Daniel George Culver June 12, 1952 - July 7, 1993

Daniel George Culver was born in North Vancouver June 12, 1952, and was the second oldest of nine children. His father Dennis Culver was an accountant and his mother Eleanor was a stay at home nurturing mother. They provided love, respect, guidance, and a security that encouraged each of their children to make their dreams a reality. Mr. & Mrs. Culver maintained that raising their children was the most important work they could do.

Dan was first introduced to the outdoors through his parents. With nine children, the outdoors was the only recreation that the Culvers could afford! They bought a 1953 eleven-seat Mercedes bus in which to travel and go camping, and crossed Canada several times to visit their many relatives in Halifax, which is where Eleanor was raised with her 14 brothers and sisters. The Culver family's biggest achievement was travelling to Halifax in just five days. They and their unusual vehicle garnered much attention wherever they went, and were filmed for the CBC evening news as they set off for EXPO 67 in Montreal. That same year Eleanor wrote an article for Good Housekeeping describing how one kept eleven people fed and happy while travelling up to12 hours each day across country.

Dan's vision for his future began early and was already clear to him at the age of 14 when a census taker happened to come to the Culver home. The census taker asked what his Father, Mother and other family members did. Dan replied, "My Dad's an accountant, my Mom's a housewife, my brothers and sisters are students, and me, I'm an adventurer."

Dan's interest in the outdoors continued to grow. While attending UBC as a student of law and medicine he belonged to the kayaking, rowing and sky diving clubs. After working for the summer with a river rafting outfit in 1974, he suddenly he decided that there was too much adventure to be had, and left school to start up his own river rafting company.

With the help of his brother Hugh, Whitewater Adventures provided river rafting tours down the Thompson, Chilliwack, Fraser, Chilcotin and Nahanni rivers. With Dan's vision and skill as an entrepreneur, it soon became the largest white water rafting company in Western Canada.  Dan garnered attention and gained respect in his chosen field; in 1986, after his sailing charter company was formed, he helped draft guidelines for whale watching companies designed to minimize the impact of tourism on killer whales, and in 1987 he was one of three people appointed by the B.C. Ministry of Environment to draft commercial river rafting regulations.

By 1983 Dan had added a whale watching tour company to his already successful whitewater rafting outfit. When Bluewater Adventures first began he offered sailing tours of the Gulf Islands and quickly grasped the untapped potential for business that the wild B.C. coast offered. Dan progressively moved the business up to Desolation Sound and Johnstone Strait, and eventually as far north as the Queen Charlotte Islands.  In 1985 he sold off the whitewater rafting company to concentrate fully on sailing and whale watching.  A reporter noted that his trips "took on the allure of floating classrooms, where everything from natural history, whale watching, native history and marine biology were presented". The stature of his company was such that when HRH Prince Philip wanted to go whale watching during a 1987 visit, Bluewater Adventures, with Dan at the helm, was host to the royal party.  By 1988 the business was doing so well that Dan was once again ready to move on, he sold the business to Randy Burke, who still operates it today.
 

Dan looked around for new challenges, and found his answer in climbing. As with anything he set his mind to, Dan quickly moved into the big leagues. Among others, he climbed South America's highest mountain; Mt. Aconcagua, as well as the highest peak in Antarctica; Mt. Vinson, and in 1990 became the 5th Canadian, and first British Columbian, to summit Mt. Everest, dedicating that ascent to the Khutzemateen and Tsitika valleys, then in danger of being logged.

Dan's third company, Blue Heron Adventure Experiences Corporation, began in 1991 after his Mt. Everest notoriety. His company offered corporate adventure experiences, team building and leadership training, motivational public speaking, and provided guiding for ocean, river, and mountain expeditions. Dan also put together a slide show of his experience on Mt. Everest called "Dare to Achieve", that was a metaphor for people in their own lives. He took the show around to local schools as well as having public performances, with the proceeds, typically for Dan, going towards another environmental concern. In his talks he emphasized "achieving dreams, creating a vision, overcoming obstacles, enjoying the journey towards the goal, and experiencing the ultimate satisfaction of accomplishment", all themes that Dan was passionate about and that resonated in everything he did.

