Boris was born four and a half days before the end of 1959. A year when The Soviet Union crashed the first man made object, the Lunik 2 spacecraft, into the Moon. Meanwhile in a quiet, district hospital in the city Kharkiv, in what is now Ukraine - a very different man-made ‘object’ was making it’s landing, only on Earth.

Boris was an only child and grew up surrounded by loving parents, grandparents and relatives. Despite the risk of “spoiledness” from being the focus of all attention, Boris grew up a very humble and inquisitive child.

In the USSR, ‘Mountaineering’ was defined as a type of sport: a combination of alpinism, trekking and climbing with the goal of arriving at valleys through mountain passes (cols) rather than summits. Mountaineering differed from the sport of “Alpinism” which focused on ascents and technical climbing and maintained its own Alpine ranking system. In fact, in the sport of Mountaineering, ascending summits was forbidden until 1989. In the absence of defined “national parks” or designated natural areas in the USSR, the growing interest in mountaineering led to a specific sporting phenomenon, called “self-regulating tourism”. Participants in this sport were referred to as mountain tourists or simply “tourists” (very different from the holiday type of tourist, usually found on a beach with drink in hand). These tourists explored routes developed by other tourists or recommended by tourist clubs – and they did this largely in teams, not solo. Teams were always large (6-15 people), all working towards a collective expedition goal, with each team member assigned a specific role. A tourist would be given the title and responsibility for: First Aid / Medical, Photography and Documentation, Orienteering and Leading, Finances, Equipment manager, Food manager and many more.

Mountain expeditions could be of six categories by complexity. For Category 1, the minimum duration of the route was 6 days, whereas for the most complex Category 6 it was minimum 20 days, no maximums were established. Mountaineering expeditions were regulated for security and safety, but also to grade the skill of participants, and standardise routes to allow competitions. For regulation, teams had to obtain documents from the route-qualification board (a type of administrative body) before the trip; and after the trip to submit a report to the same board. The report contained detailed documentation of the route completed, and several photos of participants on the cols as visual proof of accomplishment. This allowed them to qualify for a more difficult route next time, working up through to ‘mastering’ more challenging categories.

Photo: Boris is scrambling in Caucasus, 1987.

In 1989 - 1992 Boris organized and led mountain trips of 4th and 5th categories and reached the top of the mountaineering ranking which took him 15 years. In all of these trips Boris climbed with members of his university and other universities’ tourist clubs. For the more challenging trips, the same group of people would train together, develop routes together, and spend months in remote mountains together. Doing this for many years with the same group forged lifelong strong friendships, which continued despite Boris and his friends dispersing to different countries and continents. A friendship made in the mountains, was a friendship for life.

Many years later, over tea, Boris’ family would often hear stories of these expeditions, which had become Kaschenko family legends – such as the infamous 30 day expedition (Altai 1983). Boris would tell us how his team ran out of food with 10 days still ahead of them, which meant breakfast, lunch and dinner were served as a gourmet combination of a ¼ of a saltine cracker topped with a sugar cube. Needless to say, Boris made sure his children never grew up as picky eaters, learning to appreciate what was on the dinner table from a young age.

In addition to leading and participating in trips, Boris became the chair of his university tourist club in 1982, and for the next 10 years coached his university mountaineering team that competed at the city, republic, and Soviet Union level.

Competition criteria involved several ways to earn team points. For example, a team had to run a certain distance within an obstacle course designed with typical and varied mountaineering terrain (often in Crimea mountains). It was required to cover the distance as fast as possible, observing safety rules, not making any mistakes and without losing any equipment. Typically this distance was covered in one hour. Boris’ university team became of the the strongest in Kharkiv and Ukraine while Boris was a coach and participant of the team.

Photo: Developing a route in Caucasus mountains (1987) (Boris in the middle).

It was in the buoyant culture of mountaineering competitions that Boris met his wife. Boris and Rita got married one week after the competition seen in Photo, on May 11th 1984. The wedding rings wouldn’t fit properly because their fingers were still swollen after climbing! Their oldest daughter Veronika was born in 1985, and their son Kyryl in 1987. Boris and his wife continued to participate in mountaineering trips and also their children went with them outdoors and to the mountains from before they can remember. Their youngest daughter Anastasia was born in 1994, at which time the situation in Ukraine had changed drastically.

In 1991 the Soviet Union had collapsed and Ukraine became independent. For a family with two young children and a newborn, the reality was grim. Food was rationed using food coupons, Veronika and Kyryl often returning home empty handed from the store when even basic foods like butter, bread, dairy were “unavailable” and store shelves barren. Hot water would turn off without notice, and electricity and gas were not guaranteed even in the cold of Ukrainian winter. In the dust and chaos of a collapsed country, Boris saw a glowing hope in what at the time seemed like another planet. It was the mid 1990’s and to say Canada was a mystery to Boris’ family would be a great understatement. There was no internet, after all, to do a quick search of “life in Canada” or “top ten tips for immigrating”. But despite this, Boris bravely forged on and carved a path as one of the first applicants to emigrate from Ukraine when the border was opened. So, on a snowy day in December 1994, the Kaschenkos boarded a one-way flight, away from all they knew and toward the hopeful unknown.

Toronto was chosen because two friends’ of Boris’ had already emigrated there a few months before, found a job and were ready to share their apartments with a new family to help them settle.

Photo: Kharkiv team of mountain tourists on Ukrainian competition 40th anniversary (Boris is in the second row, second from the left, Rita is in the same row 5th from the left.)

