow Corridor and a rock climbing camp will be held at the Kootenay Plains. And if climbing isn't your style, then the Centre has a mountain bike camp in Jasper that runs virtually all summer.

And remember that west coast kayaking trip we told you about? The Centre's also offering a kayak camp for ages 13-17 in Kananaskis country - sewing the seeds, perhaps, for adventures to come.

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