Northword - The Dark Issue

northword

ISSUE NO. 71

magazine

night

white

birds

WINTER 2017-18

|

light

avalanches

dinosaurs

THE DARK ISSUE

|

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COVER CONTEST!

Find the in the cover photo for your chance to win a pair of books, courtesy of our friends at Speedee Mills & Books!

Email contest@northword.ca with your best guess. Correct entries will be entered into a draw & the winner announced January 10.

Last issue (diving headfirst into the future), the N was hidden in the logo on the boat behind the diver. No one found it! Good luck this time.

ON THE COVER When dark is light. Photo by Matt J. Simmons, story on page 9.

Legalities and limitations Copyright Š 2017. All rights reserved. No part of Northword Magazine, in print or electronic form, may be reproduced or incorporated into any information retrieval systems without written permission of the publisher. Information about events, products or services provided is not necessarily complete. The publisher is not responsible in whole or in part for any errors or omissions.The views expressed herein are those of the writers and advertisers, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the publisher, staff or management. Northword assumes no liability for improper or negligent business practices by advertisers, nor for any claims or representations contained anywhere in this magazine. Northword reserves the right to cancel or refuse advertising at the publisher’s discretion. In no event shall unsolicited material subject this publication to any claim or fees. Northword welcomes submissions but accepts no responsibility for unsolicited materials. Copyright in letter and other materials sent to the publisher and accepted for publication remains with the author, but the publisher and its licensees may freely reproduce them in print, electronic and other forms. Please refer to northword.ca for contribution guidelines.

Winter 2017-18

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CONTENTS ISSUE NO. 71 | WINTER 2017-18

FEATURES 16 A Terror of Tyrannosaurs The best way to see ancient dinosaur footprints is in the dark. It’s also the best way to feel that tingly sensation on the back of your neck. Jo Boxwell takes us to Tumbler Ridge, where lantern tours of the dino trackways are a mainstay of the growing paleo-tourism industry.

9 EDITOR’S NOTE

by Jo Boxwell

12 Strengthening Families 13 No Room on the Bus

19 By Boat In Haida Gwaii, the dark months of winter mean more time for things like hunting trips. Join photographer Joseph Crawford as he explores abandoned buildings and the subdued coastal landscapes while on a boat-access hunting excursion.

FIRSTWORDS

31 TRAIL MAP Skip Mountain

photos by Joseph Crawford

24 Avalanches Travelling in northern BC’s backcountry means taking risks. Why we do we do it? Tania Millen weighs in, as she explores the dark side of risk vs. reward, and nudges us in the right direction for finding balance.

by Tania Millen

27 Nightbirds Helen Keller proved irrevocably the power of the senses, especially when one operates in isolation from the rest. Spending a night on a remote island, sans headlamp, to witness the spectacle of nesting seabirds is revealing, to say the least. Join writer and biologist Dave Quinn on the North Coast with some very peculiar little birds.

BACKWORDS

33 Sherman Alexie 34 Kamasi Washington 34 Destroyer 39 LASTWORD Number 10

by Dave Quinn

IMAGE: Snow and shadows cast by a full moon. — Photo by Curtis Cunningham

Winter 2017-18

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northword magazine

MAIN OFFICE | Smithers 1412 Freeland Ave. Smithers, BC, V0J 2N4 t: 250.847.4600 | w. northword.ca | e. editor@northword.ca

PUBLISHER/EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Matt J. Simmons NATIONAL SALES/AD DESIGN Sandra Smith CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Amanda Follett Hosgood ILLUSTRATORS Facundo Gastiazoro & Hans Saefkow CONTRIBUTORS Glenn Bartley, Jo Boxwell, Joseph Crawford, Curtis Cunningham, Amanda Follett Hosgood, Facundo Gastiazoro, Charles Helm, Morgan Hite, Matt Lucas, David McTavish, Tania Millen, Dave Quinn, Simon Ratcliffe, Allison Smith.

DISTRIBUTORS Ainsley Brown, Frances Riley, Richard Haley, Jen Harvey.

ADVERTISING SALES Sandra Smith, sandra@northword.ca Matt J. Simmons, matt@northword.ca DISTRIBUTION We distribute 10,000 copies six times a year to over 300 locations in 33 communities across northern BC, reaching close to 30,000 readers. To request copies at your retail/public location, send an email to ads@northword.ca.

