highlineonline.ca WINTER 2014-15 VOL. 7, ISSUE 1
FREE
FOR ALL
the
MATERIAL
issue
OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND \\ HOBNAILED HEROES \\ BACK TO BASICS
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TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHATTER 10 HANDPICKED HOTSPOTS 11 RECIPE 18 HUT LYFE 20 BOOK REVIEW 21 KNOW YOUR NEIGHBOUR 24 STILL LIFE 26 TWENTY YEARS OF Y2Y 30 OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND 34 HOBNAILED HEROES 44 BACK TO BASICS 48 SNAPSHOT 50
Handmade collage of Highline Magazine back issues by Kristy Davison.
LETTER 5
Winter 2014-15 Volume 7 | Issue 1
Founding Publisher + Editor-In-Chief Kristy “Mix Tape” Davison · kristy@highlineonline.ca
Managing Editor Corrie “Greeting Card” DiManno · corrie@highlineonline.ca
Head Designer Julie “Text Books” Lavery · Wild Ginger Design
Ad Sales Kristy Davison · kristy@highlineonline.ca Nicole “Old Soft Shoe” Larson · nicole@highlineonline.ca
Online Editor Taryn “Dirty Birks” Hajnrych · taryn@highlineonline.ca
Copy Editor Paul “Propaganda Unit” Davison
Creative Media Consultant Camara “Onesie” Miller
Journalist + Neighbour-In-Chief Chloe “Tattered PJ-Pants” Vance
Distribution Canmore · Banff · Jasper · Lake Louise · Edmonton · Revelstoke · Calgary For a complete list of locations, check out bit.ly/pickupacopy.
Contributors Bob Covey, Brian Van Tighem, Camara Miller, Carolynn Winterhalt, Chris Lavery, Corrie DiManno, Dan Rafla, Erin Cipollone, Jenny Spurr, Joanna Croston, John Coleman, John Reid, Kristy Davison, Meghan J. Ward, Nick Blakeney, Kaeleigh Doherty, Kelly Schovanek and Taryn Hajnrych.
Special Thanks Allan Buckingham, Amanda Kraft, Brenda Davison, Crystal Como, Dan Evans, Dee Medcalf, Greg Bouck, Harvey Locke, Karsten Heuer, Loki Lavery, Marie-Eve Marchand, Renee Krysko, Tom Thompson.
For Information: Email · info@highlineonline.ca Web · www.highlineonline.ca Facebook · Highline Magazine
Twitter · @HighlineMag Instagram · @HighlineMag
Printed at McAra Printing; a solar-powered printer in Calgary. Highline Magazine is a free, semi-annual publication that embodies a playful, authentic, community-minded, and earth-friendly approach to life in the Rockies. Our mission is to celebrate and inspire preservation of the vast wilderness and unique culture that thrives in the mountains we call home. Cover photo: The view at Cameron Lake by Mike Seehagel.
HIGHLINE
Photo by Zoya Lynch
of climbing gear and what the improvements mean for today’s aspiring mountaineers. On a personal level, I have spent a lot of time brewing in the theme for this issue. Particularly, through the process of writing, researching and interviewing for the Twenty Years on the Trail article, the parallel between the vision I have for Highline as a connector of our Rocky Mountain communities and the Yellowstone to Yukon’s vision for what is needed to protect the future of our wildlands became clear. The key to both is connectivity, bringing people and ideas together to strengthen the whole. As always, this issue of Highline is fuelled by a fervent desire to take care of the earth, our home. The stories and images we share express this vision, made real by the many creative, engaged mountain spirits who jump on board, and those of you out there who just “get it.” If you happen to be one of those wonderful folks, we thank you! A wise man once said that a good bear hug is one material that will never go to waste. So go on, get out there and hug it out. - Kristy
WINTER 2014-15
By choosing “Material” as this issue’s theme, our intention was to inspire articles that would cause us to reflect on our relationships to the things that we take for granted, the objects we can’t live without, the products that enhance our lives and the challenges that we face. The term “material” relates to physical objects like mountain gear and garbage, while evoking an intention to explore the motives of our modern day monkey minds. Our incredibly materialistic gang of contributors came back with a wide variety of angles on the theme: John Reid’s Back to Basics [p. 48] inspires you to drop the doubt and take the leap into designing and building your own skis. In Twenty Years on the Trail [p. 30], the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative’s far-reaching impacts on connectivity and conservation of the Rocky Mountain landscape takes centre stage. Bob Covey will give you cause for pause as he throws around some hefty trash-talk in Out of Sight, Out of Mind [p. 34]. And in Hobnailed Heroes [p. 44], we take a look at the evolution
LETTER FROM US
WHAT MATTERS
5
CONTRIBUTORS HIGHLINE
WINTER 2014-15
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THIS ISSUE, WE ASKED OUR DEAR CONTRIBUTORS TO OFFER UP A HAIKU HONOURING THEIR MOST BELOVED PIECE OF JUNK THAT THEY CAN’T BEAR TO PART WITH.
JOHN REID
BOB COVEY
Dusty bike trainer Cross-country took your glory, Please, no hard feelings.
Old tire tubes for years Did rubber me the wrong way Now hang my canoe.
ERIN CIPOLLONE
BRIAN VAN TIGHEM
JENNY SPURR
Silent sequins hang Musty Winnipeg basement Grad night ‘93.
The laces are torn, the gaping holes are leaking, but I love my boots.
Your soft crushed velvet greets my bum with a warm hug what comfort! I’m home. That spot of vomit brings out the blue in your crushed velvet. Never change.
LIKE KUDOS AND SMACK-DOWNS, PROPS AND BURNS, DOS AND DON’TS, BEAR HUGS AND MOOSEKNUCKLES ARE YOUR OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE THOSE OH-SOSWEET OR NASTY LITTLE THOUGHTS! FIRE YOURS AT US ON TWITTER @HIGHLINEMAG #BHMK OR SEND THEM TO INFO@HIGHLINEONLINE.CA FOR A CHANCE TO BE FEATURED. BEAR HUGS to cozy warm blankets on frosty winter mornings. How lucky are we? BEAR HUGS to my neighbour, who took my yard waste to the compound for me. If it wasn’t for you, those leaves would be still be sitting there next spring...or fall. MOOSEKNUCKLE to the human that left an engine block at the recycling bin near the Canmore Collegiate High School. BEAR HUGS to teamwork and volunteers for making our world a better place. I’m talkin’ to you, Highline! [Well, shucks. We’re blushing!] MOOSEKNUCKLES to little buddy who put buckets of hydrochloric acid in the plastic recycling in Canmore. That hurts. No, seriously, it burns the lungs. BEAR HUGS in matching puffy jackets are the best. BEAR HUGS to math and science: 10 years + 317 million miles = astronomic asteroid-y awesomeness. MOOSEKNUCKLES to mean people. Big BEAR HUG to Ursula and Jasmine for leaving a new Where’s Waldo book at communitea café. MOOSEKNUCKLES to the semi driver who intentionally tried to intimidate me all the way through the park after I passed him on a hill. It’s nice to see stupidity trumping public safety. BEAR HUGS to roofers and construction crews; “workin’ together, makin’ it happen” in the freezing cold. You guys are troopers! BEAR HUGS to everyone out there making their own way despite the obstacles and the non-believers. “Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside them was superior to circumstances.” – Bruce Barton.
Your comfort, our fashion. 105-713 Main St. Canmore, AB joanne@shoestboot.ca 403.675.0017
SHAMELESS PLUGS
WINTER EVENTS
IN A T N U MO E, L P O E P ! E T I N U
STAY IN THE LOOP WITH EVENTS HAPPENING HERE IN THE ROCKIES THIS WINTER. WE’VE PULLED TOGETHER A LIST OF OUR MOUNTAIN CULTURE FAVES ON HIGHLINE’S WEBSITE AT: bit.ly/winter-events-2014-15
NEWSLETTER SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER TO BE INUNDATED BY JIBBER-JABBER ON A DAILY BASIS. WE KID! ONCE A MONTH AT THE VERY MOST, PROMISE. ow.ly/wHI0L
WINTER 2015
HIGHLINE
@HIGHLINEMAG
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AT HIGHLINEONLINE.CA WE SHARE TALES OF CAMARADERIE AND ADVENTURE AND OTHER TASTY TREATS THAT FUEL YOUR FIRE. KEEP WARM DURING THE LONG WINTER BY FOLLOWING US ON TWITTER AND INSTAGRAM AT @HIGHLINEMAG TO BE ALERTED TO STORIES COMING FRESH OFF THE PRESS.
Simple, high-quality cotton blend tees available in men’s and women’s cuts. Ju st $20 + sh ippin g to an ywh ere in Can ada.
J O I N U S A T: highline online .c a/ swa g
New name, same services— The Canadian Avalanche Centre is now
avalanche.ca Canada’s source for public avalanche safety
5 Easy Ways to Recycle Like a Champ! 1 Use the blue bins in your neighbourhood. 2 Read the blue bin labels and put things where they belong. 3 No plastic film in blue bins. It goes in the garbage. 4 Clean out food containers before recycling them. 5 Take bike tires, electronics, and yard waste to the Elk Run Depot.
Not sure about the right way to recycle something? www.canmore.ca/Municipal-Services/ Recycling-and-Waste-Management/
CHATTER
STAR LIGHT, STAR BRIGHT Story and photo by Brian Van Tighem
HERE ARE A FEW WAYS TO DIM YOUR OWN CONTRIBUTION TO LIGHT POLLUTION:
1. TURN OFF UNNECESSARY LIGHTS, CLOSE BLINDS AND DIM LIGHTS DURING THE EVENING TO AID THE BODY AS IT UNWINDS.
2. ON OUTDOOR LIGHTS, USE SHIELDS THAT ONLY DIRECT LIGHT TO WHERE IT IS NEEDED. (OR PREPARE TO SUFFER HILARIOUS CONSEQUENCES: BIT.LY/ HIGHLINEDARKSKY.)
