News

While shirt sleeves and tent flies dried in a brisk September breeze, students and trip leaders explored Wallace Island or sat on its west-facing ridge, watching the sunset, waves, and seals. Outdoor Pursuits’ annual autumn circumnavigation of Salt Spring Island is a highlight of the year, and something that returning students every year...

A week into the Fall term, Brentwood’s Athletics program is in full swing. On a walk around campus yesterday I came across our 530 athletes participating in basketball, volleyball, field hockey, squash, rugby, soccer, tennis, cross country running, kayaking and rowing. And completion has begun. This weekend finds the Senior A Girls Volleyball...

Projecting a wash of evening light onto sheer cliffs faces, the sun dipped below spruce trees as a Brentwood bus pulled into the Paradise Valley Campground in Squamish, BC. Squamish is a world-class outdoor rock climbing destination, boasting all levels of routes from beginners’ climbs to multi-pitch challenges for experts. And the best part is...

Waiting out a layover in the Vancouver airport, ten Outdoor Pursuits students filled out a survey from Experiences Canada, but no piece of paper has the ability to encompass the adventure we had just enjoyed. Way back at the beginning of the school year, a group of ten Outdoor Education students from Glebe Collegiate Institute flew to Brentwood...

Despite consistent rain, cold temperatures, and nerve-wracking rapids, a large group of enthusiastic white-water paddlers gathered at the Horseshoe Bend campsite for the annual Cowichan River Youth Kayaking Festival last weekend. The event, hosted and organized by Mr. Norman, is intended to teach white water paddling to young people, with a strong...

In anticipation of the warm waters of Spring Break destinations, the third term ODP group practiced swimming on the last day of sport before the holiday. Snow drifted gently down as a bus full of apprehensive students and neoprene wetsuits made its way to Skutz Falls: the location on the local Cowichan River where the ODP white water paddling...

What should you do if your hiking partner breaks an arm when you’re a three-day walk from civilization? Or gashes a leg on a remote kayaking trip? Such are the questions that various students, alumni, and staff addressed during a fifty-hour Wilderness First Aid course held over the past two weekends. Led by an experienced teacher from...

Second term of Outdoor Pursuits is off to a great start. In the past two weeks, we already have a hike, two pool sessions, and two chances to climb under our belts. Tuesday, November 15th, the first day of second term sport, was overcast and chilly, but the view from the summit of Mt. Tzouhalem was still stunning. Eagles glided in and out of the...

On a damp West Coast November day, a couple of BEAT members trekked their way through damp bush, avoiding puddles, admiring wildlife, and took in the incredible sights, sounds, and smells the temperate rainforest has to offer. Before them emerged an incredible sight: deep in the forest emerged a beautiful grove of old growth trees, reaching into...

Familiar faces alternated with newcomers as the Brentwood ODPers (plus a few additional hosts) welcomed students from Glebe Collegiate, in Ottawa, last week. After waking up at 4am their time, traveling all day, and hiking Mount Finlayson, the Glebe kids were more than ready for dinner and bed: thermarests on the floor in the boarding houses of...