SUBSCRIPTION To receive Northword Magazine in your mailbox, or to give it away to a friend, please complete the subscription process on our website or give us a call.

CONTRIBUTIONS We’re always happy to hear from new writers and photographers who have a unique perspective and a northern story to tell. Have a look at our submissions guidelines on our website, or send an email to editor@northword.ca and we'll send you a copy.

ONLINE Find articles past and present, photos, audio, and more at northword.ca and check us out on Facebook & Instagram.

THANKS Special thanks to the Smithers Fire Department, Laskeek Bay Conservation Society, Dr. Charles Helm & the Tumbler Ridge Museum Foundation, and Simon Ratcliffe of simonsees.com.

Also, thanks to Paul Glover for for the brainstorming session that prompted the theme of this issue, and to Finlay for helping hide the N.

8 Winter 2017-18

Matt J. Simmons

Publisher/Editor-in-chief matt@northword.ca

Sandra Smith

National Advertising sandra@northword.ca

Amanda Follett Hosgood Contributing Editor amanda@northword.ca

Morgan Hite has lived in Smithers for 20 years, makes maps, goes hiking, gets lost, writes articles, reads things and dreams about travel.

Allison Smith is a writer and filmmaker living and working on Haida Gwaii. Her storytelling showcases immersive stories of nature, mental health, women empowerment, and community.

David McTavish is a Smithers-based valley dweller who likes things that make noise, especially if there are buttons and knobs involved.

Facundo Gastiazoro spends his days in Smithers expressing his art by painting murals, creating animations, producing videos, illustrating concepts. His illustrations are featured in every issue of Northword.

Jo Boxwell is a freelance writer and media specialist based in Prince George. She writes fiction and creative nonfiction, and is frequently interrupted by a squealing toddler, a ball-obsessed dog and a surprisingly destructive cat.

EDITOR’S NOTE

photo: matt j. simmons

They arrive as shadows and move like poetry. By that, I mean they flow.

I’m already awake when they arrive, drifting black around the yard. They are a deeper shade of darkness. My eyes adjust. I lean on the windowsill, tired and awake, my forehead pressed against the cold glass. The little ones play, flickering around the yard. I think they know I’m here. My breath fogs a little patch on the pane and I shuffle to the right. The night is soft and maybe it’s my fatigue or unseen clouds moving or something else entirely, but the darkness seems alive somehow. It has a gentle movement, like the slow roll of waves that you feel when you’re in a boat with your eyes closed.

I lean and watch these nighttime visitors drift, picking unseen objects up from the ground, toying with them. Plucking thoughts from the night air. Discarding them, bored. It goes on and on and I revel in it, but eventually tiredness overwhelms me and I crawl back into bed, leaving the shadows to their dark play.

The dark is mystery. It is the unknown. It can be comforting or terrifying, or both at the same time. I was a sensitive kid. I had a nightly mantra I repeated to my parents, requesting they leave the door “open a crack, with the hall light on”. That sliver of light from the bedroom door was like the rope at the bottom of a hole: a way out.

Now I crave the dark. It’s a blanket I wrap myself in, and disappear. In the summer, the early dawns and late, light nights crackle and fizz in my mind, like mental fireworks, their fuses lit by northern daylight. I struggle to sleep. But I have a method: I fabricate darkness. Every night, I fashion a blindfold from an old bandana and wear it around my neck like I’m in an old western. When the first blades of light shoot into my mind, I pull the makeshift blindfold over my eyes. And sleep seeps back in.

Winter darkness is a welcome visitor. I slip into it every night, sigh, and sleep. Yes, the dark mornings are harder. But the warm light of a soft fire helps, the glow that blends into the black and takes the edge off the surrounding darkness.

I hear them outside later. It’s still dark. Little sounds mingling with my dreams.

They tug at my consciousness until I’m awake again. I lift my head from the pillow and immediately see an orange glow that suffuses the dark room. This is no shadow visitor—this is much, much worse.

Fire.

Rushing outside in my underwear, bare feet slipped into old, cold sneakers, I am suddenly face-to-face with the strangest thing: a beast of a blaze that is already consuming both my workshop and my studio. It grows exponentially, despite my ineffectual attempts with limp hose and panicked brain. Choking back lungfuls of smoke, I give in to the inevitability and helplessly watch the fire’s greedy consumption of the darkness.

Time passes, and shadows give way to sickly morning light, smoky and sad. It ends, finally. And cold rain falls. I’m alone, and a new darkness creeps in.