3. TURN OUT THE LIGHTS AT WORK AFTER HOURS.
The Milky Way blanketing a velvet darkness is a sight to stop any creature in its steps. It’s difficult to imagine a moment quite as humbling as peering out into the vastness of the universe on a dark night. Besides the spiritual benefits of stargazing, the body’s circadian rhythm also requires dark nights to regulate our natural chemical processes, our alertness throughout the day and our ability to think creatively. Unfortunately, light trespassing and other misdirected light are becoming more and more visually problematic as our towns and cities grow. In fact because of light pollution, over two thirds of the world’s population have no clear view of the stars within walking distance of their homes.
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JONESIN’ FOR A STARLIGHT FIX? HEAD ON OUT TO JASPER NATIONAL PARK, THE WORLD’S SECOND LARGEST UNESCO-DESIGNATED DARK SKY PRESERVE.
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GETTIN’ HYGGE WITH IT
4. KEEP THE WILDERNESS WILD! TRY TO KEEP LIGHTING AT A MINIMUM WHEN OUTDOORS AT NIGHT.
5. TALK TO YOUR LOCAL COUNCILLOR OR MAYOR. SIMPLE CHANGES ON A MUNICIPAL SCALE CAN MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE.
Like mountain people the world over, Denmark knows a thing or two about long, cold winters. What do the Danish do to make it through? They hygge it out. Hygge [HYU-gah] is a Danish term with no real equivalent in any other language. Author and historian Helen Dyrbye describes hygge as “the art of creating intimacy; a sense of comradeship, conviviality and contentment rolled into one.” It’s the warm fuzzy feeling you get when nestling into an afternoon with a good book and a steaming mug of tea, when cozying up around a crackling fire in a backcountry hut, or when gathering for drinks and a laugh with the people you love. The long cold winter stretches out before us. How are you going to hygge it out?
Handpicked hotspots
H
HEALTH & WELLNESS EMBODY We are a 3000 sq ft Classical Pilates Studio offering equipment, mat, private classes and a teachertraining program. Check out our boutique on the main floor to find unique eco-friendly activewear. 403.678.6765 | embodypilates.ca | info@embodypilates.ca | #101, 830 Main Street, Canmore
THE YOGA LOUNGE Voted Best Yoga Studio in Canmore the past three years! Our teachers are dedicated to supporting your practice through awareness, compassion, inspiration and movement. We are honoured to serve! 403.678.6687 | theyogalounge.ca | 2nd Floor, 826 Main Street, Canmore
WILLOW STREAM - A FAIRMONT SPA Our pulsating waterfalls and tranquil mineral pool rejuvenate tired muscles and soothe troubled spirits. Allow us to reawaken your senses and help replenish your energy. 403.762.1772 or 1.800.404.1772 | bsh.spareservations@fairmont.com | 405 Spray Avenue, Banff
RED EARTH SPA Boasting an extensive treatment menu, The Red Earth Spa at the Caribou Lodge makes spa-ing a perfect post ski activity. 403.762.9292 | redearthspa.com | 521 Banff Avenue, Banff
CANMORE HOT YOGA Canmore Hot Yoga offers Hatha, Vinyasa, and Aerial yoga classes designed to strengthen, heal, and rejuvenate your body, to calm your mind, and to awaken your soul! 403.675.9642 | canmorehotyoga.com | 101 1002 8th Avenue, Canmore
BACK AT IT MASSAGE Specializing in deep tissue and sports massage. Featuring a special prenatal massage cushion for all those pregnant mamas. Also: cupping, reflexology, crania sacral, and TMJ massage. 403.688.1561 | backatitmassage.com | 203-1205 Bow Valley Trail, Canmore
ONE WELLNESS AND SPA At One Wellness and Spa, we are passionate about promoting life balance, well-being and long-term health and our facilities and services are designed to keep you Active for Life! 403.679.7179 | info@onewellnessandspa.com | 187 Kananaskis Way, Canmore
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EATS & TREATS FARM BOX Fresh organic food delivered to your door! Local food has never been this easy. Sign up anytime at farmbox.ca. Mention “Highline” as your referrer and receive a sign up bonus! 587.225.9935 | farmbox.ca | 1101 Larch Place, Canmore
SNOWDOME COFFEE BAR “I climb mountains on this coffee.” - a Jasper local. Jasper’s best kept coffee secret, the SnowDome Coffee Bar is known by the adventurous for serving a “proper” cup of coffee. 780.852.8581 | 607patricia.com | 607 Patricia Street, Jasper
AN EDIBLE LIFE Spend more time outside and let us do the cooking! We sell healthy prepared meals, take-out coffee/ tea, smoothies, snacks and sweet treats. Options include gluten free, meat, vegetarian and vegan. 403.609.9957 | anediblelife.ca | 109 - 112 Kananaskis Way, Canmore
COMMUNITEA CAFE Keeping it fresh, healthy & local. We’re a restaurant/ live music venue that is really just a front to bring amazing people together. Open daily at 9am serving breakfast, lunch, coffee & tea. 403.688.2233 | communitea.ca | Corner of 10th Street & 6th Avenue in downtown Canmore
CANMORE PASTA CO. Canmore Pasta Co. is your source for fresh pasta in the Bow Valley. Find us at your favorite restaurant, local grocer and our location on Bow Meadows Crescent. Open M-F 9am-4pm. 403.678.5266 | canmorepasta.com | 1 - 113 Bow Meadows Crescent, Canmore
THE BANFF TEA CO. The Banff Tea Co. infuses the Bow Valley with over 180 flavours of loose tea and fun tea equipment to warm your mountain adventures. 403.762.8322 | banffteaco.com | 208 Caribou Street, Banff
CHEZ FRANCOIS Simply fresh and tasty. Voted best breakfast by the locals! Breakfast served daily until 2pm. Also featuring a daily three-course dinner from $32. Offering gluten free and vegan meal options. 403.678.6111 | restaurantchezfrancois@shaw.ca | 1604 2nd Ave, Canmore
WHITEBARK CAFE We are passionate about serving the perfect cup of coffee with fair-trade, organic beans from Moja Coffee. Enjoy in front of our warm fireplace all winter! 403.760.7298 | whitebarkcafe.com | 401 Banff Avenue, Banff
MOUNTAIN CULTURE
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RAVEN RESCUE Technical rescue training, equipment & services. Internationally recognized courses in Canmore :Swiftwater, Surface Ice, and Technical Rope Rescue, Wilderness First Responder, and Technical Rescue Academy. 1.800.880.0287 | ravenrescue.com | PO Box 861, Smithers, BC, V0J 2N0
WHYTE MUSEUM OF THE CANADIAN ROCKIES The Whyte Museum inspires discovery and wonder where people and the Rocky Mountains meet. Explore the culture shaped by this mountain landscape through our exhibitions, events, archives and library. 403.762.2291 | whyte.org | 111 Bear Street, Banff
CANMORE CAVE TOURS The Greatest Adventure IN the Rockies! Wild cave tours under Grotto Mountain. Open year-round, rain or shine. Ask about special rates for locals and groups. You will not be disappointed! 403.678.8819 | canmorecavetours.com | 129 Bow Meadows Cres., Canmore
GIRLS DO SKI Girls Do Ski TOUR! Explore the Revelstoke backcountry with top female ACMG guides. This 3-day camp will teach everything from preparing your backpack to terrain assessment, ski turns and attitude. 250.683.8118 | girlsdoski.com | Box 2956, 408 4th Street, Revelstoke
ALPINE CLUB OF CANADA We’ve been passionate about climbing, hiking and skiing in alpine environments for over 100 years. Everyone is welcome, so come join us! 403.678.3200 | info@alpineclubofcanada.ca | 201 Indian Flats Road, Canmore
VALHALLA PURE OUTFITTERS Locally owned and operated adventure outfitter offering a great selection of brands and products with friendly helpful service. And now collect Adventure Bucks! See store or website for details. 403.678.5610 | vpo.ca | 726 Main Street, Canmore
SNOWY OWL SLED DOG TOURS Over 30 years of experience and expertise in touring, racing and conservation. We are proud of our Canadian and Albertan roots and look forward to sharing our exceptional experiences with you! 403.678.4369 | snowyowltours.com | 109-829 10th Street, Canmore
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE CONSIDERED FOR THE HANDPICKED HOTSPOTS FEATURE PLEASE CONTACT US AT INFO@HIGHLINEONLINE.CA
But were you born here?
You’re a unicorn! CAN I GET A I’m a local; is there a discount?
DISCOUNT?
Ask people who live in a mountain town how long they’ve been there, and they can often recite the number of days, months or years off the top of their heads. Some might even note significant stretches of time spent away from the mountains to give a more accurate answer. Inquire about where they’re from, though, and a common comment could be, “Ontario, like everyone else.” The answer is rarely “here,” but when it is, the response is often, “Well, were you born here?” And if indeed yes, they were born “here,” a typical remark usually involves a joke about unicorns or a question like, “Whoa, and you actually still live here?” For instance, calling yourself a local in Banff can quickly incite a full-blown investigation into your background, especially if you’re trying to use your “localness” for easier access or for a discount. It’s not unusual for bouncers to hear, “I’m a local; do I have to wait in line?” Similarly, the person in charge of collecting cover then immediately gets, “I’m a local; do I have to pay?” But the bizarre part is that Banff is like one big nightclub that way; we’re checking each other’s localness like security personnel at every entry point. We’re curious what you think. Does this conversation unite or divide the locals, tourists, weekenders and seasonal workers who fill our towns during the low and high seasons? Send us your thoughts at info@highlineonline.ca. Your voices will be united in a follow up post on our website.
