Professional explorer shares his passion for adventure with B.C. youth

Adam Shoalts grew up successful Ontario with the wood arsenic his playground.

His puerility location and schoolhouse some were some surrounded by the wood and helium spent a batch of clip outdoors with his member and dog. Shoalts said helium remembers feeling drawn to the woods and wanting to spell deeper and deeper into the forest. 

Today, helium is simply a nonrecreational explorer and nationalist best-selling author, known for his solo canoe trips successful the Arctic, successful which helium has paddled up to 4,000 kilometres.

His canoe journeys began arsenic soon arsenic helium graduated precocious school, utilizing his homemade canoe.

Now a father, helium takes his kids into the wood connected the regular.

On Thursday Shoalts spoke to students astatine Vernon's outdoor acquisition program, Awaken Inquiry and Adventure-Okanagan. He spoke with Chris Walker, big of CBC's Daybreak South about his 20 twelvemonth career, and what helium hopes to animate successful young minds.

LISTEN | Professional adventurer speaking successful Vernon:

This interrogation has been edited for magnitude and clarity. 

I'd emotion to perceive conscionable a fewer of your astir memorable adventures.

My champion known adventures, the ones that radical cognize maine for, are the agelong solo journeys. I did a 4,000 kilometre solo travel crossed the Arctic, from my doorstep successful confederate Ontario wherever I canoed to the Arctic, which wasn't rather arsenic long, that was 3,400 kilometres.

I erstwhile recovered a mature American chestnut tree, and that mightiness dependable alternatively ho hum, similar what's the large deal? But I ever deliberation of American chestnuts arsenic the rarest of the rare. I cognize successful British Columbia, you're blessed with galore majestic trees, but American chestnuts are often described arsenic the kings of the eastbound forest. 

They were giants. If you saw a achromatic and achromatic photograph of an American chestnut from, say, the 1800s, you would curse it had to person been taken connected Vancouver Island. That's however large these trees were.

The happening is, successful 1909, determination was an invasive blight that was accidentally introduced to North America. It was perfectly devastating to the American chestnut.

Once I was successful the wood wandering on and past I saw a chestnut. What a batch of radical astir apt don't recognize is that the chestnuts you spot successful metropolis parks and elsewhere crossed North America contiguous are not native. They're introduced.

When I saw this 1 heavy successful an aged maturation wood successful Ontario, I mean, it instantly gave maine chills down the backmost of my spine due to the fact that I recognized close distant what I was looking at. 

I looked up and successful beforehand of maine was this magnificent aged chestnut tree. And I couldn't judge it. So I ever accidental that is my top adventure, adjacent though it's not 1 that possibly would travel to caput for astir radical erstwhile you comparison it to say, a 4 period travel unsocial crossed the Arctic.

How did you get into this? What was it aboriginal successful your beingness that made you privation to bash these things?

I conjecture radical are conscionable products of their environment. I conscionable happened to turn up with a wood astir my location and we lived successful the countryside. It was conscionable wood each astir my household home. So some my member and my dog, that was conscionable our playground wherever I ever went arsenic a five-year-old. 

I retrieve gathering what we called forts, similar small instrumentality shelters, similar you are the donkey from Winnie the Pooh and sleeping successful them erstwhile I was seven or 8 with my member successful the woods astir the house.

We had a wood astir the school. So adjacent successful precise young simple grades, our teachers would instrumentality america successful the woods and thatch us. They would person america stitchery the leaves and past bring them backmost to the class.

I conscionable kept wanting to spell deeper and deeper into the forest. And, you know, arsenic soon arsenic I graduated precocious school, I started doing journeys with my homemade canoes. I would walk a period oregon 2 with my begetter gathering a canoe and past I would get retired connected my ain and paddle it connected immoderate rivers oregon lakes I could get to.

You've been invited to bash this speech by the Awaken Inquiry and Adventure-Okanagan schoolhouse program. Can you archer america a spot astir what you'll beryllium talking astir today?

I'm each astir getting kids inspired to get outdoors, particularly nowadays. 

It's hard not to beryllium addicted to our phones successful a satellite of societal media and streaming videos. So, the schoolhouse has asked maine to stock immoderate of my ain adventures successful the wilderness and the large outdoors, canoeing and hiking and doing agelong journeys to hopefully spark thing successful the pupil audience.

Maybe if they perceive a small spot astir immoderate of the journeys I've done, it could works a effect where, who knows, successful 5 to 15 years, you mightiness person 1 of them connected CBC vigor talking astir the large agelong travel they did from their location successful Vernon to Patagonia.

I mean, who knows? That's however it happened with me. I was wrong my house. I looked retired the model and I saw a peregrine falcon alert by and I thought, ohio man, that falcon is simply a migratory vertebrate headed to the Arctic. Why not conscionable travel it? That's the benignant of communicative I privation to stock with the assemblage tonight, that thing is possible.

Dream large dreams and get retired determination and explore. The earthy satellite is endlessly fascinating and there's truthful overmuch to see. So get retired determination and acquisition it, right?

Any tips for parents oregon teachers connected however to get kids excited astir being extracurricular and learning astir the earthy world?

I'm a genitor present with 3 small ones. My newest is lone 3 weeks old. I'm taking them successful the woods astir each day. I deliberation it's conscionable thing astir being a human, we gravitate toward the outdoors. I deliberation it's successful our makeup. But for galore of us, it's dormant, right? It's there, you conscionable person to reignite the spark. I deliberation for galore people, they don't get the opportunities to get outside.

So my extremity is to marque it a benignant of adventure, right? Share with them immoderate of the wildlife I've seen and immoderate of the large adventures I've had. I deliberation that that excites their involvement and gets them outdoors.

Start small. I tried to thatch my boys astir birds. And it sounds, you know, alternatively ordinary. But the world is erstwhile you spell retired walking, you're not apt to spot immoderate of the much breathtaking oregon larger animals connected a day-to-day basis. 

But birds are absorbing due to the fact that you tin beauteous overmuch spot a vertebrate each time of the week nary substance wherever you unrecorded successful Canada. When you're 3 years aged oregon 4 years old, it's amusive to thatch them immoderate of the basal birds, similar that's a bluish Jay oregon that's a cardinal. For an adult, sure, that sounds precise simple. But for a kid to larn that stuff, you tin spot the spark successful their eyes. They're excited. 

Trees too, are different 1 due to the fact that again, you tin find a histrion nary substance wherever you go. You'll beryllium going to a metropolis park, a playground with slides and swings, and larn a mates of the trees astir there.

For the small kids it's like, wow. We tin place the quality between, say, a conifer histrion and a spruce tree. This is the benignant of happening that I deliberation opens the doorway for each sorts of adventures down the roadworthy for kids.