If you want to make it onto the board of the Alpine Club of Canada, it might help if you climb to the top of Mount Robson that same year.
It seems to have worked for Frank Spears.
The Prince George man has a special fondness for Mount Robson, the tallest peak in the Canadian Rockies. He has been to the summit twice on three attempts, an impressive result considering the overall success rate is only 10 per cent.
Based on his 10 years as Alpine club member and three on the section council, Spears has been named as the official nominee for the position of vice-president of club activities. Should there be no nominees from the floor at the club's next annual general meeting, Spears would be acclaimed to the two-year position.
The Alpine Club of Canada has more than 100 years of history. It was during a club instructional camp that Robson was first climbed on July 31, 1913. To celebrate that centennial, and the centennial of the formation of Mount Robson Provincial Park itself, another instructional camp was held there this past summer and that is when Spears made the summit with fellow climbers Lawrence White, Jesse Milner, Andy Thompson, Matt Mueller and Pat Morrow.
"Looking down at the terrain from that high above always makes your heart pound," said Spears. "You never get that view any other way."
He has designs on other Robson routes, but has a list of peaks he'd like to climb in the reach of Prince George. For the past three years he has been the Alpine Club's Prince George section representative and said the list of challenges at the alpine and subalpine levels are vast and exciting within a four hour drive of Prince George, in any direction.
"It is almost a rite of passage for local youth to hike up to Berg Lake on Mount Robson or canoe the Bowron Lakes," he said. "It should be celebrated that we have all these assets in our community."
In the meantime, Spears is enjoying OverHang, the new indoor climbing facility opened at the Prince George Golf and Curling Club. He is helping out at the facility in hopes young people and those new to the climbing culture will come experiment and learn.
"I consider rock climbing to be a building block to mountaineering. If you look at mountains and dream of being up there at the top, then this is a great way to start off," he said.
His own introduction came from parents who both skied. He fell in with friends who were Alpine Club members and took him on backcountry trips, and soon he was ascending splendid peaks and spreading the word about how much fun he was having.
Spears can also be seen on the cover of the latest edition of Gazette Magazine, the Alpine Club's official publication. The photo was snapped as he neared the Robson summit in August.