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FIVE TIPS 14
FOR THE 18-YEAR-OLD MOUNTAIN TOWN NEWCOMER by Kaeleigh Doherty and Corrie DiManno
I came here for a season and never left. I’m from Ontario, like everyone else!
1.
It’s OK not to know what the heck you wanna do: rumour has it you’ll change careers an average of seven times in your life. P.S. Don’t hate on the trades, those jobs are some of the most coveted in the Bow Valley.
2.
Learn how to manage your finances; it seriously doesn’t matter if your clothes are thrift store galore!
3.
Achieve some stuff on your own. But every day doesn’t have to be epic: bake a cake, go on a solo mini-adventure, sing karaoke!
4.
Heartache leads you one step closer to better relationships, including the one with yourself. #realtalk
5.
Don’t worry, the trails and tribulations you encounter during your time in the mountains will help shape you into one rad, badass human being! And hey, FaceTime your Maw and Paw every once and a while.
kd design cu s to m w in d ow cov e r in g s
The lost art of square dancing is making a revival in the Bow Valley thanks to Mountain Gal Productions. The inaugural high energy dance-off will be taking place on Saturday, January 24th, 2015 at 7 p.m. at the Miner’s Hall in Canmore. Tickets will be available at Hello Vintage in Canmore and online at bit.ly/hiptobesquarecanmore. Keep an eye out for posters or contact mountaingalproductions@gmail.com.
rollers woods romans cellshades drapery 4 03 . 6 88 . 5103
kd @ k r i s t yd a v i s o n . co m
LOCAL FILM MAKES WAVES SHOWCASING
THE
DECONSTRUCTION
OF
A
LOCAL
DAM,
“CONNECTIVITY: THE RESTORATION OF 40 MILE CREEK” OPENED FOR A PACKED HOUSE AT PATAGONIA’S “DAMNATION” DURING THIS YEAR’S BANFF MOUNTAIN FILM AND BOOK FESTIVAL. LOCAL FILMMAKERS MARK UNRAU AND MIKE QUIGLEY, WITH SUPPORT FROM Y2Y, PETER POOLE, AND THE TOWN OF BANFF, CREATED THIS FIVE-MINUTE FILM TO SHOW HOW A RELIC LIKE 40 MILE CREEK DAM COULD BE REMOVED TO RESTORE CONNECTIVITY. BUILT IN 1946 TO SUPPLY BANFF WITH WATER, THE DAM HAD GONE OUT OF USE IN THE MID-1980S. IT IMPEDED FISH MOVEMENT ON THE CREEK AND WAS BECOMING A LIABILITY UNTIL THE FLOOD OF 2013 CHANGED EVERYTHING, SPURRING ACTION AND THIS INSPIRATIONAL FILM.
Check it out at bit.ly/40milecreek.
CHATTER
FENCED IN?
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Story by Erin Cipollone. Photo by Dan Rafla.
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The heartbreaking deaths of two grizzly bear cubs on the TransCanada Highway near Dead Man’s Flats in September 2014 sparked an outcry on social media. Bow Valley residents were outraged that the cubs found their way onto the highway through a break in the wildlife fencing at Pigeon Creek. According to Jay Honeyman, a Human Wildlife Conflict Biologist with Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development, the fence had not been repaired after last year’s flood and was being used by heavy equipment to access construction work near Wind Valley, Tony Clevenger, a wildlife biologist who has spent 18 years studying animals in the valley says many sections of the fence outside the park damaged during last year’s flood have yet to be repaired, and he is frustrated by the chronic lack of government funding directed toward the monitoring and maintenance of the provincial sections of fencing. He suggests, “Why build a multimillion dollar project if they can’t keep it impermeable?” Contrary to the belief that the fencing keeps all animals off the road, Honeyman points out it is most effective for ungulates like elk and deer, whereas bears, cougars and wolves can get around the wire barrier and onto the highway by either climbing over or digging under. However, he adds, “they have adapted well to the animal underpasses” in the area and “have to be particularly motivated” to avoid the latter in order to cross at highway level. The situation is slightly different in Banff National Park where the second phase of the barricade – running west from the Sunshine turnoff – has an apron buried one metre below the surface to keep animals from digging under and finding themselves on the thoroughfare. Clevenger says the addition of the apron along with wildlife under- and overpasses has reduced animal mortality on the highway by about 80 per cent since being installed (East Gate to Sunshine was fenced between 1982-1988 and the section from Sunshine to Castle Junction was fenced in the summer of 1997). The apron is absent from the original installment of the fencing put in place decades ago between the east park gates and the Sunshine turnoff.
AS AN INDIVIDUAL, HOW CAN YOU PROTECT WILDLIFE FROM HIGHWAY TRAFFIC? THE SIMPLEST ANSWER IS TO SLOW DOWN ON THE HIGHWAYS AND ALSO TO MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN SEEING INCREASED FINES AND DEMERITS FOR SPEEDERS IN OUR NATIONAL PARKS, YOU CAN LET YOUR ELECTED LEADERS KNOW. HERE ARE SOME PRIMARY CONTACTS: MAYOR OF CANMORE: JBORROWMAN@CANMORE.CA // @BORROWMAN2013 MAYOR OF BANFF: KAREN.SORENSEN@BANFF.CA // @BANFFMAYOR MP BLAKE RICHARDS: BLAKE@BLAKERICHARDS.CA // @BLAKERICHARDSMP MLA RON CASEY: BANFF.COCHRANE@ASSEMBLY.AB.CA // @RONCASEYMLA SENATOR DOUG BLACK: DOUG.BLACK@SEN.PARL.GC.CA // @DOUGBLACKAB
We cater! next event
Bringing good food to yo
ur
2 locations in Canmore: 718 Main Street and 700 Railyway Avenue
Specializing in Catering and Private Chef Services
Dinner Parties
We customize your menu, I shop, prepare and serve the food you want, the way you want it!
Corporate Events
Business meetings, company retreats, I work with variety of locations to accommodate groups of any size and budget.
Iron Chef Experiences
Surprise theme to your meal, a great way to get your guests involved!
Sports Teams
Healthly, nutritional organic options that will fuel your team to their peak performance.
Est.1979
RECIPE
CAULIFLOWER
BREAKFAST PORRIDGE
by Carolynn Winterhalt. Illustration by Chris Lavery.
VEGETABLES FOR BREAKFAST — WHAT THE CAULIFLOWER?! THAT’S RIGHT, FILLING UP ON LITTLE WHITE TREES FOR BREAKFAST WILL GIVE YOU THE ENERGY YOU NEED TO SKI THOSE BIG WHITE TREES LATER IN THE DAY. LOADED WITH POTASSIUM AND VITAMIN C, CAULIFLOWER IS A LOVELY
INGREDIENTS 1 cup cauliflower, riced ½ cup full fat coconut milk from a can ½ cup water 1 tsp of true cinnamon 2 Tbsp of flaxseed, ground 1 tsp of vanilla A generous pinch of salt 1 heaping Tbsp of maple syrup 1 heaping Tbsp of coconut oil or nut butter
WINTER STAPLE, BUT MAY NOT NECESSARILY BE YOUR FIRST CHOICE FOR BREAKFAST. SINCE THIS ISSUE OF HIGHLINE IS ABOUT THINKING OUTSIDE OF THE (CEREAL) BOX AND ABOUT APPROACHING MATERIALS IN DIFFERENT WAYS, WE DOUBLEDOG DARE YOU TO MAKE A POT OF THIS PORRIDGE BEFORE YOUR NEXT DAY OF ADVENTURING IN THE MOUNTAINS.
DIRECTIONS 1. Rice the cauliflower by chopping it into small bits or by using a food processor. 2. Combine the cauliflower, coconut milk and water in a pot. Bring to a boil on the stove, and then reduce heat to low. Simmer until thickened and cauliflower is cooked, whisking regularly for about 15 minutes.
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3. Remove from heat.
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4. Stir in flaxseed, vanilla, salt, maple syrup and coconut oil or nut butter. Adjust to taste. 5. Pour into a bowl and top with granola, coconut, berries or other traditional breakfast toppings.
速
FW14_Baselayers_ValhallaPure_HighlineAd_Sept2014.indd 1
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HUT LYFE
SKOKI LODGE by Corrie DiManno. Photos by Kristy Davison.
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trip to Skoki Lodge is much like heading into the woods to visit the eclectic great aunt you always wished you’d had. After a cold day’s ski-in through Deception Pass to this jewel of a hut nestled in the heart of the Canadian Rockies, stepping into this cozy cabin feels like getting a warm hug from Lizzie Rummel. (Rumor has it she was a hugger!) The Highline Team finally experienced some of the much-hyped mountain magic for ourselves last winter: from the library of old guest books tucked on a shelf beside a daybed, to the worn, clean wooden floors and the savoury smells floating from the kitchen. Sitting outside on the porch before dinner, we soaked up the remaining moments of winter sun and sipped on hot tea. We took in the view of snow-covered peaks, listened to the sound of silence and relished the Skok-erenity. It’s easy to picture any of our local legends, past or present, doing the same, or descending the stairs, tired and happy from a day of skiing, ready to put their feet up by the fire. The history of the place is whittled into the hand cut wooden furniture and floats above the communal dining table, where we join the other guests and staff for a veritable backcountry feast. As long time manager Katie Mitzel eloquently puts it, “You become part of the history” when you go to Skoki.
