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What I did this summer...
Three adventurers test personal boundaries in seasonal
jobs; encourage others to try the same
By: Emily Hartwig
Posted: 9/27/07
Scaring away huge brown bears, plunging into dangerous white water rapids,
and rolling 250-pound rocks down slippery mountain slopes - not your typical
job responsibilities. But each of these activities was all in a day's work
for three UW-Eau Claire students this summer.
Junior Matt Amundson, senior Sara Cahanes and junior Tom Holtan overcame
personal qualms to take on unconventional jobs this summer. In the process,
they said they learned irreplaceable lessons about their personal strengths
and capabilities,and are more than willing to recommend those experiences to
other students.
Matt's story
The ultimate escape as an Alaskan fly-fishing guide
Matt Amundson, a biology major from Northfield, Minn., had always enjoyed
fishing with his dad and brother, so when a friend found openings at an
Alaskan lodge for fly-fishing guides, he said he jumped at the opportunity.
He worked at the isolated Lake Marie Lodge, located 90 air-miles northwest of
Anchorage, Ala. Amundson took clients fishing for salmon or rainbow trout in
small-stream settings, which are better for the confined area, for four to
seven days at a time, he said.
"It's fun to just go out and chill," said the outdoorsman with his easy
smile. "And think about something else besides school and relationships."
A typical day for Amundson began in the lodge, where he made lunches for the
day's trip. Then he took the guests to a boat landing by four-wheeler, or
hiked to the day's stream, and spent the day fly-fishing. He also did general
maintenance around the lodge.
Amundson said later in the day, his responsibilities included filleting,
vacuum sealing and freezing the fish for guests to take home. He also tied
"flies" - the bait for fly-fishing, consisting of dyed strips of rabbit fur
and other materials tied together with thread - for the excursions.
And once a week, he prepared a shore lunch for his group, which meant
preparing a fresh catch over a small fire at the stream, with onions and
potatoes.
In compensation, Amundson said he received $7.50 an hour for working around
the lodge and $80 a day for guiding trips, plus tips from guests. This helped
offset the cost of his plane ticket and personal equipment he bought, though
the latter wasn't required of guides.
"You can't ever have too much fishing equipment," he said with a laugh.
Fly-fishing requires more concentration than regular fishing, he said, since
people must remain quiet and concentrate on where to find the best fish.
Amundson also said he enjoyed working with a variety of groups, such as all
men, couples and families - though he said there weren't many women. There
were also only male guides.
"You get to know these people pretty well by the end of the week," Amundson
said, citing the two-to-one ratio of guests to guide.
Another perk of his job was the chance to see parts of Alaska. Amundson said
he went on boat rides to various glacial streams and took bush plane and
helicopter rides. He also said he enjoyed the glimpses of wildlife -
including the 17 bears he spotted over the summer. Five of these were on the
stream, he said, and necessitated yelling to scare them away for the group's
safety. He also carried a shotgun for the bears.
"It definitely tests your patience," he said of the isolated job, but added,
"It's pretty rewarding" and he plans to return to the lodge next summer.
Sara's story
A test of strength as an outdoor adventure leader
After a competitive nationwide application process, Sara Cahanes, a
kinesiology major from Stillwater, Minn., landed her ideal job. This summer,
she worked at Fort Carson, the Army base near Colorado Springs, Colo., as an
intern.
Her responsibilities included leading kayaking and mountain biking classes to
running youth adventure camps and backpacking clinics. But Cahanes' main job
was as a white water rafting guide - which she had only done once before in
her life, she said. Cahanes guided groups of four to eight people through
Class 3 rapids on the Arkansas River, the most commercially-rafted river in
the United States. Class designations range from one to six, with one being
the easiest, Cahanes said.
An interesting aspect of Cahanes' job was the make-up of her groups - only
members of the army, army veterans, and their friends and family came to the
camp. She said working with army people was a unique opportunity.
"Working with different groups you really had to take into account (their
different) … ways of responding to your leadership," Cahanes said.
But before she even got on the river as a full-fledged guide, the outdoor
leader said she had a close call that tested her courage.
"I honestly thought I was going to die," Cahanes said with a serious note in
her voice. She then described her third time down the river during the
demanding 60-hour training program for rafting leaders.
On that unforgettable day, Cahanes said the boat suddenly flipped into the
freezing water while going through a three-rock rapid, which requires
difficult maneuvering. While the others grabbed onto the raft, Cahanes
flipped into the correct position - feet first, on her back - but was still
sucked into a "hole," which is the dangerous water phenomenon that occurs
just downriver of a rock.