Boris’ ambitions were not restricted to the mountains. Trained as an aerospace engineer, he received his Masters of Science in his home city of Kharkiv, only to graduate and never work a single day in his specialty. Instead, he became a self-taught computer programmer and quickly grew to prominence with a small software company started with his friends (a start up in today’s terms!). It was these skills that would prove invaluable as he looked for his first job in Canada. The first few years were tough. They were an exercise in penny pinching, couponing, and extreme frugality to make sure the growing family of 5 survived.

But, relentless to the core, Boris worked his way up, with stints in Waterloo and Boston as he poured effort into his career. His most recent and final role was as a senior solutions architect at Scotiabank where he led various projects in a tough but equally hardworking team for over 15 years.

Photo: Mount Victoria South summit ridge (2007, BC)

For the three Kaschenko children their childhoods were imbued with the love for the outdoors since before they could walk. For the oldest kids, early memories start in Ukraine, watching their dad compete or going on ‘kid treks’ with other climber offsprings. Although the youngest daughter Anastasia grew up in Canada, her memories aren’t that different – she can recollect hazy memories as a toddler sitting by a Crag (whether at Rattlesnake point, or Metcalfe, or in the boat at Bon Echo) and looking up at the “colourful shapes moving on ropes” which she would later learn were climbers!

As a family, we often catalogue past years by the mountain trips, expeditions and memories of our summer adventures outdoors. There was always a trip being planned in the Kaschenko household. As immigrants, there was a sense of wanting to soak up this new country - this rugged land of rivers and lakes and forests (and moose!). As parents, Boris and Margarita’s drive to explore was never dampened by a thin budget - and we mean thin. When explaining to others how he could take his family with three kids on a two week summer vacation for under $20 a night (for all, not per person!) - Boris was returned with looks of shock, and a tinge of skepticism. But it was not only possible, it was also incredibly fun. Cramped in a white family van, the Kaschenkos drove to the Canadian east coast, to provincial and national parks like Sandbanks, Killarney, Kill Bear, Pinery, Grundy Lake, returning to our well loved, tightly fitting tent. We were five colorful bugs squeezed together in our sleeping bags, smelling of campfire, and dozing off to the sound of the forest, our dreams filled with memories of the day.

As the family became more established - largely due to Boris working more and better paying jobs - we were able to make the trek to the alluring West Coast, and its mountain ranges. Trips out West quickly became an annual staple, and Boris would bring out the older siblings almost every year, and every year at least one legendary adventure (mishap) was added to the tea time stories. For the inaugural trip in 2004, they climbed Mount Temple, Mt Victoria, and finally Mt Athabasca - where they missed the summit after Boris falling through a crevasse! Next, on a trip to Rogers Pass in 2006, there was a 1am return from Uto due to many unplanned rappels! Yet perhaps the best adventure of all was in 2008, when Boris, Veronika and another climber were benighted on the descent off Alpha (in Tantalus Ranges) taking turns tending fire, watching for bears and “sleeping”.

When the youngest daughter Anastasia grew up, it was her turn for  mountain trips with her dad. Boris took her and her friend to the New Hampshire (USA) where they climbed Mt Washington. They had a father daughter trip to BC in 2013 where they traveled through Canmore to Golden, climbing quintessential routes The Three Sisters, Little Bumblebee.  In 2014 and 2015 two of them joined the ACC crew to the Lake Placid trip, where she was introduced to ice-climbing and winter trekking. And in 2015 at the Sorcerer Lodge ACC camp they climbed the summits in the Selkirk range.

There were many more trips to most classic mountaineering spots in the Rockies. As a whole family, the Kaschenkos joined the ACC Toronto Section trip in Lake O’Hara (2007).

In addition to Out West trips, and local crag outings, each summer season also always meant many weekends at Bon Echo, where we had our fair share of family adventures for over 20 years - including stories wacky enough to get us enshrined in the apres-climb conversations of the Bon Echo crew (yes…. We sunk the boat).

In recent years, as the kids grew up and “left the nest” Boris and Margarita had more freedom to travel and explore as they wished. They scaled Cuba’s highest mountain Peak Torquino, trekked to the top of Hawaii’s formidable Mauna Kea volcano summit, hiked in the mountains of the temperate California coast, summited Britain’s tallest peak Ben Nevis, and explored the mysterious Scottish Highlands.

Boris will be remembered by us for the lessons he taught us high in the mountains but also in the daily rituals of life. He lived by example, and emanated kindness to all people. This kindness was even extended to animals, and all living things including plants (he refrained from throwing out any food). Boris was also a multi-faceted talent, but due to his humble nature, those outside our immediate family would be hard pressed to know of some of his other interests and abilities. He enjoyed baking homemade bread, jewish style bagels, and pies. The fruits of his baking labour would always be generously shared and enjoyed with friends and co-workers.

Boris was also a dedicated long distance runner, completing a full marathon and many half-marathons including several 30 km “Around the Bay” runs. He would supplement his training with cross country skiing in the winter time. He continued down-hill skiing, going to Slovakia, the French Alps and even in an ACC Wapta Ski-Touring trip.

Boris also had a unique talent for writing, specifically poetry. Though usually exchanged only between him and his wife, his verse gave us a glimpse into the depth of his soul and wisdom.

Here is one of his poems written in 2012 for his wife’s birthday:

Memory Waves (Quite Choppy)

Sunsets, sunrises - how many have we had so far?

Baby cries. Mid-life crisis. Lakeside wishes for the shooting star.

Birthdays, weddings. Clashing feelings in the whirlwind days.

Mornings. Chocolate cravings.  We are different in so many ways.

Breath in, breath out. To hold your hand is ever such a thrill.

Day in day out, clock is ticking, but our time seems still.

Wrinkled eyes smile at me gently, shining love from the depth of heart.

Songs and laughs that we had plenty turned our life into a work of art.

Photo - Boris’ famous gluten free almond cake.