The
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-pedition
FACTOR JIM
CHISHOLM AGE UNKNOWN NOLS INSTRUCTOR, EXPEDITION-
BASED OUTDOOR EDUCATOR WINNIPEG, MANITOBA
WHY HE ROCKS: He could be famous if he wanted to be, but he doesn’t care for fame. Nor does he spend enough time near a phone to be famous— nor towns or navigable roads for that matter. It’s hard to separate Jim Chisholm The Legend from Jim
Chisholm the paddler, the educator or the expedition guide. Having no fi xed address since his early 20s, Chisholm’s reputation as a hard man and guru precedes him, as does his passion for teaching. Since 1983 he’s been leading wilderness and leadership education courses, an astounding tenure considering it has all been expedition based. He has more nights in a sleeping bag than in a bed: his best guess puts him around 5,000 fi eld days. CONSIDER THIS: Six weeks of roaring whitewater on the Roosevelt in Brazil; sea kayaking the exposed capes of Tasmania; 20 days in Patagonia with only 12 days of food; losing all his gear when his ferry to Israel was bombed; and literally hundreds of other what he calls less eventful trips, usually with students in tow. “I see so much growth in people I am convinced that wilderness makes us better just by spending time in it. In this type of education you sometimes take the test before the lesson, not after,” Chisholm says. “I seldom if ever have regrets about time spent in wilderness. I like the quiet, and the hard work it takes to feel great in a place that’s not easy to travel in. I like feeling insignifi cant on big mountains, or looking at a rapid I probably don’t want to run.” Chisholm continues, “Oh, I have plenty of comforts out there. Good food, time to relax, read, enjoy a place.” In his time off he retreats to his small cabin on Chile’s Futaleufu River, his adopted home. IN OTHER WORDS: “I’ve never met anyone who is so at home when not at home,” says Ken Whiting of Heliconia Press and former world freestyle champion. “When I fi rst arrived at the Fu, there he was sitting by the stove with his feet up, sipping coffee. I thought he was Chilean.” LOOKING AHEAD: After a short stint in a management role at NOLS, Chisholm is off again, “The stress of the job was disagreeable. I need to get out and teach again.” This time he’s arranging permits with the Chilean Coast Guard to paddle around Cape Horn, just before a solid eight-month schedule of NOLS trips in Alaska and the Amazon. —JEFF JACKSON
ARCHER 43
LAUREL
EXPEDITION CANOEIST AND GUIDEBOOK AUTHOR COURTENAY, B.C.
WHY SHE ROCKS: On the surface, Laurel Archer doesn’t fi t the British Columbia paddling norm. She is one of the few who prefer single-blading an Old Town Tripper on multi-day descents through some of the Rockies’ wildest rivers to paddling a creek boat on quick, beat- the-traffi c day runs. Her counter-culture ways have helped build an impressive paddling resume, placing her among the ranks of explorers like Sir Edmund Hillary. Archer spent more than a decade getting to know the Churchill, Fond du Lac, Clearwater and other Canadian Shield rivers of northern Saskatchewan, writing a guidebook to the region before testing the whitewater of Vancouver Island. By 2002 she pulled her lifelong Prairie stakes and followed the lure of big water west, cutting her teeth on the popular Stikine River, then moving on to lead expeditions on unknown waterways like the Toad, Rabbit and Turnagain rivers. It seems as though her work will never end. “There are all these rivers in northern B.C. that no one knows about,” says Archer, who makes ends meet teaching whitewater paddling, guiding and writing. IN OTHER WORDS: “We still tell stories about Laurel,” says Ric Driediger, owner of Churchill River Canoe Outfi tters in northern Saskatchewan, who employed Archer as a whitewater guide for nearly 10 years. “Her greatest contribution has been giving us dreams of the many awesome places we can paddle.” WELCOME TO THE CLUB: Archer’s expeditions garnered her a place in the prestigious New York-based Explorers Club, alongside the likes of Sir Edmund Hillary. She considers herself to be a rarity in the club in that she isn’t into trans-Atlantic rowing or anthropological research. What’s more, she’s among the scant 20 per cent female contingent. “It was quite an honour for someone who considers exploring to mean getting in my canoe and taking off,” says Archer. LOOKING AHEAD: Archer hopes that her guidebook on the whitewater of northern B.C., due out later this year, will shed light on the vulnerability of mountain rivers. She says the threat of road development, oil and gas and mining exploration looms over many of her favourite rivers, including the Stikine and Spatzizi. “There’s still the opportunity to experience the unknown,” says Archer. “But who knows how long it will last.” —CONOR MIHELL
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PHOTO JIM CHISHOLM
PHOTO GEORGE PREVOST
RAPID
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