Bill MarchBill MarchAfter returning to Pocatello, Hilbert and March kept in contact. Hilbert encouraged March to come over to the States to do some advanced studies at Idaho State University and work in the Outdoor Program. The graduate assistantship Hilbert had finagled for March was tempting, but what attracted the Brit even more was was the chance to climb in the Tetons and other famous climbing areas in the Western United States. Hilbert didn't have to do much arm twisting.
When Bill arrived in the States, he brought with him a suitcase packed full of knowledge and skills. Lanky, strong, and articulate, he was the product of the long and honored tradition of climbing and mountaineering in Great Britain. March's influence on the the Idaho State program was immediate and profound. Where once the program had been largely experiential--learn by doing--March introduced new organized methods of teaching: lesson plans, skill teaching progressions and the combined use of theory and field experience. He set up climbing, mountaineering and ice climbing classes and introduced British teaching and paddling techniques to the existing kayaking program.
At the same time, March learned much from Hilbert, most particularly about Common Adventure trips. March found Hilbert's style of running trips, where responsibilities are shared and decisions are made democratically, a simple but powerful approach to outdoor education. March would later explain that he relied on Common Adventure techniques to help put the first Canadian on top of the world's highest mountain.
After March received a Master's degree from Idaho State University in 1975, he left to take an outdoor education position at University of Calgary on the physical education faculty. By 1982, he had risen to such importance in Canadian mountaineering that he was asked to lead the first Canadian Everest Expedition. March wasn't the sort who sat around at base camp and sent orders up the mountain. Rather, he immersed himself in it, doing much of the significant lead climbing, load carrying and rope fixing. He traveled through the dangerous Kumbu ice fall thirteen times. He was disappointed in that he wasn't able to personally reach the summit, but his leadership and his hard work on the mountain were a vital part of the overall success of the expedition.
In the fall of 1990, Bill was on a trip with some of his students, not a particularly hard trip for an Everest veteran, when he was stricken by an aneurysm which took his life. He was doing what he enjoyed best: spending time in the outdoors and sharing his knowledge and skills with others. Yet, he is missed. He had much to contribute and was an important voice in the outdoor education field.
Though he never made the summit of Everest, Bill did make a return
journey of sorts. Tom Whittaker, a good
friend of Bill's and a disabled climber who started the C.W. HOG program
at Idaho State University, carried some of Bill's ashes to the top of the
world in 1998. It was the first ascent ever by a disabled climber and a
fitting last journey for Bill.