DATE OF ORIGINAL CONSTRUCTION: 1930-31 DISTANCE: 11KM FROM LAKE LOUISE OVER DECEPTION PASS BIG HIGH: FLIPPING THROUGH THE GUEST BOOKS IS LIKE READING HISTORICAL STATUS UPDATES FROM MEMBERS OF THE GROUP OF SEVEN AND PETER AND CATHARINE WHYTE. KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED FOR A SPECIAL HIGHLINE HAIKU CIRCA 2014. LITTLE LOW: THE OUTHOUSE TOILET SEATS ARE WOODEN (FROSTY IN THE MORNING)! TIMBERRRRRR! FUN FACT: ‘SKOKI’ MEANS JUMPING IN POLISH ASK THE STAFF: BE SURE TO ASK THE STAFF ABOUT WHEN KATIE AND LEO’S DAUGHTER BELLA MET THE ROYAL FAMILY WEBSITE AND BOOKINGS: SKOKI.COM
BOOK REVIEW
NORTH OF NORMAL Book review by Jenny Spurr
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ea Sunrise Person has faced fierce storms, food shortages and occasional drug-and-sex-infused parties — all before her fifth birthday. In North of Normal: A Memoir of My Wilderness Childhood, My Unusual Family, and How I Survived Both, the former model and mother of three recounts her unconventional upbringing in the backwoods of Alberta. Hers is a story of family secrets and extreme dysfunction set in the stunning Canadian Rockies. In the late 1960s, the Person family leave California to live off the land. Led by her counterculture grandparents, Person and her teenage mother bunk in a hand-sewn teepee near Morley, Alberta, where they hunt and gather in order to survive. Person spends her summers galloping nude through fields, eating bug stew and using a pit for a toilet, while her mother listens to cool music, smokes pot, and has sex with their many visitors. It is a happy life until Person realizes that other girls her age go to school, wear underwear and play with Barbie dolls instead of with roach clips. Person eventually decides to pursue a career as an international model, living alone in New York and flying solo to shoots across the globe. At the age of 13, she becomes a symbol of everything her family abhors: someone “too... commercial to be a Person.” Poignantly written with grim detail, North of Normal chronicles Person’s search for normality and her struggle for survival. From child abuse to addiction and mental illness, she handles it all with a sense of resilience that reflects the true spirit of mountain people.
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BOOK REVIEW
THE CALLING: A LIFE ROCKED BY MOUNTAINS Book review by Joanna Croston
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Joanna Croston is a voracious reader of all types of writing and is the Programming Director for the Banff Mountain Film & Book Festival.
ith many bold and often disconcerting first ascents under his belt, alpinist Barry Blanchard is not only one of Canada’s greatest climbers, but is also considered to be legendary in climbing circles abroad, which is why a memoir by this Bow Valley mountain man has been much anticipated for some time by the international climbing community. In raw, heartfelt and brutally honest language, Blanchard reveals the details of his life: weaving between his often-tragic Metis upbringing and the adrenaline stoked high of many first ascents on dangerous alpine walls. At its core, The Calling: A Life Rocked by Mountains is emotionally charged and relentless, much like Blanchard himself in his climbing heyday. The book, like any alpine climb, captures the peaks and valleys a climber experiences, and as readers, we too feel we might be hurled into the abyss. The seam that weaves throughout The Calling though is Blanchard’s innate desire for survival. He has learned to call upon it often in the alpine realm, on many occasions escaping the wrath of Mother Nature by only a slender thread. And for the sake of full disclosure, there are some adult rated moments that might make readers laugh, blush and cringe simultaneously. However, the most powerful parts of the book capture the really formative events that shaped Blanchard as a young climber: death, love and loss each play a role in forming one of Canada’s most deservedly respected and prolific alpinists. The Calling: A Life Rocked by Mountains is published by Patagonia Books and is available at your local bookstore.
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KNOW YOUR NEIGHBOUR
DANG, IT FEELS GOOD TO BE A SPIRITUAL GANGSTER by Corrie DiManno. Photo by Dan Evans.
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ith a Pabst Blue Ribbon in hand, Banffite Erin Evans loves to pop her Pranayama like it’s hot on the dance floor, especially to a Katy Perry tune after a bluebird day of shredding pow. And she can rock a black leather jacket like nobody’s business. Evans has been to the Shambhala Music Festival three times, and, get this, she met her hubby Dan at a breakdancing battle at the HooDoo Lounge & Nightclub back in their b-boy and b-girl heyday. Now they have a two-year-old b-boy of their own, Micah James. Born in Nairobi, Kenya, and raised in Canada’s prairies, she was probably voted ‘Biggest Dreamer’ in her Saskatoon, Saskatchewan high school yearbook because when she was growing up, Evans pursued a future as a gymnast, a soccer player, and at one point she wanted to join a full-fledged circus. Twelve years ago though, she found her true prana path: being a modern day yogi, or a “spiritual gangster,” as she puts it. Not like Jesus sporting sunglasses, big bling, and a Wu-Tang Clan t-shirt, but rather a yogi who is grounded in the ancient practice of yoga with feet firmly planted in the realities of today’s world. “What always deterred me from yoga was the prerequisite that you have to be so perfect: no meat, no booze, no swearing. My take on spirituality is treating the lady in the supermarket like my grandma. It’s spirituality on a platform that serves my life as a mom, a wife and… a breakdancer,” says Evans, who might have just thrown that last example in there to humour Highline. Trish Huston, who first met Evans as a student in Evans’ Sally Borden mixed level flow class, says Evans encourages her students to ‘shine bright and be bigger’ on and off the yoga mat. “Erin reminds her students that yoga is not just about what you do on your mat, but about showing up in all areas of your life as the best version of yourself possible — with love, grace and kindness.” Word up!
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Skating on Two Jack Lake. Photo by Dan Rafla.
STILL LIFE
STILL LIFE Jonas Guinn. Photo by Kelly Schovanek. HIGHLINE
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STYLE IS THE HALLMARK OF A TEMPERAMENT STAMPED UPON THE MATERIAL AT HAND. - Andre Maurois
TWENTY YEARS ON THE TRAIL by Kristy Davison. Maps courtesy Y2Y-CI.
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hink back, waaaaaay back to what you were doing in 1994. If you were between the age of five and 80 and you were living in the Rockies (or Canada for that matter), it’s likely that you were sporting a pair of MEC Rad Pants, striding confidently and comfortably into every adventure your highwaisted, function-over-fashion, elastic-cuffed self could find. But did you have any inkling that your preference for tapered wind- and water-resistant slacks marked you as a member of a community of the most influential mountain movers and shakers of the time? It has been 20 years since the seed of a connected future for the Rockies from the Yellowstone to the Yukon took root in our local mountain culture. And much like the pants – the times have been a-changin’.
thrive and people could enjoy pristine and authentic wilderness experiences. This is often referred to as “America’s Best Idea.” But research was quickly proving that this model was not going to be enough to maintain healthy animal populations. During the 1960s, wildlife biologists had identified the necessity of connecting these “islands” of conservation in order to prevent the extinction of species. Research consistently proved that many animals and plants require much more space to travel than suspected, and that our reserves were not providing them with enough room to ensure their species’ survival in the long term.
THE CHALLENGE
Considering conservation on a grand scale was not something new to scientists and the conservation community. In Canada specifically, The Wildlands Project (now Wildlands Network) were looking at a continental approach to protecting species and landscapes, and the World Wildlife Fund was exploring something similar for large carnivores. Locke was even discussing large-ecosystem conservation with his colleagues, but no one had put the theory into a practical application on the ground. It was on a solo backpacking trip to Northern BC that the research of hundreds of scientists, first-hand understanding from his experience with on-the-ground activism, and the call of the wild finally crystallized in his mind: a vision to connect the entire Yellowstone to Yukon region became clear, and he penned it on the back of his trail map. Dusting off his Rad Pants (one can only assume), he headed home, excited to share this big idea. Soon, more than 30 scientists and conservationists from both sides of the Canada-US border were gathered in Kananaskis Country to explore Locke’s new “Y2Y Vision.” He presented the possibility that we can indeed live in the kind of world we want to live in — one with wild animals, clean water, healthy forests, breathable air and the chance to experience nature — by connecting and protecting habitat through an interconnected
In 1993, Harvey Locke — a local conservationist, environmental lawyer and volunteer president of CPAWS (the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society) at the time — had been working from his home in the Rockies assisting local conservation groups in defining the language of their struggle against the pressures of modern development. The research supporting the need for connectivity between wildlands, though widely accepted in the scientific community, was relatively new to the public, and a common language to express this new knowledge had not been clearly defined. The concept of a “wildlife corridor” — a piece of land that connects protected wildlands — which is so clear to us now, was not popularly understood at the time, and the conservation of sensitive natural areas was typically being achieved by small, isolated local interest groups. The historical belief regarding conservation was that national, provincial and state parks, and other conservation areas were our best bet for preserving wildlife populations in the face of everexpanding human development. Forward-thinking leaders of the past had dedicated lands to create Yellowstone National Park (the world’s first) and Banff National Park (the world’s second, and Canada’s first national park) where wild animals could
A VISION COMES TO LIFE
system of wildlands and waters that would harmonize the needs of people with those of nature. While Locke was concerned that the proposed area was too large, his colleagues challenged that it wasn’t big enough and should extend further north to the Arctic Circle, and further south to Grand Teton National Park. It was unanimously agreed that the idea held weight and that it was time to challenge themselves to collaborate on an unprecedented, international scale. The Vision depended on good science and boldness, but more importantly, it depended on enlisting the passion and experience of those who already cared deeply and worked in and with dozens of grassroots groups.