I am destined, this winter, to become a shadow myself, a slightly darker figure against the dark of the middle of the night. Look for me by the frozen lake, a baby wrapped inside my coat. I will be singing to it quietly, my breath ghostlike in the cold air. Silhouetted against the lightness of the ice and snow. I will cherish these moments as I’ve learned to cherish those dark times in my past.

There is much to fear, but I am not afraid of the dark anymore.

— Matt J. Simmons

Winter 2017-18

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FEATURED CONTRIBUTORS CURTIS CUNNINGHAM

DAVE QUINN

JOSEPH CRAWFORD

AMANDA FOLLETT HOSGOOD

Curtis Cunningham Curtis Cunningham is a freelance photographer from Smithers who enjoys using his camera to tell the story of the places he goes and the adventures he has. Visit photistry.com for more of his work, and follow along on his 2017/18 ski season at wonderfulworldofwhite.com.

Joseph Crawford Joseph Crawford is an outdoor and underwater photographer and filmmaker based on Haida Gwaii. Joe is inspired by the movement of water— rivers, surf breaks, tides, and open ocean. Joe aims to share his love for natural spaces by connecting viewers into these soul-feeding experiences.

His films have been screened at the Banff Mountain Film Festival, Air Canada In-Flight Entertainment, and The Explorers Club Film Festival.

See more of his work at braidfilms.com.

Dave Quinn Award-winning, Kimberley-based freelancer Dave Quinn uses boots, backpacks, kayaks, canoes, skis, and a keyboard to explore the interface between modern society and wilderness. His work as a wildlife biologist, wilderness guide, teacher, and outdoor educator have opened the door on a host of colourful BC tales. In addition to Northword, his work is showcased regularly by BC Mag, Westworld, Patagonia, Kootenay and Coast Mountain Culture Magazines, and Adventure Kayak, among others.

TANIA MILLEN

Amanda Follett Hosgood Amanda Follett Hosgood grew up in Ontario, but recently celebrated 20 years of living in small mountain towns in Western Canada. She began her journalism career as a reporter and assistant editor for community newspapers in Canmore and Banff, Alberta, and started writing for Northword when she first arrived in Smithers over a decade ago (after her initial plea for work landed her a delivery run to Vanderhoof). In the past five years, Amanda has built a house, gotten married and had a baby.

During naptimes, she blogs about her adventures at strawbaletales.com.

Tania Millen Tania Millen is a horse-crazy, mid-life adult who pursues adventures wherever they arise. From backyard explorations to four-legged journeys, offbeat experiences to mind-meaderings, everything’s a muse. She’s also an environmental scientist by training, wilderness expeditionist by choice, multi-book author for her self-esteem, and sometimes job holder by necessity. Read more at taniamillen.com.

Winter 2017-18

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FIRSTWORDS

Midori Campos is the Haida Gwaii coordinator for the BC Schizophrenia Society

STRENGTHENING FAMILIES

Mental health education for families comes to Haida Gwaii

as challenging for caregivers and family members as it is for the person experiencing the illness itself. According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, schizophrenia affects about one percent of Canadians, with a predominant age of onset between 18 and 25. Often misunderstood, it can be managed effectively if treated early. Education is key.

The British Columbia Schizophrenia Society (BCSS) is currently hosting the national education program, Strengthening Families Together, on Haida Gwaii. It’s the first time a program like this has been offered here.

Comprised of 10 sessions, it specifically targets family members, friends and caregivers of individuals with schizophrenia and other serious mental illnesses.

“I think the program is really important because it’s for the family members.” explains says Midori Campos, Haida Gwaii coordinator for BCSS. “Programs are usually catered to individuals with a mental illness, which is important, but families are left in the lurch.”

The free course provides participants with practical skills in communication techniques, coping mechanisms, and self-care. It also provides tools for navigating the mental health system and criminal justice system. Designed for multiple family member perspectives, the current program has five parents enrolled.

“There are pros and cons to having a bunch of different family positions,” says Campos. “We’re mainly focusing on the parent perspective this time.”

12 Winter 2017-18

Group sessions bring people together to share their lived experience. “No one is an expert at this,” says Campos. “Each person is the expert of their own situation and their own life.” The peer facilitation model, where participants who complete the program can return and pass on their knowledge and experiences, has proved successful in other locations.

