1996. 128 pp, many photos. North of Vancouver lies some of the most rugged wilderness in Canada, described here. New Large format paperback.
Nootka Sound on the West Coast of Vancouver Island was the site where the first European, Captain James Cook, landed and the exploration of the island began, hence the title Beyond Nootka. Beyond Nootka is the first comprehensive history of the mountain regions of Vancouver Island. It recounts the tales of the early explorers, prospectors, surveyors and mountaineers as they pushed into ever more remote regions of Vancouver Island. Research and interviews with pioneers and their descendants give this a unique perspective and a wealth of information which will appeal to a wide audience, from climbers to history buffs. Featuring historical photos and maps as well as colour photos of modern day climbers on their significant routes.
Beyond Nootka focuses on the major mountains of the Golden Hinde, Elkhorn, Big Interior Mountain, Rugged Mountain, Mt. Arrowsmith and Mt. Colonel Foster. Read about first ascents and tales of local climbers such as Mike Walsh, Joe Bajan, Geoffrey Capes and Sandy Briggs.
Beyond Nootka, a book written by Lindsay J. Elms, covers the earliest European explorations on Vancouver Island discussing the journeys of among others Captain Hamilton Moffat, John Meares and Rev. William W. Bolton. Since Elms has dedicated his life to the sport of mountaineering, the excerpts from the early explorers journals focus primarily on their impressions of the mountains along with their routes traversed. Kudos goes to Elms for acknowledging the fact that the First Nations People were the first inhabitants of Vancouver Island and most likely made many of the first ascents of the Island's peaks.
Furthermore, Elms acknowledges that the early European explorers were successful in their journeys because of aid from the First Nations People's knowledge of the land. So like the Sherpas who have been indispensable in every successful Everest ascent, the First nations People were invaluable in the exploration of Vancouver Island. Yet very few of the original names of lakes, rivers and mountains given by the First Nations People exist today like Mount Arrowsmith's first name Kuth-Kah-Chulth.
Accompanying the text of the trails and tribulations of the early explorers are numerous pictures depicting stoic rugged men and women atop many of Vancouver Island's peaks. Since the main focus of Beyond Nootka is an accurate historical perspective of Vancouver Island Mountains, Elms devotes six of the book's nine chapters to discussing the specific mountaineering history of the Golden Hinde, Elkhorn, Big Interior Mountain, Mount Arrowsmith, Rugged Mountain and Mount Colonel Foster. In these chapters, Elms chronologically describes the important ascents of each mountain, offers reasons why individuals were lured to the peaks and offers quotes from journals and letters from individuals whose driving force in life was to be a little closer to the cosmos above. The quotes from the climbers give the reader a sense of the triumphant feeling of a successful ascent. For example George Lepore's description of the descent from the first recorded successful summit climb of Rugged Mountain. In 1959: an exhilarating slide down the glacier, careful to avoid the crevasses, down the forty-five degree wall, and through the bush at the end.
Again at the lake, we fished, swam and had more home made wine. A perfect day! Throughout the historical discussion of Vancouver Island's mountains, Elms successfully describes the obstacles conquered by the early mountaineers, articulates the beauty of the island's peaks, and with the support from inspiring photographs plants in the reader's mind a desire to experience, as Elms says, the overwhelming feeling of being somewhere special. Standing on the highest point of land, be it in the Himalayas, the Andes or Vancouver Island, one is aware that there is nothing between them and the heavens. To know that all the surrounding peaks lie below, can bring a euphoric and emotional feeling.
Lindsay Elms was born in Sydney, Australia and moved to Christchurch, New Zealand at an early age. While attending Hagley High School he joined the school tramping club and within a couple of years (1975) joined the Canterbury Mountaineering Club. For the next six years he climbed in the lesser ranges of the Southern Alps and learned the required mountaineering skills, however, as with many young antipodeans he needed to further his experience by travelling and trekking overseas: Southeast Asia, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Europe and North Africa.
In 1985 he went to Antarctica where he worked for the United States Antarctic Research Program at McMurdo Sound. He spent a year and a half on the continent, which included wintering over in 1986. Several trips were then made to South America and Central America before coming to the USA and Canada. For the next eight years he worked as a Mountaineering Instructor for the Canadian Outdoor Leadership Training (COLT) program at Strathcona Park Lodge on Vancouver Island but also continued climbing in Latin America.
Since arriving on Vancouver Island in 1989 Elms has climbed many of the island's peaks including a twenty-four hour round trip ascent of the Golden Hinde, a four hour ascent of Elkhorn and numerous other speed ascents, however, he has also climbed many of the lesser known and rarely visited north island peaks. He maintains his fitness through running and has completed numerous marathons and three ultra-marathons and is a member of the Comox Valley Road Runners. Elms lives in Courtenay on Vancouver Island and Beyond Nootka is his first book after publishing numerous journal articles on both mountaineering and Vancouver Island history.