POWER TO THE PEOPLE In the spring of 1994 the Vision was shared with the broader conservation community when Locke wrote an essay for Borealis magazine, which included a commissioned map of the Y2Y region (tellingly, no map of the Rockies spanning the Canada-US border had existed prior to 1994). The official public launch of the idea came in 1997 at the “Connections” conference in Waterton, Alberta, attended by some 300 people including land trusts, scientists, government representatives, Native Americans, First Nations and national news media outlets. As the message of connectivity gained popularity, people began to change the way they thought about conservation. Groups and agencies considered the impact of their work not only on the local environment but on the continental ecosystem in general. Suddenly, a small corridor of private land commonly used by animals to get from one mountain range to another was recognized as vital to the survival of populations in the whole Rocky Mountain ecosystem. In 1998, a Banff park warden named Karsten Heuer — who would become president of the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative in January 2013 — embarked upon a 3,540 km, 18-month trek from Yellowstone to Yukon, both to assess and to publicize the Y2Y Vision. After years of wildlife tracking studies in Banff National Park, he says, “My research with the animals was telling me that this Y2Y Vision was the way forward. I was hooked.” His trek confirmed two things: 1) the Rad Pant was indeed the most versatile piece of clothing in an adventurer’s wardrobe; and 2) connecting the region was possible. The story attracted wide-spread media coverage and led to presentations in over 100 communities in the region. * Among the many efforts that helped the Y2Y idea go global — including a show on the CBC’s Nature of Things and a book by National Geographic — a four-hour HDTV documentary featuring the Y2Y Vision was created in 2005 by Banff film-maker Guy Clarkson. The movie, “Shining Mountains” (which is available in full on YouTube), was produced for History Television, National Geographic Channel and the Aboriginal Peoples’ Television Network and was broadcast in Europe, Russia, the Middle East, Asia, Africa and the US. Translated into 16 languages, the film
Progress
20 Years of Progress Eagle
Eagle Dawson
Dawson
Yellowknife
Yellowknife
Whitehorse
Whitehorse
Fort Nelson
Fort Nelson
Fort St. John
Prince George
Fort St. John
Edmonton
Hinton
Revelstoke Kelowna
Prince George
Lake Louise Banff
Revelstoke Kelowna
Nelson Cranbrook Creston
Spokane
Coeur Missoula d'Alene Helena Lewiston Butte Bozeman
Coeur Missoula d'Alene Helena Lewiston Butte Bozeman
Cody
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Boise
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Calgary
Kalispell Polson
Spokane
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Lake Louise Banff
Nelson Cranbrook Creston
Kalispell Polson
Salmon
Saskatoon
Jasper
Calgary
La Grande
Edmonton
Hinton
Saskatoon
Jasper
2013
Lands represented as ‘protected’ in both maps include: Canadian National Parks and Reserves, Alberta Wilderness Areas, Alberta Wilderness Parks, Alberta Provincial Parks, B.C. Provincial Parks, B.C. Conservancies, B.C. Ecological Reserves, NWT Parcels of Conservation Interest, Yukon Territorial Parks, Yukon Wilderness Preserves, Yukon Peel River Protected Areas, U.S. National Parks, U.S. Wilderness and U.S. National Monuments.
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y2y.net
Other Conservation Designations include: Provincial Natural Areas, Recreation Areas, High Conservation Value Forests, Special Management Zones, Territorial Conservation Zones, Natural Environment Parks, Restricted Use Wilderness Areas, U.S. Grizzly Bear Recovery Zones, National Recreation Areas and Rivers, Roadless Rule Lands, National Wild and Scenic Rivers, USFS Administrative Designations and Private Conservancy Lands.
Our home here in the Rockies has been identified as one of the last intact mountain ecosystems on Earth as we continue to share the space with all of the wildlife species that were here when Europeans first arrived in North America. Y2Y’s goal is to keep it this way by using the health of grizzly bear populations as their guide for the health of the whole ecosystem. Because they require a vast amount of territory, it is well documented that if the grizzly populations are thriving, the rest of the animal populations, including humans, will be as well. In the last few years, thanks to the Y2Y, grizzly bears have been sighted in part of their historic range where they haven’t been seen for decades. “Over the last 20 years, collectively we have doubled the protected areas, mitigated hundreds of miles of busy highways, and helped grizzly bears to expand their ranges for the first time in over a hundred years,” says Heuer. Some Y2Y-CI and partner-driven successes include: • •
• •
Wildlife fences and over- and under-passes have been installed along highways. One of the most important corridors in the province has been protected on a number of occasions by halting Canmore’s Three Sisters Development. Parks Canada has approved the return of bison to Banff National Park. An international wildlife corridor has been created between Alberta and Montana in the Flathead Watershed.
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In 2013, Y2Y-CI affiliated organizations protected 18,038 acres of land through private land deals, and 14 million acres of land in the Yukon were protected from drilling for another year. Habitat for wildlife has been improved by decommissioning unused logging roads, restoring streams, and eliminating invasive species and/or planting trees on thousands of acres of land. Bear conflicts have been reduced by: collecting fruit that may attract bears, installing bear-proof food storage and garbage containers, erecting electric fencing to protect livestock and gardens, and removing or modifying fences to allow for greater wildlife movement through the region.
A PARADIGM SHIFT “What’s most heartening to me is how peoples’ values have changed over this period of time,” Heuer reflects. “The fact that ‘wildlife corridor’ is now a household word is a perfect example of that shift.” With its Canadian home base in Canmore — a town built smack in the middle of a critical wildlife corridor — Y2Y’s Vision has made a big impact locally. The Bow Valley is now a beacon for other conservation-minded municipalities around the globe, proving that it’s possible to share space with wildlife. “I’ve been all over the world speaking about this concept, working professionally with other groups to help them figure out how they can live with wildlife in their backyards,” says Locke. “And I can tell you, there is nowhere else in the world that is doing it better than the Bow Valley. There will always be hurdles to overcome when living with wildlife, but it is encouraging to know that people are willing to try, and to set the example for the rest of the world to follow.”
To get involved, to learn more, or to donate, check out y2y.net. *You can read Heuer’s account of his incredible journey in Walking the Big Wild: From Yellowstone to Yukon on the Grizzly Bear’s Trail. **The Rad Pant – Canada’s national 90s uniform – is on the top of the list of endangered apparel. It is suspected that a handful of specimens remain in the wild, but to date, this glorious pant remains on the verge of extinction.
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MEASURES OF SUCCESS
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took the Vision global, and inspired millions to take action to improve wildlands connectivity in their own landscapes. An Australian government-led initiative has begun to connect reserves along a 3,600 km section of the Great Eastern Ranges, and similar initiatives continue to crop up in eastern North America (A2A – Algonquin to Adirondacks) and in the marine environments (B2B – Baja to Bering Strait). Since the Vision was launched, the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y-CI) has been tasked with carrying the vision forward, working with more than 300 partners from all over the region, including landowners and land trusts, businesses, government agencies, Native American and First Nations communities, scientists and conservationists. Funding for these projects and many others is made possible by over 150 foundations, companies, government agencies and countless individual donors who are sold on the Vision.
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LIFTING THE LID ON WASTE REMOVAL IN THE ROCKIES by Bob Covey and illustration concept by Kristy Davison and Camara Miller. environmentalist, but managing our waste in Jasper, Banff and Canmore is like Oscar the Grouch’s hoarding complex: it’s complicated. Our increased awareness of the natural world is colliding with our ever-constant quandary of convenience over cost. And while there are lots of ways to tackle waste management, there is consensus that the consequences of managing it poorly will sell our future short, both environmentally and economically. In the Rockies, because of our communities’ isolation, our close quarters with wildlife and the unique inputs and outputs of a high-volume tourism sector, the Three R’s quickly turn into the Three C’s: complexity, costliness and contradictions. Where to put the salmon bones is one thing; how to improve our waste diversion efforts is another kettle of fish altogether.
After I realize it’s my friend in the shadows and not a hungry grizzly bear, a machete-wielding serial killer, or a gaggle of wine-cooler-drinking 16-year-olds (my worst fears, not necessarily in that order), I remember it wasn’t so long ago in Jasper that the fear of bumping into a four-legged dumpster diver was a legitimate concern. Before the community had locking, ursine proof bins installed, black bears and even the occasional grizzly roamed Jasper backyards in search of tasty rewards. “There was a time when bears were as common as dogs,” remembers 87-year-old Jasperite, Wanda Garford. “You couldn’t go down an alley without running into a bear.” Inevitably, human-wildlife conflicts were
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hat’s in the bag?” I whisper, watching the hairs on my buddy’s neck stand on end. My accusatory heckle hisses through the shadowy night in a quiet residential neighbourhood in Jasper. I’m taking out the trash from a posthousewarming soiree. My friend, who didn’t see me coming, is disposing of what looks to be his dog’s fecal matter. Meeting someone at the garbage is always a social occasion. I’m slinking to the bins in the dead of night to dump a salmon carcass. I’m not sure if the remnants should go in compost or garbage, and frankly, I’ll use the cloak of darkness to conceal my confusion. As for my friend, he’s just being a responsible dog walker. Is he going to compost that? I wonder. After seeing the unsorted mess that several inconsiderate “recyclers” have left in the cardboard, compost and garbage disposal containers lately, I have become wary of midnight dumpers. Over the last few weeks, with barely-repressed rage, I have discovered that, when it comes to properly sorting their refuse, some people in Jasper’s newest housing development have not been pulling their weight. Smugly protective of my new neighbourhood’s image (and known to rant when it comes to individual laziness that disrupts the collective harmony), tonight I am en guard. I am on selfappointed sanitary sentinel duty. I am a citizen on patrol. Until it starts to feel weird. It’s easy for righteous writers, promise-prone politicians and naive neighbourhood watchers to make pronouncements appealing to our inner
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systems allow residents and businesses to bag whatever they please, throw it in a bear bin and wash their hands of it — out-of-sight, out-ofmind. Consequently, when municipal haulers come by, staff find not only cardboard, glass and metals in amongst the bear proof bins, but large household items like mattresses, outmoded televisions and furniture. “I got a text five minutes ago from a driver telling me there are four couches outside two different bins,” the Municipality of Jasper’s utilities manager Ross Derksen tells me over lunch at Recycling in the Rockies, the Recycling Council of Alberta’s biennial waste reduction conference.
