Shawnigan Lake School - Yearbook (Shawnigan Lake, British Columbia Canada)

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Shawnigan Lake School Magazine We skirted a large bergschrund (a crack in the ice which some- times has an overhanging upper lip) and then began the real work, for the snow was wet, and due to the heat of the day the steps did not hold at all. Gradually the slope steepened until the average incline was about 50 degrees. Fortunately, there Avere several out- crops of rock on the face which afforded easier climbing and gave Capt. Gibson a rest from kicking steps. We climbed steadily. Sud- denly we were met by a chilly blast of wind that told us the summit was near. Sure enough, in a few minutes the peak was ours! We formed a group and each member, pulling out his camera, took pictures of the rest. The view from the top was wonderful. The Selkirk range to the west could be clearly seen, as could the peaks far to the north. Unfortunately, the view to the east was blocked by high neighbour- ing peaks. The summit had much suoav on it, and as we could find no cairn in which to leave the record of our climb, Ave sat down in a small hollow to eat our lunch. Due to the dangerous condition of the face, Capt. Gibson de- cided that Ave should descend by the southwest ridge, which proved to be far more interesting. The ridge Avas quite narroAv and, as it Avas covered Avith considerable snow, the descent Avas made much more difficult. However, by using all the holds that we could find on rock, Ave reached the bottom of the Tidge in three hours. Here Ave unroped and began our Aveary trudge home over the soft snoAV, in which Ave often sank up to our knees. HoAvever, some three and a half hours later in the evening, a weary but happy group of mountaineers reached camp. We had tramped across the snoAV for sixteen miles and had climbed some 4,000 feet. —J. W. THE ANTIQUE SHOP It was on a dark Avinter night that I approached the shop of Henri Fountbleau. I Avas going to his shop with the intention of murdering him, because he had killed my father in a Bavarian Avood while they were fighting a duel. Fountbleau Avas then regarded as the finest fencer in the Avorld ; and I wished to revenge my father, avIio had been forced to fight a man who had given the impression that he had never fenced before. I entered the shop just before closing time, and pretended to be interested in antiques. Fountbleau shoAved me round himself, and I Avas able to study him more closely. He had changed much from the time Avhen he had been famous. I had often studied him from old neAvspaper pictures, and expected to see a medium-sized man, slightly built, and with a little black pointed beard. HoAvever, he [ 27 ]

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Shawnigan Lake School Magazine AUTUMN As one begins to feel the dying heat of the sun, one is also reminded that Autumn is arriving in her chariot of brown, gold and faded green. Her sentinels are the trees, who, when she passes, shower clouds of leaves upon her, which fall slowly to the ground, shimmering in their rust-reds and browns. They collect in drifts upon the earth, which receives this mantle of warmth with gladness, for Winter is not far off. But the earth is not alone in preparing for Winter, because in Avoodland, and in hedge many a creature mourns the passing of Summer. Soon all its pleasures will be forgotten, and the wild creatures will start to prepare for the oncoming Winter. They fol- low the example of the industrious squirrel, who with incessant chattering scurries about gathering nuts into his garner. But in time the world will lapse into silence and its toils will cease, for the overawing whiteness of Winter will descend upon the ground as a mantle of ermine. — P. G. Drummond-Smith. ASCENT OF MOUNT COLUMBIA One of the greatest areas of snow and ice south of the Arctic Circle is the Columbia icefields in the Canadian Rockies. About 10,000 feet above sea level, they are surrounded by peaks of even higher altitudes. The loftiest of these peaks is Mt. Columbia, second highest in the Canadian Rockies. Few people have ever had the opportunity of seeing such grandeur as the scenery of that region affords. However, last summer Ted Baker and I had the pleasure of joining a party of enthusiastic mountaineers, under the leadership of Capt. Rex Gibson of Edmonton, on an expedition to this area. Our main objective was Mt. Columbia and, if time allowed, the climbing of one or two of the neighbouring peaks. The three days before the climb had been spent in sorting food and carrying the equipment up to our high camp at the head of the Athabaska glacier. We rose very early on the morning of July 9th, and after eating a hot breakfast we started our eight-mile trudge to the base of the peak. The snow had a hard crust that made going easy. The weather was superb: the sky Avas cloudless and the snow-capped peaks to the west were tinged a sunrise pink. After some five hours ' tramp- ing over the snow we reached the base of Mt. Columbia at an alti- tude of 10,200 feet. We ate a second breakfast of nuts, raisins and chocolates, and then roped up. There were five on the first rope and the remaining four on the second. r 26 ]

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Shawnigan Lake School Magazine was now very fat, and his small beard had become a large one that covered his chin. His hair was slightly grey. His antique shop appeared to be a very ordinary one. He had on show the usual selection of tables and chairs in one showroom. In another, he had a good selection of old paintings, while the floor of the room was covered with tables holding a multitude of coloured vases and bowls. But it was in his third showroom that I was suddenly reminded of my purpose. There I saw what had been lacking so far in his shop. This last showroom was filled with swords, scimitars, rapiers and daggers of all sizes and descriptions. But I saw that each weapon was tended with the utmost care. I saw that this was the part of his shop that he really loved. The other two rooms were sideshows to his magnificent collection of arms. Suddenly I noted at the head of the room, in what might be called the place of honour, two crossed rapiers; but unlike the others they had no cards on them. When I questioned him, he told me that they were his own per- sonal weapons, and I suddenly realized that it must have been one of these that had killed my father. I asked permission to take one down, and as I stood there waving it slowly through the air, I thought that it would be poetic justice if I did not use the revolver in my pocket. Instead, I suddenly lunged ; and my nerve failed just as the rapier pierced his heart. As I looked at him, lying dead in his holy of holies, a feeling of horror possessed me, and I rushed frantically out of the shop. — W. McE. PAST OR FUTURE? We have read of destruction in Britain, of onslaughts in the desert and of strife in Greece, but of the fundamental causes of the turmoil we know but little. Yet those causes are simple. They all resolve themselves into the oft-fought battle of autocracy against democracy. At the end of the conflagration of 1914-18, Ave had hoped that democracy had fought through to a costly but lasting victory. Today, we know that thought was a mistake, but there remain many who believe that, at least, this victory has raised us yet another step in a stiff but con- tinuous climb on to the City of God. Can we doubt that the supremacy of man among animals comes from his use of reason? Or that this use can exist to a proper degree only in a state of freedom ? Yet, many have been the battles fought to preserve this freedom from destruction. The first of them [ 28 ]