While this is the first session on Haida Gwaii, there are plans to run two more sessions in early 2018, including one in Masset.

“As facilitators we can come in with techniques and

ideas, but really it’s the sharing of the family members’ experiences that we can learn from—that is what is really special. There is so much experience in the room,” says Campos.

If you’d like to learn more about Strengthening Families Together or need advice about resources for your loved one, and support for your family, contact Midori Campos. She is located at the Haida Gwaii General Hospital.

Visit bcss.org, email haidagwaii@bcss.org or call 778-361-0260.

— Allison Smith

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FIRSTWORDS

NO ROOM ON THE BUS

Bus transportation gets off to a bumpy start this school year

Amber Wells thinks for a

moment about the younger kids she watched board a school bus in Gitsegukla, only to find there was nowhere to sit.

“They looked kind of scared—or shy,” says the 13-year-old Hazelton Secondary student. She wasn’t the only one to notice: a friend sitting ahead of her saw the fear on the faces of the young children and suggested they give up their seats, wait for the next bus.

Three others joined them, leaving five vacant seats for the elementary school kids.

“I’d feel bad if they had to wait out there longer. They

already have to wait for our bus,” Amber says about the hour-long bus run that begins in Kitwanga and stops in Gitsegukla before continuing on to Hazelton.

Northern BC’s vast expanses have long presented challenges for travelling in the region: everything from treacherous road conditions to inadequate public transportation to the horrific stories of women who go missing trying to hitch a ride. For some parents in Coast Mountains School District 82, the start of the school year brought about a new worry: that public school buses couldn’t be relied upon to deliver their

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Amber arrives at her bus stop at 7:30 a.m. and gets home at 4:30 p.m.—sometimes later, depending on after-school activities. Several mornings this year, she gave up not just her seat, but the opportunity to arrive at school early, in time to prepare for the day, so that wide-eyed children, some in their earliest years of school, could have a space on the crowded bus that takes them to Majagaleehl Gali Aks Elementary School in Hazelton. Amber and her friends waited 15 minutes in Gitsegukla for the Gitanyow bus, which gets her to school right before the bell rings.

“It happened a few times (this year),” says the Grade 9 student, adding that the crowding issue appeared to have improved by early October. “We had the same problem last year, too. Sometimes they do three to a seat or someone would sit on someone’s lap.”

Mavis Banek knows all too well the challenges of living in a remote region like northern BC: “This is my life,” she says over the phone from a volleyball tournament in Smithers, more than an hour’s drive from her home in Gitsegukla. Earlier in the day, she was shuttling to her grandson’s hockey game.

Banek lives with her three grandchildren; the eldest is in high school while the two youngest, ages 7 and 10, attend Majagaleehl Gali Aks. In the winter, when it’s cold, Banek drives her grandchildren the one-kilometre distance to the school bus. This fall, she’s needed to stay and ensure they can get on the bus.

On several mornings, she says she saw five teens get

Winter 2017-18

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FIRSTWORDS

On several mornings, she says she saw five teens get off to make room for younger kids, indicating the bus was overbooked by at least as many spaces.

off to make room for younger kids, indicating the bus was overbooked by at least as many spaces. Between driving to school either her grandchildren or the teens who gave up their seats, she made the one-hour round trip to Hazelton an extra four or five times in September.

“I didn’t want any kids to feel like they had to give up their seat for my kids when I could drive them,” she says, applauding the teens. “Our bigger kids especially have just gotten up and given their seats to the younger kids.”

School board secretary treasurer Alanna Cameron says the recent busing issues were a result of attempting to streamline routes and eliminate inefficiencies: “We’re trying to fill the buses so they’re not running half full,” she says.

With footprints roughly 10 times size of their southern counterparts, northern school districts, such as Peace River North, have fought in recent years for increased busing resources. SD82 currently spends $2.2 million annually on transportation, with a single bus run costing between $65,000 and $100,000, depending on distance and trip duration, Cameron says.

Those funds come, in part, from a $550,000 Student Transportation Fund. The district also draws from its Unique District funding, which recognizes the challenges of being rural and remote, but isn’t specific to transportation.

The Unique District funding was expected to drop this year in conjunction with lower enrolment, Cameron says. Based on last year’s student numbers and the forecasted enrolment decreased, the district attempted to combine two runs into one. Unexpected enrolment put numbers beyond bus capacity and a second run has since been reinstated, she says. She adds that describing the buses as “overcrowded” would be inaccurate.