A children's book that Dan wrote in 1992 using his photos and the true story of his Everest climb was based on these same themes, imparting to young children the importance of overcoming fear to accomplish their goals. Although he didn't live to see it happen, his book, My Little Everest, was published by Sono Nis Press in Victoria under the guidance of Dan's youngest sister Sue, and is available through the Foundation and bookstores across Canada.

While Dan searched for the ultimate adventure, he also sought a lifelong companion to share his life.  In 1991 Dan met Patricia Cawsey (neé Earthy) when they both attended a personal growth workshop. Despite their immediate attraction, they did not meet again for two months due to their busy schedules. Dan was busy climbing Mt. Logan with brother Hugh, while Patricia was attending a workshop in Santa Fe on past life regression. Finally Dan and Patricia met for dinner, and by the end of the date they were a couple. Patricia later purchased the exact table they sat at that night and presented it to Dan as a gift.

On Valentines Day of 1992, Dan and Patricia proposed to each other and were married that October, in typically unconventional style, in a canoe at the dock of Dan's Deep Cove home, (with unintended comedic results as the small dock nearly sank under the weight of the wedding guests!). Dan and Patricia united around the issues of moving past fear, doing your personal best, and stretching beyond your limitations. Patricia Culver continues to promote those teachings today in her private practice and workshops with her company, Adventures in Intimacy.

When Dan decided to challenge K2, he dedicated the climb to B.C.'s Tatshenshini Valley, which at the time was threatened by an open pit copper mine. As journalist Mark Hume stated, "it is a true measure of the man that he sought, in what should have been his crowning moment of glory, to defer the spotlight to environmental causes that he felt were bigger than him." On July 7th, 1993, shortly after becoming, with partner Jim Haberl, the first Canadian to summit K2, Dan "fell from a place higher than most of us will ever know " (Hume). He was one of only a handful of climbers who have scaled both of the word's highest mountains. Of the two, K2 was by far the most dangerous, fully one in three climbers who attempted the summit of that cruel mountain didn't live to celebrate their feat. On July 7th Dan became one more visionary whose desire for the ultimate challenge cost him everything.

In recognition of their achievement and the honour they brought to Canada, Dan and Jim Haberl were presented with the Governor General's Meritorious Service medal. Dan's widow Patricia accepted the award in Dan's place, and it now has a place of honour in his parent's home alongside photos of their beloved son. In a sad footnote that reflects the inherent danger of climbing, Jim lost his life in an avalanche in Alaska in April of 1999, and Alex Lowe, the American who summited with Dan on Everest, died on another climb in September of '99.
 

Dan knew he was not going to be on this planet forever, but hoped that such places as the Tatshenshini, Khutzemateen and Tsitika would be. Sadly, Dan never knew that while he was in Pakistan attempting his last climb, the Tatshenshini was saved from irreparable harm and preserved as a park forever. Dan felt so strongly about environmental preservation that a stipulation in his will said that most of his estate, amounting to over a million dollars, be dedicated toward the purchase of an ecologically sensitive property to be preserved for the public good. In 1995, Jedediah Island, a 640 acre paradise between Lasqueti and Texada Islands, was officially declared a Class A Marine Park.

In his too-short lifetime, Dan more than fulfilled his early dream of being an adventurer, but despite his many accomplishments, he was a humble man who never sought personal glory or recognition. Dan's vitality and energy attracted people and events to him in an extraordinary way, and he had the enviable gift of making every person he met feel special. Even the many members of his family regarded him more as best friend than son, sibling or cousin. One couldn't avoid being infected by his passionate love of life, his hunger for new experiences, and his avid curiosity about the world and its precious nature. In everything he did, Dan's enthusiasm, dedication and drive stood out. That's what made him the man he was; widely loved and sorely missed.

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With many thanks to Barbara Goddard for her words & research.

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