Seattle Press on Line - Rock Climbing and Canoe Tipping

Rock Climbing and Canoe Tipping

By Jeremy Konick

Alternative School no. 1 eighth-grader Josh Brammer carves a wooden canoe for Rites of Passage.

Jun 13, 2001 -- Jeremy Konick, 14, is preparing for Alternative School #1's eighth grade Rites of Passage program. Each year the graduating eighth graders at the K-8 public school near Northgate end the year with a week-long camping and canoeing trip, designed to challenge them and get them ready for high school. The preparation for the trip goes on throughout the school year. This is the second in three installments about the trip and the preparations.

When I last left off, our next event was a trip back to the swimming pool to try the canoe test again. Last time we tried, one group of girls "died" because they ended up staying in the water for about half an hour. This time, fortunately, everyone survived. There was a little bit of trouble getting in and turning the canoes over and emptying them out, but at least no one died!

Our next trip was to a place called Vertical World, which is an Interbay warehouse turned into a climbing facility, with over 100 different climbs. First we had to get hooked up in our climbing gear, including special shoes, which were very uncomfortable, but very helpful when climbing. We also had to wear harnesses which were very hard to put on, because they just looked like a bunch of snaps and little bands, and you couldn't tell where to put your legs or which part was the front or back. After finally getting all suited up we headed to the area of walls that was the easiest. After everyone had tried at least one easy climb, we all headed our separate ways. Some people went to an area that had climbs that were completely upside-down, while others stayed in the easy area. Just about everyone got to the top of at least one of the climbs. I would have to say that it was the best preparation trip we have done so far.

Our next trip was to the zoo to feed the bears. To get into the room where we could see the bears, there were massive amounts of locks and doors to prevent the bears from escaping, which reminded me of something out of a movie! However we did not get to feed the bears, as the trip's name promised. Instead we got to watch a zookeeper feed the bears apples. We did learn some interesting things about bears. The bears there weigh about 850 and 900 pounds! It was really amazing to see them up close--well, through a fence.

Another thing we have been doing in preparation for Rites is working on carving a canoe out of a 40-foot log, under the guidance of Robert Peele, or in Haida, Saaduuts. Hopefully, we will have that done in time to take it on Rites.

Next we will be learning about how to prevent bear attacks, and going on a three-day sailing trip to Olympia. If we do better on the sailing trip than we did in the swimming pool, I'll be back soon to report more!

Reader Comments

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Nozomi	Aug 13, 2002	Seattle	teacher
I would like to know more about it. Thank you


Josh	Sep 20, 2002	tollhouse,Ca
Thats me in the picture but i look differnt now that was a hard canoe to do because of how big it was buti moved s but i loved as1 it was beter then the school i go to now tell Ron the prcipal Hi from josh brammer


Josh	Jan 28, 2004	Circle	student
I wasnt in 8th grade i was in 7th they need to keep their story strait. secound thing it wasnt fo rites of passage it was a schoool efort


EP	Aug 28, 2004	WA	student
I used to go to AS#1 too! It was a really cool school!


tessa	Apr 11, 2005	glendive	school
hey josh....i love the picture..it really shows ur "young" side. UR SOOO CUTTE!!! haha ur even hotter now!!!!