“We’ve never run a bus that had a greater number of students than what the bus allows,” she says. “In no case were kids unsafe or left on the side of the road.”

While she admits that the system is still being refined, Cameron says the issues appeared to have been resolved by early October. But even if there are enough spaces for the number of students, buses are still exceptionally full, Banek says. It makes for not just an uncomfortable, but a potentially dangerous trip for the youngest students, when bus drivers can’t adequately police their riders.

“It was really hard on the kids. My kids didn’t understand. They were saying, ‘Why are the buses so crowded?’” Banek says. “They really dislike it: ‘Oh, Granny, I don’t like getting on the bus—it’s just so crowded.’

“How does a grandparent support their child and those feelings?”

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A TERROR OF TYRANNOSAURS story by Jo Boxwell illustration by Facundo Gastiazoro

W

e drive across the W.A.C. Bennett Dam, the Williston Reservoir stretching out beside us. The immense blue landscape formed by the hydro project gives away nothing of its past.

Hidden beneath those still waters are the remains of traditional village sites and hunting grounds occupied by the Kwadacha and Tsay Keh Dene First Nations before they were forced out. Much of the area was forested at that time, but the trees weren’t removed during construction, and trunks have been known to shoot up to the surface of the reservoir like popped corks, finally freed from their rotting roots. Deeper down, at the very bottom of that lake lies a much, much older part of BC history, also sacrificed for the dam. Dinosaur tracks.

My partner and I park at a campsite along a forestry road beyond the dam.

We’re looking for another set of tracks we’ve been told are located along the banks of a nearby river. Under the hot sun, we scour the smooth bedrock for

16 Winter 2017-18

signs of prehistoric life. We walk back and forth for a while, scrutinizing every scratch and fissure. We begin to realize just how much history these rocks contain, pitted and stained by their exposure to the elements. Even so, we assume dinosaur footprints, the markings of colossal ancient beasts, would be hard to miss. The heat becomes uncomfortable; no shade falls across the river at this time of day, and we start to wonder if we’re in the right spot. We’re not about to attempt a river crossing, so we are forced to admit defeat. Our first try at locating dinosaur footprints is as unfruitful as staring out at that reservoir and expecting to see its prehistoric tracks burst up to the surface like rotten trees.

Our journey takes us on to Tumbler Ridge, and an opportunity to ask for some assistance. The town itself and a large swath of the surrounding area has been designated as a UNESCO Global Geopark for its paleontological significance, and their Dinosaur Discovery Gallery introduces us to the animals that once roamed this region. We sign up for the Wolverine Lantern

Tour, a nighttime viewing of a dinosaur trackway just outside the town.

Our small group gathers outside the museum as the night draws in. Our guide shows us casts of the types of prints we will be looking for, and we feel somewhat vindicated when he explains that the tracks aren’t always easy to spot, particularly when direct sunlight is beating down on the rocks. Though they do look distinctive, unlike the prints contemporary northern BC creatures might leave behind, they have also become quite well disguised in the crinkles and crevices of the rocks that have preserved them, and those that have been exposed for a long time are often quite faint. Darkness actually makes it easier to spot the tracks because the lantern light can be directed by our expert guide to help us see the ancient impressions.

We drive a short distance out of town and our eyes do what they can to adjust to f lickering torchlight as we navigate a narrow trail that leads down to the river. Our other senses become sharper when we can’t see much. All sorts of

sounds pop to the surface. Our instinctive uncertainty about being in the dark seems appropriate for viewing the remains of a species that included some of the fiercest predators to have ever roamed the earth. A heavy boot behind me trips over a protruding root, and the undergrowth rustles with the movements of birds or vermin. This is bear country, our guide reminds us, as if he wants to test our anxiety. The night carries its own eeriness, in spite of our bumbling group and the sense of security that comes from travelling in numbers.

When the trail opens up we find ourselves treading carefully on smooth bedrock, f lattened and cracked. Right beside us rushes the Wolverine River, tempting someone to take a careless step backwards and fall into it. We gather around to examine the ground beneath us. Our guide places his lantern on the rock and patiently points out its mysteries to our untrained eyes. It is not only dinosaur tracks he locates, but also the markings of ancient tree roots and worm casts, painting a broader picture of how this area used to look.