“I’ll have a Caesar please. No Tabasco, no ice, no straw.” After a full day of lectures and workshops, Andrea Smit could use a drink. Like Derksen, she has been learning from leaders in waste management at the Recycling in the Rockies conference, held this past October at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise. Unlike Derksen — and the majority of the conference’s 300 participants who represent towns and cities across the province — Smit is here as an interested individual. Inspired by The Clean Bin Project, a documentary whose protagonists were challenged to go waste-free for an entire year, the 29-year-old has similarly altered her lifestyle with the goal of zero landfill waste. It’s taken a shift in her thinking, more careful planning of her days and the discipline to say no to easy throwaways such as plastic take-out containers. But the sacrifices are worth it, she contends. Giving her strengthened resolve to reduce her impact, she feels the Towards Zero Waste revolution is growing. “It definitely rubs off on people,” she says. Norman Neil can attest to that. A selfdescribed “old granola cruncher” who always tried to live by a “pack it in, pack it out” ethos, Neil has since 2007 been the environmental coordinator at the annual Canmore Folk
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regular occurrences. As such, when lockinglidded infrastructure was installed in Canada’s mountain parks in the 1980s, it was heralded as a great leap forward in managing how humans could live amongst wild animals. But sealing the garbage off had another effect, although it would be years before it was identified as somewhat counter-intuitive to environmental best practices. In 2007, when the Municipality of Jasper conducted a waste audit, they learned that despite having implemented a residential recycling and compost program, the amount of materials which could have been diverted from the waste stream was more or less the same as when their recycling programs were nascent: somewhere around 30 per cent. And it hasn’t improved much since. Those who were historically more inclined to sorting their waste — long-term residents who lived in single family dwellings — continued to do so, while those who were typically poor recyclers and composters — young people living in staff accommodations — remained negligent. “[The diversion rate] has flat-lined. It’s depressing,” Jasper’s environmental stewardship coordinator, Janet Cooper, said in 2010. At the root of the plateauing waste diversion rates is not just that 20-year-old lifties and weekenders are disinclined to sort their cardboard; rather it’s the fact that they aren’t compelled to do it — in fact, neither is anyone in Jasper, Banff or Canmore (Canmore eliminated curbside waste collection in 1999). Education campaigns and more convenient infrastructure notwithstanding, experts agree that waste diversion rates will suffer in our Rocky Mountain communities because of how the entire collection operation is set up. Between Jasper, Banff, and Canmore more than 700 communal concealing bins allow residents to dispose indiscriminately, with no fear of retribution for improperly sorted waste or inappropriate volumes. Unlike communities that utilize curb-side pickup of sorted materials, and also impose fines and refusal of service for offenders, the Jasper and Bow Valley
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Festival. Seven years ago, Neil’s team did their best to pick out refundable beverage containers and cardboard from 28 pairs of bins set up around the Centennial Park site, but he was getting frustrated by the speed with which the bins would fill up. (The waste collected filled 18 BFI bins.) By the end of the weekend, he was considering increasing their capacity for trash. “I thought, wait a minute; this is going in the wrong direction,” Neil recounts. Using the Swedish sustainability model The Natural Step as his polestar, and working with the Bow Valley Waste Management Commission as well as the Town of Canmore, Neil’s crew blueprinted a series of systems that immediately corrected their waste diversion rate from 10 per cent to 80 per cent. The key, besides having separate bins for paper, cardboard, etc., was getting people engaged. “We weren’t doing recycling for people,” Neil says. “We were showing them where recyclables went and then having them do it.” Engaging in the physical act of recycling (compost here, plastics there!) and outlining the reasons for it is what helps wean folk fest-ers, and indeed most folks, from their old, bad habits in order to embrace new, good ones. Neil has learned that clear, consistent communication is paramount, but first and foremost, the team implementing the program has to be on board. “You have to lead by example, and we get a lot of people on the crew who have sustainability close to their hearts,” Neil says. This past August 2-4, “Gang Green” volunteers at the 2014 Canmore Folk Festival were manning the waste stations, rolling up their sleeves and helping recycling rookies figure out where to throw what. Thanks to the efforts of volunteers like Janette Bagata, who stopped me before I could throw my compostable fork in the plastics bin, the event diverted 94 per cent of its waste from the landfill this year. That score is 24 per cent higher than Canmore’s special events are required to divert; a testament to the Gang Green team’s vigilance. However, Neil says you need people overseeing the entire system in order for it to work at an optimum level. ”You can never not have people at the bins. You need the manpower to make the system work.”
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LICK YOUR PLATE Back at the Glacier Saloon, as our server clears our table, including my empty beer bottle, I reflect on the behind-the-scenes tour of the Chateau’s recycling facilities given earlier that day. The beer bottle will end up with the hotel’s glass recycling — four tonnes of which is processed every three months. The cardboard coaster
will eventually join 16 tonnes of broken down boxes, egg cartons and tissue containers, while the napkin, if the server is diligent in her sorting, will add a couple of more grams to the five tonnes of paper which is trucked off the property every quarter. The Chateau’s recycling volume outweighs that of a community of 8,000 residents, according to a fellow tour-goer from Blackfalds, AB; however, while the hotel has laudable programs to repurpose bars of soap and shampoo (donated to Clean the World) and to recycle cooking oil (sent to biofuel processing facilities), there is one conspicuous element of the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise’s waste stream that does not get separated: organics. “Organic waste is one of our most important untapped resources,” says Christina Seidel executive director of the Recycling Council of Alberta. “It’s a complete crime how much is wasted.” Seidel, who is the lead organizer for Recycling in the Rockies, is a waste reduction consultant and the author of many community waste management analyses in Alberta. Subsequently, she has seen the good, the bad and the “criminal” when it comes to communities separating their organics. In the last 10 years, while the idea that food does not belong in the landfill has slowly filtered into the public mind, generally, she says, the prevailing belief is that landfills are the same as compost piles. “From an engineering point of view, the last thing you want in the garbage is compost,” Seidel says. “It creates the most issues in terms of leachate and bio-degradation.” While they haven’t gone so far as to ban all commercial organics from the landfill, as the City of Nanaimo did in 2005, Seidel says Jasper and Banff both get high marks for their efforts to divert food from the waste stream. With around 200 dining establishments between the two towns serving up meals for millions of tourists each year, Seidel believes that having commercial composting systems which restaurateurs can take advantage of is part of being an environmental steward in a national park. “Hats off to Jasper and Banff in that regard,” she says. “They seem to get that they need a high standard.” Even so, having a commercial composting system is one thing; getting businesses to take part is another. In Jasper, Cooper estimates that only 20 per cent of the restaurants participate (including, it should be noted, the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge, which has had a composting program for more than 20 years). In Banff, participation numbers are higher (40 per cent), perhaps due to the town’s push to join their high-tech, compost-to-fertilizer N-Viro program; however, just down the highway in Lake Louise, none of the kitchens separate their organics because there is no program in place to accept them. The reason, Seidel suggests, is the same one that explains why some of Jasper National Park’s
most popular tourist areas didn’t get beverage container receptacles installed until this year: Ottawa is slow to adapt. “Bureaucracy gets in the way,” she says. “Banff and Jasper, as municipalities, have been able to do a lot, but Lake Louise is limited because it’s in a federal jurisdiction.” Smit, who’s staying at Lake Louise’s hostel, has already found this out. When her breakfast server explains the facility is unable to compost her teabag, lettuce leaf and her friend’s uneaten potatoes, she sweeps the scraps into a reusable container. “I’ll compost them when I get back to Burnaby,” she tells the slack-jawed waiter.
If schlepping her food waste to her car and driving it across British Columbia is a burden for Smit, she takes it in stride. For most communities across Alberta, however, transportation is the most costly part of waste management. In Jasper National Park, in order to service approximately 170 garbage and beverage container bins every week, Parks Canada employs four full-time employees from May to September. Trucks drive 61 kilometres to Miette Hot Springs (which includes Pocahontas campground) out east and 117 kilometres to the Bridal Veil Falls parking area down south. They hit Maligne Lake, the Columbia Icefields Centre and facilities serving about 1,850 campsites. In total, the amount of garbage that goes to the Hinton Landfill (the municipality is part of a regional waste authority with Hinton as the receiver of all things not diverted) is somewhere around three million kilograms per year. By comparison, Lake Louise, for which Parks Canada hires a contractor to haul its refuse, creates 1.6 million kilograms of garbage annually. (Finally, by 2014, Lake Louise had communal recycling bins installed for the 1,200 staff and permanent residents who call the village home.) It bears repeating that in Jasper, during the busiest summer in 10 years, popular day-use
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ROAD TRIPPING
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Photo: Shutterstock.com.
The waiting game is nothing new for Cooper. For years she has been wondering whether the town will be able to take over the Jasper Transfer Station from the federal government so that the community can institute some of its best ideas. For one thing, the facility needs to be upgraded: its antiquated weigh scales and the open-air windrows of compost are starting points, but she would also like to collaborate with regional players. Recycling is most efficient when economies of scale can develop, and Jasper’s remote location begs for the securing of partnerships. In 2014 the municipality joined the regional waste commission — West Yellowhead Regional Landfill Authority includes Jasper, Hinton, Edson and Yellowhead County — which has a mandate of waste minimization to extend the life of the landfill and reduce GHG emissions. Planning has begun and good things will come from this, but until the federal government and the town can resolve issues related to cost and liability (for potentially contaminated groundwater, for example), the transfer station’s needs will remain on hold. Bottles and cans will continue to find their way into the landfill, commercial users will continue to bring waste to the transfer station for free, and the open-air compost pile will occasionally combust, turning potential fertilizer into useless ash.
