Taking Chiropractic to the Mountaintops

By Robert M.J. Champagne, D.C.

Having graduated from Life Chiropractic College in 1980, I have practiced chiropractic for 18 years in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in the heart of the Canadian prairies, 1,000 miles away from the Canadian Rockies.

I love being so close to the mountains, and I find ample time to do plenty of hiking, biking, climbing, skiing and various other outdoor activities.

During my adventures, I often find opportunities to introduce chiropractic to fellow outdoor enthusiasts. It is not uncommon for me to do "on trail" adjustments, thanks to the portability of chiropractic care. There have been many occasions where I have met people on back-country excursions, introduced chiropractic to them and often provided their first adjustment ever!

What better place to do this than in nature? Adjustments always seem so much more powerful when they are applied in a totally natural setting.

Last year, I was hiking with two friends to the top of a mountain. One of them experienced leg cramping by the time we reached the top. Even after a long lunch break before our descent, his legs were still in agony. He was limping severely and still had to descend almost three miles of steep scree slope (loose rock).

I told him I would like to check his neck for subluxations. Although he really didn’t think it would help, he allowed me to adjust him. His leg cramps immediately subsided about 90 percent, and he was easily able to descend the mountain. What a great testimony to the power of chiropractic!

Life As A Lookout Attendant

In May 2000, during a recent hike up Moose Mountain, near Calgary, I met Kerry Jess, a forest fire lookout attendant. She lives from mid-May until late fall in a one-room structure perched at 8,000 feet on the highest peak in the area. The hike to get up to the lookout consists of climbing 4-1/2 miles, the last few being above the treeline. She receives supplies once a month by helicopter.

Kerry has been a fire lookout attendant for 18 years in various locations throughout Alberta and British Columbia. She has a degree in geomorphology (physical geography) from McGill University, and she has had intense training at forest technology school and many years of on-the-job training.

Kerry explained that living in an isolated lookout for five or six months is not always easy. It takes a significant adjustment period when first arriving to the lookout in spring. She explained that, while living there, any emotion seems amplified tenfold. Once an "equilibrium" has been attained in the lookout, it is difficult to for the attendant to leave, and it is quite an adjustment to return to civilization once the term has ended.

The social and physical isolation can be very difficult. Family contact is rare to non-existent during the months in the lookout. Depending on the location of the lookout, cellular telephones can occasionally be used for outside communication, but Kerry has only had cellular phones during her last two years as a fire attendant.

The duties of fire lookout include continually surveying the miles of landscape for early detection and monitoring of forest fires, lightning storms and forestry aircraft and weather record keeping for Environment Canada.

The physical nature of their work includes vigilantly spending long hours in the lookouts. In extreme hazard conditions, or in fire monitoring, the work is intense, always in very isolated conditions, sitting in one position in the lookout for up to 14 hours per day, often in poor chairs or stools. Work hazards include lightning strikes, high winds, fire, heavy snow with dangerous cornices, snow slips and difficult access for rescue in certain weather and fire conditions.

Another potential danger is the presence of grizzly bears, black bears and cougars. Mostly, they feel privileged to have the opportunity to see these magnificent animals in their natural habitats. Moose, elk, deer, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, marmots, martens, weasels, packrats, eagles, hawks and falcons are also commonly seen.

Kerry recalled a terrifying storm in July 2000, when she recorded 14 lightning hits to her lookout building within 20 minutes. Her lookout was in the middle of a thundercloud. The thunder was non-stop, and she could hear the "popping" of electricity between lightning strikes. Being perched on the peak of the mountain, she had absolutely no place to hide. All she could do was sit on the floor, hoping that the lookout windows wouldn’t blow in and that the grounding system would hold out. It was terrifying experience for her.

Kerry’s most exciting day occurred several years ago when she was in an isolated fire tower perched 100 feet above a northern forest. She was evacuated when a fire grew from 1/4-acre fire 23 miles away to a 100,000-acre fire in three hours! The fire eventually burned three million acres and was estimated at one point to be traveling at 35 miles per hour.

Adjusting At The "Peak"

During my first visit to Kerry, we discussed chiropractic care and I asked her if she had ever been adjusted before. She replied that she suffered from neck pain and headaches and had considered chiropractic care, but hadn’t yet seen a chiropractor. I offered to do an analysis.

After a brief examination of her spine, I found a major subluxation in the upper cervical area. She allowed me to deliver her first adjustment ever. I hiked back to the lookout the following week and adjusted her once more.

I received a call from her approximately 1-1/2 weeks later, telling me that the adjustments had helped, but that another adjustment would be great. Over the next few months, I hiked to the lookout and adjusted her several times, and she no longer suffered from acute neck pain and headaches.

In June 2000, I also made a two-hour uphill bike ride to another fire lookout, at Junction Mountain, and offered my services to Milton Magee, the attendant. He had had prior chiropractic care in Vancouver, British Columbia, where he lives the other six months of the year.

This lookout is 8-1/2 miles up a mountain, 2,550 feet above the trailhead, at an altitude of 7,500 feet.

Milton remembers the day where the winds were hammering the lookout 115 miles per hour and one of the walls started to cave in. He moved the instruments and everything of value to the lower level of his two-story structure and waited until the winds subsided, hoping that the building would remain standing. Following the storm, the wall was repaired and reinforced with steel beams.

It takes special people to be fire lookout attendants, and I feel privileged to be able to take chiropractic to the mountaintops so that they, too, can benefit from care.

About the author: Robert M.J. Champagne, D.C., a 1980 Life Chiropractic College graduate, has managed a busy, multi-doctor practice in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, for 18 years. He has lived and practiced in Calgary, Alberta, Canada since 1998. Inquiries may be addressed to him at Site 7, Box 48, R.R. 1, DeWinton, Alberta, Canada T0L 0X0; or call (403) 201-5454.