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a smaller relative of the Tyrannosaurus rex). The Tumbler Ridge trackway is also significant because it contains three sets of tyrannosaur tracks running together, suggesting that the iconic predators were pack hunters. The paleontologists decided to celebrate this discovery by coining a collective noun.

Should you ever need to put it in a sentence, the correct term for a pack of these particular beasts is a “terror” of tyrannosaurs.

The tracks revealed to us on our tour are given greater depth, thanks to our guide’s stories and his lantern light, and to see these prints in nature, beside an unremarkable stretch of river is surreal.

Dinosaurs somehow seem more familiar in movies than in our own backyard. When two boys made the first discovery of a dinosaur trackway in the area in 2000, it took some convincing and the help of a visiting paleontologist for the adults around them to take them seriously.

The boys made the discovery the same year one of the coal mines in the area shut down its operations and took half of the local population with it. Paleontology is not a dead subject in Tumbler Ridge; it is one of several economic diversification efforts they hope will stave off ghost town status for BC’s youngest community.

Multiple trackways, a “dinosaur highway”, bones, fossils and other ancient debris such as mammoth tusks have been discovered in northeastern BC by experts, passionate locals, and visitors alike. If you’re in the area, keep your eyes peeled, take a tour and don’t be afraid to venture out in the dark.

Who knows what the lantern light might reveal?

BC’S FIRST DINOSAUR SKULL The summer of 2017 was very busy for the volunteer-driven Tumbler Ridge Museum Foundation and its research arm, the Peace Region Palaeontology Research Centre (PRPRC).

The discovery that generated the most news was of British Columbia’s first dinosaur skull. Despite all the other dinosaur discoveries of the past decade, a skull had until now proved elusive. Ironically, the skull was found in rip-rap rock right beside the Lions Campground on Flatbed Creek, just outside of town. The discovery was made by a visiting chiropractor, Dr. Rick Lambert.

With the support of District of Tumbler Ridge staff, it became possible to work out where this rock had been quarried, and further dinosaur bones were then found at the site of origin. Our scientists continue their research on this skull, and have confirmed that it belongs to a tyrannosaurid dinosaur.

When our scientists examined the surrounding rocks they discovered an unusual track, probably made by a ceratopsian dinosaur (the first of its kind in BC and globally rare).

Peace Region residents with their eyes attuned to the potential for fossil discoveries continued to contribute invaluable information, with the resulting donation of important specimens. These included the first examples of Cretaceous marine reptiles: a mosasaur ankle bone and a plesiosaur neck bone.

For more info, visit trmf.ca.

— Dr. Charles Helm

p h o t o : s i m o n r a t c l i ff e

The prehistoric landscape that these dinosaurs wandered through explains why northeastern BC has become a paleontologist’s dream. This area was once very swampy; ideal conditions for capturing prints.

Our guide points out the toes and heel of a longdeparted creature, and then traces it back until his lantern light reveals the footstep that preceded it; another heel and set of toes the exact size and shape of the first, showing us the dinosaur’s stride and the direction it was travelling millions of years ago.

Paleontologists can gather a whole host of information from trackways because they are sites where multiple prints from the same dinosaur have been preserved. While our inexperienced eyes may see only outlines against the shadowy rock, experts can figure out details such as which species crossed the trackway first and the speed they were travelling at. Bones are fascinating finds, but they often get displaced over time, so where they are found is not necessarily indicative of where the creature lived or died. Tracks provide an insight into what these species were up to in this very location.

The dinosaurs that left their mark in Tumbler Ridge’s Flatbed Valley fall into three groups; ornithopods (wide-footed herbivores with stumpy toes), ankylosaurs (armoured herbivores that walked on all fours) and theropods (speedy meat eaters whose claws can often be seen at the ends of their toe prints). Tyrannosaurs are part of the theropod family, and while the diversity among dinosaur species is partly what makes them so fascinating, no discussion of these animals seems complete without mentioning that impressive hunter.

Tumbler Ridge is home to the world’s first discovered tyrannosaurid trackway, evidence that the brutal ancient predators once terrorized the north of our province (though the prints belong to

by boat photos by Joseph Crawford

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avalanches

photo: matt lucas

by Tania Millen

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photo: hatha callis

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crunch, scrunch, scrunch, crack. My head snaps up and my body goes rigid. I’m skiing uphill, the last in a line of four, when my body f loods with adrenaline, switching to high alert in a millisecond. A large slab of snow shatters into chunks and slides down the slope in front of me, along with three friends and my dog. Someone yells: “Avalanche!”