THE FIRST R: REDUCE The amount of resources governments allocate to make it easier for citizens to reduce their landfill waste will always be scrutinized, but in Banff, Jasper and Canmore, for the foreseeable future at least, the onus will remain on individuals to separate their waste at the source. While there are a growing number of standout players, such as Jasper’s Wild Orchid Salon and Spa, which diverts metal foil, harsh chemicals and even customer’s
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OPPORTUNITIES UP IN SMOKE
hair clippings (which are repurposed to help clean up oil spills), there will inevitably be rotten apples contaminating the cardboard, so to speak. There was hope when Canmore installed its community bear bins that residents would take a sense of ownership or self-policing, as it was called in a 2000 Solid Waste Services report. Unfortunately, there aren’t enough neighbourhood watchers to separate the good recyclers from the midnight dumpers, let alone the compost from the cardboard. If Andrea Smit had it her way, the focus would shift from end-product recycling to reducing the amount of stuff we consume in the first place. It doesn’t mean we have to reject our way of life, she says, but we should pay more attention to what we’re buying, thereby putting indirect pressure on producers. When that doesn’t work, Smit doesn’t mind putting the hammer down. “I called Charmin the other day to tell them I’m not going to buy their toilet paper as long as each roll is wrapped individually,” she says. There is a push for jurisdictions to implement guidelines that align with Canada’s Extended Producer Responsibility code — a policy approach in which a producer’s responsibility for a product extends to the post-consumer stage of its life cycle. But those are slow-turning wheels, hampered by the usual suspects: old habits, slick marketing and cost. “Unfortunately, now it’s still cheaper to dispose than to recycle,” Christina Seidel says. Of course “cost” is relative. For most businesses and governments, it’s defined within monetary terms. But for a growing number of people, including Smit, it goes much deeper than dollars. “You know that going zero waste is not just for you; it’s helping everybody,” she says. “And pretty soon the sacrifices don’t seem like sacrifices anymore.”
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areas such as Lake Annette, Old Fort Point, Maligne Canyon, Valley of the Five Lakes and Pyramid Lake had no beverage container bins. When I asked Cooper if refundable plastic, aluminum and glass containers picked up at these high traffic areas were sorted from the waste stream, she let out a sigh. The answer was no, even though refunding these products would offset the cost of hauling, as well as reduce the amount the municipality pays in per-tonne tipping fees to the Hinton Landfill. “Hopefully this fall,” she says. (As of October 2014, eight beverage container bins have indeed been installed at Lake Annette, Lake Edith and Maligne Canyon.)
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WHAT CAN YOU DO?
DO THIS! USE COTTON PRODUCE BAGS: IF YOU’RE ALREADY BRINGING REUSABLE SHOPPING BAGS TO THE STORE, THEN YOU’RE ON THE RIGHT TRACK. PURCHASING SOME REUSABLE COTTON PRODUCE BAGS IS THE NEXT STEP TOWARDS KEEPING EVEN MORE PLASTIC OUT OF THE LANDFILL. AVAILABLE FROM ECOBAGS.COM.
BRING YOUR OWN CONTAINER: THERE ARE SO MANY OPPORTUNITIES TO REDUCE WASTE BY BEING PREPARED. WHEN YOU PLACE A TAKEOUT ORDER, YOU CAN ASK IF YOU CAN PICK UP THE FOOD IN YOUR OWN CONTAINER. TAKE A SMALL REUSABLE CONTAINER WITH YOU WHEN YOU EAT OUT AT RESTAURANTS IN CASE YOU DON’T FINISH YOUR MEAL. CHAIN YOUR TRAVEL MUG TO YOUR WRIST!
CLEAN GREEN: WITH A FEW BASIC INGREDIENTS SUCH AS BAKING SODA AND VINEGAR, YOU CAN REDUCE THE NEED FOR MULTIPLE PLASTIC BOTTLES OF TILE CLEANER, WINDOW CLEANER AND MORE. CHECK OUT SOME SIMPLE ALTERNATIVES AND RECIPES AT MOTHER NATURE NETWORK (MNN.COM).
BUY BULK: PURCHASE STAPLES LIKE RICE, BEANS, PASTA, CEREAL, NUTS AND GRANOLA FROM BULK BINS WITH A REUSABLE BAG OR CONTAINER.
CHOOSE BOXES OVER BOTTLES: CARDBOARD CAN BE MORE EASILY RECYCLED AND CAN BE MADE INTO MORE PRODUCTS THAN PLASTIC. WHENEVER YOU HAVE A CHOICE, BUY CLEANING PRODUCTS LIKE LAUNDRY DETERGENT AND DISH SOAP IN BOXES RATHER THAN PLASTIC BOTTLES.
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BUY, SELL & DONATE USED:
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SELL YOUR OWN USED GOODS TO COLLECT EXTRA CASH, AND KEEP THEM OUT OF THE TRASH BY JOINING THE “BUY, SELL, TRADE” FACEBOOK GROUP IN YOUR COMMUNITY. IF YOU CAN’T SELL AN ITEM, CONSIDER DONATING IT TO THE THRIFT STORE OR ANOTHER SIMILAR ORGANIZATION.
SHARING IS CARING: EVERYBODY DOES NOT NEED ONE OF EVERYTHING. MAKE FRIENDS AND SHARE WITH YOUR NEIGHBOURS!
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Embrace! Excite your senses: snuggle up in beautiful warm blankets on our cozy sleds; feel the wind on your cheeks as you glide down the pristine mountain trail; connect to nature with the rhythmic breathing and perfect stride of our huskies.
Explore! Experience the thrill of driving a team of Canadian Huskies. It’s the most
unique dog sledding experience in the majestic Rocky Mountain wilderness! Treat yourself to a once in a lifetime opportunity with the best trained instructors, highest safety standards, and our beautiful, friendly huskies.
Expand Your Mind! Learn about the six different breeds used at our
facility. Become familiar with five-star ethical dog care and business practices. Learn about the exciting, historical and rewarding world of dog-sledding.
Please contact our reservations team at:
www.snowyowltours.com or call: 403.678.4369
Good Times Are A Tradition
NOW IT’S YOUR TURN! The Alpine Club of Canada—delivering smiles to remote faces since 1906
The Stockdale Group General Mountaineering Camp 2015 | Purcells | July 11 - August 15 Great Climb s | Accessi bl e Peaks | Fun Peopl e | A l l A bi l i ti es | Ac t Now Information and bookings (403) 678-3200 ext. 109 www.StockdaleGMC.com
HOBNAILED HEROES A LOOK AT CLIMBING GEAR THROUGH THE AGES, AND WHAT ITS EVOLUTION MEANS FOR ASPIRING MOUNTAINEERS TODAY by Meghan J. Ward, illustration by John Coleman and photography by Kristy Davison
My thoughts drifted to James Outram who was the first person to climb the peak 109 years earlier. When Outram and his two Swiss guides, Christian Häsler and Christian Bohren trudged along this ridge, they didn’t have crampons. Nor did they have harnesses, carabiners or cams. They had to cut steps in the ridge with an ice axe to ensure a safe footing – for hundreds of steps in a row – and down-climb nearvertical rock with nothing but a rope tied around their waists. A prolific mountaineer, Outram did most of his climbing at the beginning of the 20th century. During his threeyear climbing spree of first ascents in the Canadian Rockies, he used hobnail boots, a hemp rope and a rudimentary ice axe. These pieces of equipment were used prior to significant gear advancements such as the 10-point crampon, designed in 1908 by
GETTING THE GOODS It is difficult for today’s mountaineers to imagine climbing in an era without the equipment we have now. It must have taken nerves of steel to tackle big routes with such minimal protection. To gain more understanding, I sought out one person I knew would have answers, someone who lived and breathed climbing during an era that more closely resembled Outram’s than ours does today. Mountain historian and author, Chic Scott, put up a ‘first’ on Mt. Assiniboine along with Eckhard Grassman and Don Gardner during the first winter ascent in 1967. Scott and his contemporaries remember a time when gear
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LOOKING TO THE PAST
Oscar Eckenstein, and the first steel carabiner, designed specifically for climbing by Otto Herzog in 1910. In his book, In the Heart of the Canadian Rockies, Outram reveals an unusually high sense of confidence in his climbing, despite his very basic gear. He even goes as far as to say, “with a rope, a careful party of experienced mountaineers is absolutely free from danger” – a claim I’m not sure anyone would make today, even with our upgraded gear. Could Outram have ever imagined the equipment to come? Which routes would become feasible? Which doors gear would open for the modern-day mountain enthusiast? And do we fully embrace the evolution that our gear has been through? Perhaps we owe a bit more credit to that nylon webbing and those moulded pieces of metal.
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M
ount Assiniboine, one of the Canadian Rockies’ most iconic and recognizable peaks, stands like a pyramid at 11,870 feet. In July 2010, I stood on the final, windblown ridge that leads to its summit. Hard-packed snow signalled it was time to strap on my crampons, so I quickly fastened them to my full shank mountaineering boots. As I drove their points into the firm snow, I began to wonder what it would be like to climb this mountain without them. Was it even possible?
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way you started. And of course you can imagine as lead climber, if you took a good fall with no anchor and no runners… well, you’d just keep falling all the way to the bottom. So, that was the way you started climbing.”
