9 challenges for the next generation
In this age of obscure “firsts”—first guy from Wawa to summit Everest walking backwards!—you could be excused for thinking all the great challenges have fallen. Think again. Here are some highlights from the to-do list for the next generation of Canadian dreamers.
Mountain biking
Olympic gold. We’re always a contender, but haven’t brought home the precious metal. The 2016 Olympics may be our time.
Climbing
All the “11,000-footers” in a year. The Canadian Rockies are home to 54 peaks over 11,000 feet. Few people have scaled them all, and only over whole climbing careers. The key to a single-year push? Luck with the weather.
Innovation
A wingsuit you can land. Wingsuits make it possible to skim down mountain ridges like an eagle (while looking like a flying squirrel), but then you have to pull a parachute to return to earth. A touchdown-ready suit is the grail of aerial daredevils.
Surfing
Crack the Association of Surfing Professionals World Tour. No Canadian has ever reached the ASP’s 32-man top tier, or even the 250-man second tier.
Whitewater
Raft the Grand Canyon of the Stikine River. At least 18 teams of elite kayakers have dared the B.C. chasm since its first descent in 1981, but it has never been run in a raft. The lone expedition to try ended up climbing out of the 1,000-foot-deep gorge.
Skiing
Mount Bryce. Just climbing this remote peak in the Rockies takes serious alpine skills. Making the lethally exposed turns down its north face is one of the last great challenges in big-mountain skiing.
Adventure
Pole to pole by human power. The biggest hurdle in going self-propelled from the North Pole to the South Pole will be rowing the stormy, 1,000-kilometre Drake Passage between South America and Antarctica.
Green leadership
Climate change. Talk about an intractable problem: We’re all a part of it, and our short-term politicians seem incapable of long-term thinking. Eco-insiders say the key could be a massive youth movement—and maybe some peaceful civil disobedience.
Volunteering
A 100-hours-for-Canada campaign. Imagine the difference in our communities and environment if every able citizen volunteered 100 hours of their time—just two hours per week—each year.
