Club seeks helicopter for hut UBC Reports
April 16, 1998

Club seeks helicopter for hut

UBC's Varsity Outdoor Club (VOC) is raising money to establish an alpine hut in memory of Brian Waddington, a keen mountaineer and UBC alumnus who was killed in an avalanche in 1996.

The VOC has a 30-year history of constructing alpine huts in remote areas to serve backcountry skiers and hikers.

The Phelix Creek/Brian Waddington Memorial Hut is to be located next to a sub-alpine lake near Phelix Creek, about a four- to five-hour hike from Birkenhead Lake north of Whistler.

The 15,000-kilogram hut has been built by volunteers, but must now be flown to the site by helicopter.

"The cost of transporting the hut is prohibitive for a student-run club," says Andre Zim-merman, Waddington Hut project co-ordinator.

Zimmerman says $4,000 to $6,000 is needed.

The VOC has established the Brian Waddington Memorial Fund with the Alma Mater Society to receive donations. Zimmerman can be reached for information at (604) 876-6258.