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CHANGING THE GAME
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wasn’t as easily obtained in the Rockies as it is now. But what they did have was greatly advanced. On cold winter days in the 1960s, Scott and his climbing buddies – Gerry Walsh, Don Gardner and Charlie Locke – would knock on Brian Greenwood’s door in Banff, go down into his basement and salivate over the latest gear he had imported. “Brian Greenwood brought in the good stuff,” Scott explains: Grivel crampons, Simond ice axes and Galibier mountaineering boots. “And a special item that he had was Chouinard pitons, directly from Chouinard,” Scott reminisces. Yvon Chouinard, the mastermind of modern climbing gear — and future founder of Patagonia — was manufacturing pitons and selling them out of the trunk of his car at the time. Greenwood was one of his buyers. Throughout the late ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s, Rockies climbers could also get their goods from stores in Calgary; namely Ron Smylie’s Alpine Sport Shop, Premier Cycle and Sports, and The Hostel Shop. Only one mountain gear retailer existed in Banff: Monod Sports. John Monod, a Swiss ski instructor, first opened the store in 1949 at Sunshine Village (eventually moving it to downtown Banff in 1956), and sold specialized equipment from Europe until North American companies started manufacturing gear. Climbers in Scott’s era may have had a few more gear options than Outram, but climbing still remained a fringe sport. Fewer options for gear, particularly protective gear, meant fewer climbers, even midway through the 20th century. “When I started climbing in 1962, there were maybe 100 people in Calgary who climbed,” explains Scott. “Back in the ‘50s and ‘60s, climbing was a blood sport.” As with Outram, it may be a matter of not knowing what they were missing, but climbers in Scott’s era certainly needed a lot of courage to take the risks they did for the sake of climbing. To make his point, Scott told me a story from March 1963, when he first climbed Grillmair Chimneys, a route on Mt. Yamnuska: “We had half-shank hiking boots, corduroy knickers, ski jackets and a 120-foot rope called a Goldline. We would have had three or four carabiners and maybe three or four pitons at the most, and that was it. No helmets, no harnesses. For almost every pitch we were never tied in. There were no runners, and that was just the
For very few climbers, advancements in outdoor gear do not matter. In Scott’s opinion, Reinhold Messner, in his prime, could have climbed Mt. Everest using George Leigh Mallory’s climbing gear from the 1920s. Scott also pointed to climbers who forego the gear altogether and free-solo big walls like the 3,000-foot El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. But for most of us, the advancements are considerably advantageous, as are the courses that teach us how to use the gear properly. “There were no courses, no guides association in 1962,” explains Scott. “Now you can ease yourself into the sport and take whatever level of risk you’re comfortable with.” While not every danger is mitigated, the reduction of risk has made the sport more accessible to the masses thanks to protective gear. By the 1970s, Scott said American and UK innovators started changing the game with inventions like Chouinard’s selfcleaning ice screws and Hamish MacInnes’ Pterodactyl ice axes, which allowed climbers to ascend vertical ice. In addition to the sit harness, these game changers expanded the sport of climbing in all its forms to include rock, ice and alpine. Climbers began to push the envelope further, ascending previously unimaginable routes and adding new grades to the system. What’s more, the proliferation of outdoor gear manufacturers and retailers has brought the gear to our fingertips. While Scott waited on a mail order, we have umpteen options. According to a 2014 survey conducted by Highline Magazine, 40 per cent of respondents said they buy gear from a Canadian retailer online and 75 per cent said they buy gear locally. All it takes is a quick walk down Banff Avenue to see which outdoor gear stores have joined Monod Sports in recent years.
OPENING DOORS What would James Outram think of it all? Would he think it silly – ice tools and mountaineering boots hanging in store windows with four outdoor retailers on the same city block? Or would he appreciate the doors that gear has opened to thousands of aspiring mountaineers? In 1901 Outram stood on what was then the highest peak that had been climbed in the Canadian Rockies. He saw range after range of mountains – as he wrote, “a noble group of striking points and glistening glaciers.” I may not have cut steps to the summit like Outram or braved vertical rock without a secure belay, but it took crampons and a harness to get me there, and the gear gave me the confidence I needed to make the climb. Despite our differences in gear, however, I know I have one thing in common with James Outram. Over a century apart, we stood on the summit and shared in that same, glorious view. Vintage gear from the collection of the Alpine Club of Canada.
THE FIRST FLEECE IN ADDITION TO SCOPING THE LATEST GEAR
SUNDANCE LODGE
AT CLIMBING STORES IN THE AREA, SCOTT BOUGHT HIS FIRST MOUNTAIN TENT AND SLEEPING BAG BY MAIL ORDER FROM BLACKS, A UK-BASED OUTDOOR EQUIPMENT FIRM, WHICH HAD A STORE IN OTTAWA. OTHER ITEMS WERE HANDMADE, SUCH AS THE FLEECE VEST THAT DONNA MACKAY (THE WIFE OF LLOYD MACKAY, ANOTHER PIONEERING CLIMBER IN THE ROCKIES) SEWED FOR HIM FOR THE INTERNATIONAL CLIMBERS MEET IN 1973. “DONNA WAS DOWN IN CALGARY AT A FABRIC SHOP AND SHE SAW SOMETHING CALLED SYNTHETIC FLEECE. SO SHE BOUGHT SOME OF IT AND MADE VESTS FOR US,” HE RECOUNTS. “THAT WAS PROBABLY THE FIRST PIECE OF FLEECE IN THE BOW VALLEY.”
RETREAT TO BACKCOUNTRY LUXURY! An easy 16km ski or snowshoe from Banff, Sundance Lodge is nestled in a quiet valley below the breath taking Sundance Range. Open from mid December to end of March, accommodating groups and individuals up to 34. All meals and Western hospitality included.
ABOUT THAT HARNESS THE
DEVELOPMENT
OF
THE
SIT-STYLE
CLIMBING HARNESS WIDELY USED TODAY DEPENDED ON THE INVENTION OF A MATERIAL RESISTANT TO THE WEAR AND TEAR OF CLIMBING AND HAD TO BE STRONG ENOUGH TO BEAR THE WEIGHT OF A FALL. NYLON, A SYNTHETIC POLYMER WITH HIGH DURABILITY, ELONGATION AND RESISTANCE TO ABRASION, WAS FIRST PRODUCED IN 1935. THANKS TO ITS TOUGH QUALITIES, IT EVENTUALLY BECAME THE
PERFECT
MATERIAL
FOR
CLIMBING
GEAR, SUCH AS SLINGS, WEBBING, AND THE FIRST HARNESSES PRODUCED IN THE 1960S. CLIMBING GRADES SOARED AS A RESULT OF INNOVATIONS LIKE THE SIT HARNESS.
BANFF TRAIL RIDERS • WWW.HORSEBACK.COM • 403.762.4551 • 132 BANFF AVENUE
BACK TO BASICS A SKIER’S GUIDE TO BUILDING YOUR OWN BOARDS by John Reid
N
owadays walking into a ski shop is like wandering into a candy store: row after row of racks hold delicious skis in every colour, rocker profile, vibrational dampening level and core material. For some skiers, the variety is almost overwhelming, like being stuck in a bottomless tree-well of selection. As a result, there is a
growing number of dedicated downhillers who take a kind of back-to-basics approach. That’s right, do-it-yourself ski building is rising in popularity faster than a high-speed quad as skiers find reasons to skip out on K2s and stamp their own names on their ski tips. For some, it’s about making skiing more affordable, while for others it’s about nailing
Dustin Fraser and Josh Bishop. Photo by Nick Blakeney.
DO-IT-YOURSELF MATERIALS LIST The beauty of DIY ski building is that just about everything required can be found at two or three suppliers and can be made using limited tools. This list will give you the idea, but we recommend skibuilders.com for a comprehensive how-to and materials list.
·· ROUTER ·· DRILL ·· LOTS OF SANDPAPER OR A POWER SANDER ·· JIGSAW ·· TABLESAW ·· SURFACE PLANER OR POWER PLANER ·· CLAMPS, SCREWDRIVERS, HAMMERS AND OTHER HAND TOOLS Next you’ll need the equipment for the press. You can find everything at hardware stores or surplus stores to build the three main components: ·· BLADDER (DUSTIN AND JOSH MADE THEIRS OUT OF A FIRE HOSE FOUND ON EBAY) ·· PRESS (TIE DOWN STRAPS – HARDWARE STORE) ·· MOULD (CHEAP WOOD AND LAMINATE – HARDWARE STORE)
Finally, the ski itself. This is where you get to experiment with materials. A basic ski can be made of just a base, a composite and core layer and a layer of epoxy:
·· COMPOSITE (FIBREGLASS SHEET – HARDWARE STORE) ·· CORE - WOOD (NOT KNOTTY – HARDWARE STORE) ·· MARINE EPOXY (BOAT SHOP) ·· EDGES - METAL (ORDER FROM SKILAB.COM)
Now get to work, you crazy sons and daughters!
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·· BASE (POLYETHYLENE OR SIMILAR - PLASTIC SUPPLY SHOP)
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down the technical aspects to match their personal performance. For ski junkies Dustin Fraser and Josh Bishop, the reason they build their own skis is simple: satisfaction. “You get that feeling after a really good run, when you enjoy it so much you couldn’t want any more. Well, when you’re riding on a couple of planks that you shaped and pressed and put time into, you feel it even more,” says Bishop. Fraser started making skis after watching a friend in Alaska who pressed skis in his own garage. “I saw the quality my buddy was putting out and figured, why not? Josh and I found everything we needed online, and after that it was just trial and error. Lots of error,” Fraser jokes. To cut down on oversights, Fraser and Bishop recommend that new DIY ski builders use the website skibuilders.com — a non-profit organization dedicated to sharing information related to home-built skis and snowboards — as a guide. Startup costs are around $400 to build a press. After that, the cost for a new pair of homemade skis will run around $250-$300. As a builder becomes more proficient though, a new pair used frequently should last two full seasons. “Initially, we made a lot of two-by-fours that were pretending to be skis,” laughs Bishop. “But you’ve just got to start doing it. Don’t be intimidated by over planning or anything. Just start building and see what comes out.” The first ride on a pair of skis from the nearest store will always be sweet, but for those skiers looking for something a little different, it’s nice to know the trip down the ski hill can start in your own backyard.
The first thing to check is that you have these basic workshop tools: ·· AIR COMPRESSOR
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SNAPSHOT
CUT IT OUT!
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Photo and origami by Kristy Davison.
Before you recycle this magazine, you can give it a second life.
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Check out bit.ly/origami-star for a tutorial on how to make your own beautiful paper stars and to find links to other origami and paper-saving ideas. Share your artwork with us on Instagram at @highlinemag #mountainpeopleunite
Musically gifted. Harvest Moon Acoustics
Suite 102A, 722 Main St. Canmore, AB 403.678.0023
www.harvestmoonacoustics.ca
NEVER STOP EXPLORING
™