Cahanes recalls being sucked repeatedly down to the bottom of the river and
panicking, since she could barely breathe. Finally, she balled her body up
and shot out of the hole. Despite being caught in a couple more dangerous
spots, she grabbed onto the raft.
"Honestly, the next day I could barely get out of the car (for training),"
Cahanes said. "That experience really molded me through training and made me
take it very seriously."
Cahanes made it through training and met success the rest of the summer as
one of only three guides who didn't flip a single raft.
As the only woman in the program - she worked with five male interns, in
addition to an all-male management staff - Cahanes said she faced certain
challenges. One of these was dealing with the ego problems of a fellow staff
member, who tended to judge a woman's capabilities. Cahanes said this helped
her learn about teamwork and communication skills.
"We helped each other learn and gain experience," she said of her team,
adding that she enjoyed working with men.
Plus, this allowed her a unique advantage - her own trailer in the parking
lot of the outdoor building, though none of the interns got to shower more
than once every three to four days, Cahanes said.
She also gained confidence and leadership skills from her job at Fort Carson.
"It makes a difference when you're confident," she said, since her rafting
groups always did better when she was confident and upbeat.
The internship was unpaid, besides a $10 a day stipend for food, Cahanes
said. Next summer, she plans to gain a different guiding experience -
possibly as a sea kayaking guide at the Apostle Islands, where she has led
trips for University Recreation - or find a full-time job.
"This is for me; I love this stuff," Cahanes said of outdoor activities. "…It
centers me."
Tom's story
Backcountry challenges as a national park employee
Tom Holtan, a business administration and history major from Port Washington,
recently returned from his second summer working for the government at Rocky
Mountain National Park in Colorado. The summer 2006 job was an unpaid
internship he secured though the Career Resource Center, but this past summer
Holtan worked as a paid employee of the trail crew.
His job mainly consisted of a wide variety of maintenance work, Holtan said,
such as chainsaw work and dry stone masonry. Most of his work involved trail
conservation and maintenance, he said.
Much of his summer was spent in the backcountry, Holtan said. This term
refers to the hard-to-get-to places in the national parks, which are usually
over a mile into the park and have limited resources.
Clearing trees that could be a hazard to trail users is crucial for making
the park safe and accessible, Holtan said. With pride in his voice, he pulled
out his Class A Sawyer card - a certification requirement for using a
chainsaw - and described the importance of being properly trained before
felling trees. He said it was a big rush to fell 100-foot trees, "especially
because you know they could just kill you in an instant."
Another big project Holtan took on was dry stone masonry, where no mortar is
used. He and his crew worked 11,500 feet up in the tundra, 10 miles up the
trail. Here, they rebuilt switchbacks - which are needed when the trail is
forced to zig-zag up a steep slope - using 200 to 250 pound rocks they found
in the woods.
Holtan recalled one dangerous instance when the crew worked through a huge
rainstorm. Since the rocks needed to be rolled down the slope, the bad
weather caused about two-thirds of the rocks to tumble down the mountain
instead of stopping at the trail, a huge safety hazard, Holtan said, that
forced them to stop working.
This year, the crew had an unusual number of women, making the ratio about
half men and half women, Holtan said. Though he said some women weren't able
to carry or lift as much as the men, he was quick to add, "everybody brings
different traits to the crew." For example, his female roommate was a quick
hiker and hard worker, Holtan said.
He also made "good money" working for the government. He said he earned $12
an hour, time-and-a-half for overtime, plus $180 a month for housing. While
in the backcountry, he earned an additional $20 a day for food expenses. The
government also provided top-of-the-line uniforms and equipment.
A final highlight of Holtan's summer was two search-and-rescue missions. On
one of these, a woman free-fell 15 feet while hiking, and then tumbled
another 30 feet. Holtan and one other crew member responded to the incident
and built a platform for a rescue basket to be placed on the steep slope.
Using pulleys and ropes, the crew then lifted the woman up and carried her to
a helicopter a quarter of a mile away. She sustained several broken bones,
but was lucky to have been found, he said.
"You get to do life-changing experiences like that," Holtan said of the
mission.
And as for next summer, Holtan said he definitely plans to take another job
in the park.
Anyone can do it
Amundson, Cahanes and Holtan agreed on one central theme - an outdoor job is
a great opportunity for anyone to pursue.
"Everyone should try to do something outside their comfort zone, if they find
it interesting," Cahanes said. This includes a challenging internship or
study abroad trip, she said.
Holtan agreed with that idea, adding, "I truly believe your possibilities are
endless." |
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