Switchceroo

Living on HiLine Lake, 16-year-old Cody Oliver never gave much consideration to becoming a television star. But next week, he'll be on the television starring in a teen-age reality show called "Switched."

The show takes teens from different walks of life and then switches them to another style of life for a few days. Oliver, who lives in the Bush, was switched with a professional skateboarder from Long Beach, Calif. The show will air on Oct. 7 at 4:30 p.m. on ABC Family network.

"They were looking for someone from a pretty extreme environment and they obviously picked Alaska," Oliver said. "They were looking at our Web site for our camp [HiLine Lake Wilderness Camp] and saw I was a teen-ager so they called me up and asked us to fill out some forms for them. They seemed pretty eager about everything."

So eager, in fact, that after Oliver filled out the paperwork, the show's producers called him immediately and told him he was accepted.

"We figured it was just one of those things, you know. We never expected it to be like this," Oliver explained.

Last July, a film crew showed up at the family's camp and started filming. It was then that Oliver found out he was going to California.

"They keep it real secretive. They didn't want you knowing where you were going or what you were doing until the day you left," Oliver explained.

As Oliver packed and headed to California, Terry Cummings, a top-20 skater, was on his way to the wilderness camp. Oliver arrived in California, and it was a culture shock to him.

"The heat down there was incredible," Oliver said. "And they are filming every second because they want to catch your initial emotions."

Oliver had a chaperone, and he said the chaperone gave him a small tip of what he was getting into.

"Terry's a black skateboarder who lives in a big, lower-to-middle class neighborhood where everybody knows each other," Oliver said. "It's not something I'm familiar with. The houses were like cracker boxes just lined up in a row. There are more lamp posts than trees there."

That first night, Oliver visited Cummings' family and met his friends.

"The entire neighborhood was leaning on the fence wanting to see the new kid," Oliver said.

"I went into his room in the house and he's got posters of himself skateboarding on his walls. He's one of the best skaters in the world, and I have never even been on a skateboard," he said.

That was part of the show as well. The producers took Oliver to a skateboard shop and outfitted him with all the gear.

"You know, the baggy pants that you have to hold up with one hand and all the stocking hats that make you look like a hoodlum," Oliver said.

He spent time at El Dorado Skatepark, learning how to skate. "They had me in so much protective gear I could barely walk," he said. "The producers thought I was going to kill myself." With the help of Cummings' friends, he eventually got to the point where he could ride the board for a bit.

While Oliver was hanging out with Cummings' friends -- "they had big cars and everything and we hung out from Long Beach to L.A." -- Cummings was at the camp.

"He had never even barbecued a hamburger or roasted a hot dog before," Oliver said. "He had a good time, but he had never done anything that we do every day." Cummings had never seen an axe, or even a campfire, before the show.

During the end of the show, each Switched participant has to issue a challenge to the other. Cummings challenged Oliver to go into the halfpipe on the skateboard.

"I got good enough that I could do that. I dropped into it and went sideways, but I did it. I've got bruises to prove it. By the end, I could barely walk, my hips were swollen and I had a big shiner on my elbow," Oliver said.

Oliver challenged Cummings to climb a 30-foot tree using traditional climber gear, from gaffs on his feet to a rope around the tree to hold on to.

"He did that with no problem."

Oliver's experience in California is in great contrast to his lifestyle on HiLine Lake.

There, he described a typical summer day as "getting up and cleaning the lodge and getting breakfast ready to serve to our guests. Then we go and get the activities ready for the guests. If they want to go to the cabins during the day, I watch their kids and makes ure they don't run off. Then we get the lodge ready for dinner, serve the guests and get them to bed on time so we have time to clean the lodge and get ready for the next day."

Off camera, while back in California, Oliver got to visit Disneyland and go to Hollywood. During his four days there, the show filmed about 20 hours of tape to edit into an 11-minute segment.

"I'll be interested to see how they edit it down. Depending on how they do it, it could look like I had a good time or that I was always falling down. I really had a good time though. I really did."

Even though he had a good time, Oliver said he isn't ready to trade spots forever.

"I don't know if I'd want to live there. It is so busy that there isn't an escape anywhere," Oliver said. "It's one big city. You can't tell where Long Beach ends and L.A. begins. It's way too crowded."

Oliver and Cummings got the chance to meet at HiLine Lake, because Oliver returned before Cummings left.

There, Cummings flipped over a table, grabbed Oliver's new skateboard and put on a makeshift exhibition for the Oliver family.

"He jumped off the porch and onto the table," Oliver said. "It was probably the most exotic place he's ever skated. It was pretty fun."