OUTDOORS
Continued from Page 1
University in 1979 to start a
college program in beginning
and advanced wilderness out
ings skills.
Within 10 years, the program
had grown into the largest of its
kind in the country and u m<xi
el for other universities. For
loss than $50 a term, students
could learn the basics of
rockclimbing or the subtleties
of windsurfing.
"Compared to Fugene Parks
and Recreation and other com
petitors. the cost of our classes
are wny under market," Blan
chard said.
Today, students have many
of those same opportunities,
but they come at an increased
cost and decreased availability.
Wilderness Survival, the pre
requisite class for most outdoor
classes, costs $34 this term,
compared to $30 a year ago
Blanchard said he expects class
costs to rise another $5 to $9
next year, and all wator classes
were canceled this year duo to
lock of money for instructors
As the program receives no
money from the Mote, student*
must pay the entire cost of the
classes, Blanchard said. That
includes Blanchard's salary.
And as part of a deal with the
administration. Blanchard
agreed to to work full time for
half-pay this year, in order to
keep the program alive. The
program's other instructor. Mi
chael Strong, had the same op
tion hut left this year to teach
several courses at the private
National Outdoor Leadership
School.
"I'm living on savings this
year.” Blanchard said "I've in
vested too much in this pro
gram to just drop it. I’ve lived
hero all my life, and this is
where I've chosen to settle."
Despite the program's dimin
ished si/.e and increased cost,
students continue to fill the
classes and waiting lists are of
ten as long as the class roster,
Blanchard said
Junior geography student
Travis Reeder said the program
provides hands-on learning for
his field
"It gives me the skills 1 need
to get into the places I like to
study, such us national forests,"
Rotider said. "Being in the
classroom so much. I lose track
of what I'm studying it just
becomes work on paper
Senior psychology student
Seth Koch said he appreciates
the solitude he finds in the wil
derness.
"I get to know myself better
when there's not so many ex
traneous variables around me
Personally. I'm more aware of
who I am as an individual." he
said.
Blanchard said he is cau
tiously optimistic about the
program's future
"In the long run the future is
bright, because the demand is
growing," he said.
And he is quick to point out
that, while the state has aban
doned the program, the Univer
sity has not.
"The administration has been
extremely supportive of our ef
forts to keep going.” hi; said
"They give us facilities to work
In and pay for our heating and
electric bills.
"Even in our reduced state,
we are still the largest outdoor
based program iti the country."
he said
DIRECTOR
Continued from Page 1
trekked solo through Russia and kayaked some of
the world's most dangerous rivers.
Blanchard's career is one marked by a close tie
to the outdoors After graduating with a general
science degree from the University in 1907, he
landed a job us a U S. Forest Service wilderness
ranger.
For the next 10 years he patrolled the Willam
ette National F'orest, also working lor the ski pa
trol at Mount Bachelor. His work eventually led
him into the dangerous and technical field of
mountain rescue
In the 1970s. Blanchard and two others found
ed what is today the Pacific Urest Outward Bound
School, which teaches outdoor skills with an
awareness of the environment
Nine years later, Blanchard brought his experi
ence to the University and founded the Outdoor
Pursuits program.
Blanchard says he has no regrets about choos
ing a career that he jokingly says "avoids mean
ingful employment ".
'Most of my college friends are now doctors,
lawyers and Indian chiefs," he said " Ihey made
a lot of money. I had fun instead
In ull his years of mountaineering and adven
turing. his most dangerous moment came about
10 years ago on a relatively idyllic solo hike
through Yugoslavia
"It was a rather odd case, involving dogs in
Macedonia." Blanchard said "They have these
giant. 150-pound dogs to guard their sheep
They're very effective — they kill anything that
comes near the sheep.
"I got tangled up with almost a dozen of the
dogs," ho said. "I killed several of them with
stones, then they gathered around me I managed
to keep them at bey by picking up a dead dog a
7 managed to keep them at
bay by picking up a dead dog
— a small one — by its hind
legs and swinging it around as
a club
Jim Blanchard.
Outdoor Pursuits program director
small one by its Kind legs and -.winging il
around us a club
"I don't know how long that lusted, but mv
ololhos wore in shreds, and I had lost a lot of
blood I was saved by some Albanian border
guards, who machine-gunned the rest of them
saved my little hiney.
“I ended up being holed up In a small village
for quite a while until my wounds started to
heal.''
In the summers, Blanchard leads American cli
ents on treks through the European and Japanese
Alps He said these mountain trips give him the
peace of mind to deal with the stresses he en
counters in Eugene
"You get a special perspective when you're on
u mountain peak that's impossible to achieve in
Eugene," he said
"We live in a pretty esoteric realm that's dis
tantly related to reality When you're constantly
dealing in math or psychology or physics, the
connections art; hard to make,” he said.
Blanchard said his plans for the future are con
fined to the University.
"I'll be focused on rebuilding this program," he
said "I see myself running it for sometime. It's
going to work Somehow it's going to work "
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