Trailblazers
Pushing Boundaries
All TrailRider users are pushing boundaries and changing attitudes about disabilities...but some excursions deserve special attention.
Each of the following treks helped change the life of a person with a significant physical disability, while also inspiring others to reach their own potential.
Everest Expedition
Long-time BCMOS members Linda McGowan (right) and Doug Reid are fundraising
for a TrailRider trek to the Nepal Himalaya, set for October 2008.
Linda, of New Westminster and Doug, of Vancouver, will fly into Kathmandu, and then on to the remote airstrip at Lukla, which serves Namche Bazaar. They will trek
to Everest Base Camp, an altitude of 5,360 metres (17,600 ft).
“It’s the highest mountain in the world,” said Linda. “It’s and incredible hope and dream for anybody, but for somebody with a disability to have the opportunity to actually get there is an absolutely amazing situation.”
For Doug, this ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity is chance to fulfill a long time secret desire. “I’ve always dreamed of climbing the mountains of the Nepal and Tibetan Himalaya and that dream will be realized when I finally trek up Mt. Kala Pattar and
gaze at the summit of Everest.”
Don’t go thinking the two are dreamers: Linda has visited Machu Picchu, the Galapagos Islands, Iceland, Greenland, Denali National Park, China’s Great Wall and various countries in Africa; during his 30 years in the airline industry, Doug travelled extensively throughout the world, including Asia and the Orient.
Linda has multiple sclerosis (“I haven’t walked in 15 years”) and Doug is quadriplegic.
Both are aware of the difficulties they will face, but not deterred by this understanding.
To aid their trek with a tax-deductible donation, visit the Canada Helps BCMOS page,
citing Everest 2008 in the messages/instructions box. Click here to be taken through
to the BCMOS page
Burgess Shale
Sam Sullivan (Vancouver mayor) and Steven Fletcher (MP for Charleswood
- St. James - Assiniboia and parliamentary secretary to the minister
of health) set out on a 'field trip' to the world-renown fossil
beds at Burgess Shale,
in August 2006.
The UNESCO World
Heritage Site in Yoho National Park, in the Canadian Rockies, has long interested Sullivan. Burgess Shale has been described as the world's
most significant fossil discovery. The site provides a window on life 505 million years ago, but what makes it so important is the extent of preservation of fossils, which tells paleontologists what the ancient animals looked like and how they lives. This gives an insight into the process of evolution, revealing that there was a greater diversity of basic animal forms half a billion years ago than today.
The Burgess Shale quarries can only be accessed by a 10-km hike that climbs 762 metres (2,500 feet). Thanks to the TrailRider, Sam became the first high-level quadriplegic to successful make the ascent to the Burgess Shale.
Steven is an avid outdoorsman, and is founding member of Wilderness Access Manitoba, which promotes and makes available the TrailRider in that province. His team was unable to reach the Burgess Shale deposits, but he has vowed to tackle all similar challenges at every opportunity.
Geology field studies, Alberta and BC
Scott Barlund, geology student at the University of Alberta, lets nothing stand in the way of his goals. Quadriplegic as a result of a vehicle accident, he is the first person with a spinal cord injury to complete the university's intensive field school course, a requirement to be accredited by the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists of Alberta.
This program entails 12 days of backcountry exploration, studying and mapping land formations in various locations along a 2,600-km route through Alberta and BC. For Scott, the expedition required an innovative approach. With a TrailRider, and the collaboration of several university units and the help of four able-bodied sherpas, he was able to climb steep trails, navigate rocks and boulders and rappel down a cliff face.
Scott exemplifies what can be accomplished with preparation, self-knowledge and determination. His accomplishments will open the door for others and serve as an inspiration for people of all abilities. His work also demonstrates how the accessibility afforded by the TrailRider can mean more than recreation.
Kilimanjaro I
Jim Milina of North Vancouver was introduced to the TrailRider as part
of the BCMOS Wilderness Access program. He then borrowed a TrailRider
and participated in an ascent of Mt. Kilimanjaro,
climbing higher than any quadriplegic in the world – 14,500 ft.
A freestyle ski champion, Jim broke his neck in an accident during a performance at the Toronto Ski Show in 1981, at age 18. Despite his accident, he never lost the desire to return to the mountains.
Jim formed the Climbing Over Restriction and Disability Society - CORD - in 2001, enabling him to tackle the 5,895-metre (19,341-foot) peak in Tanzania, East Africa. His six-day trek was the first wheelchair expedition
to make it up the rugged northern side of the mountain, the Rongai Route, and descending via the more conventional southern Marangu Route.
CORD continues to support and promote wilderness and outdoor recreational activities for people with disabilities.
Kilimanjaro II
The second TrailRider ascent of Mt. Kilimanjaro took place February 2006.
Climber Brock Metcalf, of North Vancouver, (born June 1980) does not let Cerebral Palsy prevent him living an active life, having been involved with many different sports ranging from adaptive skiing, sailing, and hiking. He tackled Kilimanjaro under the Climb for Community Living
expedition, aiming to raise awareness of challenges facing people with developmental disabilities and funds for the North Shore Disability Resource Centre.
The expedition was a test of strength and determination, climbing more than 5,790-metres (19,000-feet) through five different climate zones - forest, heath and moorland, highland desert, and the icy glaciers that circle the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro.
Brock became the first person to reach Stella Point at 5790-metres, the original summit of Kilimanjaro, before being forced to promptly descend due to altitude sickness.
He promptly recovered at a lower level.
Stawamus Chief
As a teen, a car accident left rock climber Brad Zdanivsky a quadriplegic. Determined not to give up on the sport, he set his sights on climbing the mammoth 702-metre (2,303-foot) Stawamus Chief in Squamish, BC.
Beginning in 1997, Brad set about designing and testing a device for pulling himself up this sheer rock face. Each subsequent year saw improvements in the gear and increasingly impressive climbing successes – including Brad's ascent of the the 305-metre (1,000-foot) Grand Wall of the Chief in 2003.
Undaunted by the extraordinary challenges of this endeavour, Brad made a successful attempt on the summit of the Chief in July 2005, hauling himself 650 metres (over 1,900 feet) in a single day (14 hours). Brad, who often uses a
TrailRider to reach his climbing route, has inspired disabled athletes the world over with his accomplishments.
Brad's Vertical Challenge Project seeks to achieve more summiting this particular peak – it is a vehicle for promoting quadriplegic participation in adventure sports through research, education and public awareness
West Coast Trail/the Standing Spirit Project
The West Coast Trail is a 75-kilometre (47-mile) hike on the remote west coast of Vancouver Island. Legendary for its tough terrain and abysmal weather, the trail
attracts hikers from around the globe seeking a demanding expedition and unparalleled pristine ruggedness. The route follows sandstone cliffs, waterfalls, caves, sea arches, sea stacks and beaches, cutting inland to a temperate coastal rainforest dominated by old growth spruce, hemlock
and cedar. Some of the tallest and largest trees in Canada are on or in the vicinity of the West Coast Trail.
In August 2005, Brad Jacobsen became the first person with a significant physical disability to hike the West Coast Trail. He had actually completed it some 12 years previously, before sustaining a spinal cord injury that left him quadriplegic. The idea to go back would not go away...so Brad launched his Standing
Spirit Project to make it reality, so named because he describes is post-injury self as: "My spirit is still standing."
Using a BCMOS TrailRider, a variety of specialized equipment and a dedicated team, Brad completed as much of the trail as possible - with the remainder to be completed by Kayak.
