Underhill Update Blog

Well here we are already into March and just when it seems like spring is starting to creep in, we are blanketed with a fresh round of snow.  To be honest I feel that this winter has gone by all too quickly and I am glad to see the snow again.  It means I still have some time to get in some skiing and that is what I am longing for right now. 

January and February were a blur of winter activities with the Explore students from Prairie Bible College and a group of students from Montreat College in North Carolina. We started in mid-January with a week long trip with the Montreat crew.  It snowed on us every day and fairly cold temperatures kept us moving.  They are involved in an immersion semester long program and we had the privilege of helping them kick of their semester with a ski touring trip.  For almost all of them, it was their first time camping in the snow.  They had great attitudes and we had a wonderful time with them. 

Explore showed up as they left and we started right into winter skills with them.  We have had an abundance of snowfall this winter which has created some difficulties in reaching our base camp at the top of Siegel pass (5,000’).  The theme of the winter skills time has been improvisation.  We ended up getting in all the training we had planned with many logistical changes along the way to accommodate the challenges from essentially being snowed out of our base camp.  I am definitely glad to be done shoveling out stuck army trucks!

Andrea taught backcountry Telemark skiing again this year to the Explore crew and I helped teach skiing as well, but as was mentioned earlier most of my time was spent trying to get all the necessary things in place for us to operate up there for 3 weeks. 

In the beginning of February in the midst of a trip on the mountain I received a call from my mother that my Grandfather who has been battling lung cancer for the last 6 months had taken a turn for the worst.  Andrea, Zach (my brother), and myself headed off the mountain and over to Spokane in time to say goodbye 4 hours before the Lord took him home.  While this came unexpectedly, I have been amazed to see God use my Grandfather’s home going to bring Glory to himself.  I am thankful for Grandpa’s influence in my life and the assurance that he was a friend of the King.

In the middle of February Andrea and I headed down to San Diego with Zach and Cori Vanderwall and Sean Odermatt to attend the National Conference on Outdoor Leadership.  The conference is put on by the Wilderness Education Association and we are looking at becoming an affiliate here in the future as we expand our educational focus with Christian colleges and universities.   We had a wonderful time down there and enjoyed some warm sun and good times on the beach and Sea World before and after the conference. 

Currently we are back in the office preparing for Explore’s final trip and the upcoming summer.  God has brought a new staff member to the program team.  His name is Caleb Sapp and he is a former Explore Student and Prairie Bible College Graduate.  I have known Caleb for quite some time as he is from Kennewick and is good friends with my brother Seth.  He is a welcome addition and brings a heart for the Lord and a background of working with at risk youth which we hope to utilize as we seek to partner and serve programs helping these children. 

I am heading out this weekend to McCall, Idaho for a four day Level 2 Avalanche course.  This should be valuable training as we continue to expand our winter programming and find ourselves exposed more to Avalanche terrain.  We pray and trust you are doing well and continuing to embrace the daily adventure of life God has blessed each of us with.