Climb to better health could be a real cliff-hanger

Page 11

Mount Everest is a long. long way from the Sucker Creek Reserve in

northern Alberta but the world's tallest mountain is where Laurie Gaucher is heading in the spring of the year 2000 as part of the Native American Alpine Team.

The team, assembled by Gaucher, will be the first comprised of North and Central American and New Zealand First People to climb to the top of the world.

"We call it the Ascent of the Aboriginal Spirit Expedition," Gaucher said.

Currently, the team is made up of a Cree from Saskatchewan, two First People from Ecuador, a Mapuche from Chile and a Moari from New Zealand, with hopes of having a minimum of eight climbers for Everest.

Gaucher began climbing mountains in 1978, with Everest as his ultimate challenge and dream.

"I actually dreamed about this when I was six," he said. "A lot of the

things that I dreamed when I was six years old have already come to

pass; getting into skydiving, mountaineering and becoming a commercial pilot."

All that was almost lost in a freak accident four years ago, however.

While working for a fuel deliver service in 1994, he fell from a

holding tank, shattering his body.

Knowing he was paralyzed from the neck down, Gaucher feared he would never be able to fly or skydive again and would never see the world from the summit of Everest.

"Looking at my body laying there all tangled up at that moment I thought it would never happen," he said.

A year and a half later, after intensive physiotherapy and an unbeatable will, he eventually progressed to the point where he was able to walk. Doctors told him that he would never fully recover.

"They said, 'The best you could hope for is 65 per cent mobility the way you're going,'" Gaucher said.

Those comments had to be challenged. The challenge started in hospital.

"Some of the other patients would say, '"Why are you working so hard'", Gauche said. "Well I've got a mountain to climb, I'd tell them."

Gaucher put more faith into his Cree traditions and spirituality in his struggle to recover and realize his dream. He went to the Smallboys

camp near Hinton and participated in sweatlodges where the Elders told him they saw a vision of Gauche climbing Everest.

"I definitely believe that the grandfathers have allowed me this

mobility and opportunity for our own people," he said.

Kerry Agecoutay, team member and a Cree from the Cowessess Reserve in Saskatchewan, is also making a recovery - a recovery that is both physical and spiritual.

Agecoutay is a recovering alcoholic.

He was raised in an environment where drug and alcohol abuse and

violence were so prevalent that he accepted it as normal way of life. As he grew up he continued the cycle.

At an early age Agecoutay and his family moved to Calgary where he grew up. His 10 year marriage broke up in 1993. His alcoholism was a leading factor in the divorce.

He moved to California where a small stained glass studio he had established was destroyed in a fire. He found work as a dealer in a casino but drugs and alcohol were a part of the scene and he eventually lost the job.

He made it back to Calgary where a run-in with the police led to his

entering the Poundmaker treatment center.

"I was probably going to do some time so that's when I decided to go

into a treatment center," Agecoutay said. "Ever since then I've been in recovery and accepted the fact that I'm a drug addict and alcoholic.

Agecoutay hopes that through his recovery and his joining the team he can be a role model for others in the Native community.

He wants "to show them that we can recover and have high expectations of ourselves and set goals."

Agecoutay receives support from the team members.

"I've actually been asked if I was worried about him going into a

relapse of any kind. I'm not," Gaucher said. "I believe the

grandfathers have led us and brought us together and for that reason we "are going to succeed."

Climbing Everest takes more than dreams and confidence, it takes hard training, organization and, most importanly, it takes money.

The team has been incorporated and has a board of directors to raise the money they need to fund their dream.

They hope to raise money by creating awareness to the team

through media exposure and through presentations to First Nations

including the Sucker Creek reserve.

"They said they're guaranteeing us the money, they just don't know how much at this point," Gaucher said.

Although the Lesser Slave Lake Indian Regional Council is supporting the team by approaching each member Nation of the council for donations the team is still a long way off from raising all the money they need.

In the mean time, the team trains by climbing in the Rocky Mountains on a regular basis, scaling higher and higher peaks. This fall they plan on climbing the highest peak in the Rockies, Mount Robson in B.C., then onto Mount Denali in Alaska, and next to the highest peak in the Western Hemisphere, Mount Aconcagua in Argentina.