Helis and cats and sleds, oh my!

Our avalanche story ends well, but not all do. Those who choose to head out into northern BC’s mountains risk becoming an avalanche-related fatality. About ten occur in Canada every year—most in BC and Alberta.

Historically, heli-skiing was responsible for the majority of those deaths, but as snow science and industry safety evolved, fatalities decreased. Yvan Gaston Sabourin, a founding guide of Northern Escapes Heli Skiing, explains that current practices in the heli- and cat-skiing industry have changed significantly. He says in the old days guides were considered gods but now they make decisions together with their clients. “We discuss hazards throughout the day and how we’re mitigating them.” Digital terrain photos, a big-picture view of the entire winter’s weather, and daily observations are used to determine safe areas to ski. Runs are rated similar to ski hills: black diamonds, blue squares, and green circles. Crucially, guides are now trained to be aware of their own biases and the fallacies that are inherent in human decision making. They are also trained to work in teams that are structured to take advantage of each member’s strengths.

But as the heli-ski industry evolved and became safer, greater numbers of powder-chasers ducked ski hill boundaries to enjoy the slackcountry, and fatalities continued to increase.

Recently, the number of avalanche deaths in Canada appears to be f latlining, even though the number of skiers and snowboarders entering the backcountry is thought to be on the rise. The development of user-friendly transceivers and airbags and other gear, plus easy access to public education has helped. If heli skiing and cat skiing are safe, and recreational backcountry skiers and boarders are well equipped with knowledge and gear, there’s an obvious question that has to be asked: Who’s dying out there?

Currently, more than 50% of avalanche-related deaths in Canada are snowmobilers.

Terrace-based guide Hatha Callis has taught avalanche safety to snowmobilers, and feels they have unique challenges. “Areas that snowmobiles cover in an hour, would take skiers days,” he says. “That means sledders travel across different aspects and terrain features in a really short time frame, where there can be dramatic changes in snow stability that are invisible on the surface.” Callis also commented that it’s tough to communicate over the noise of snowmobiles, so group decision-making can be limited and someone yelling “avalanche” may go unheard. Additionally, where sledding is popular, the snow becomes compacted over the winter, creating a more stable snowpack. When sledders who normally play in popular areas venture into virgin terrain, the avalanche danger may be vastly different from what they’re used to, requiring a rapid shift in risk perception.

Risk vs. reward Risk is a slippery concept. Grant Statham is an alpinist, mountain guide, and an expert in the field of avalanche risk assessment. He explains in his TEDx Canmore talk, Risk: The Anatomy of Chance and Uncertainty, that risk is “the probability of loss and the probability of gain.” It’s a combination Winter 2017-18

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of the chance of something happening with the consequences if an event occurs. Statham says two factors can be used to adjust risk: vulnerability and exposure. Vulnerability is simply answering the question: What would happen to me if…? And exposure is a sliding scale of how much danger you’re in. Altering travel decisions to reduce either vulnerability or exposure reduces risk. However, there is always risk of being caught in an avalanche when travelling through avalanche terrain. Enjoying the backcountry means embracing risk—and the uncertainty that goes with it.

For people whose everyday lives have minimal risk of potential injury or death, understanding personal risk tolerance can be a radical idea.

Many experienced winter backcountry travellers already have some understanding of risk before they start backcountry skiing, snowboarding, or snowmobiling. Some had jobs where risk assessment was prevalent; others had participated in risky sports such as whitewater paddling, climbing, or paragliding. Most agree that avalanche risk assessment is more difficult and requires more education and ref lection, than risk assessment for other activities.

Changes in avalanche danger across a mountain bowl are invisible. One skier’s line is safe and the immediately adjacent line may trigger a slide. Negative feedback abounds. There’s no way of knowing after crossing a slope whether it was pure luck an avalanche wasn’t triggered or the result of intelligent decision-making. Heuristics—which are so helpful in other areas of our lives—muddy decision-making waters. Practical knowledge is one thing; knowing yourself, another entirely.

Sun Tzu wrote in The Art of War, “If you know your enemies and know yourself, you can win a hundred battles without a single loss. If you only know yourself, but not your opponent, you may win or may lose. If you know neither yourself nor your enemy, you will always endanger yourself.” Substitute “snow science and heuristics” for “enemy” and the importance of understanding personal risk tolerance becomes clear.

Although great risks can reap great rewards in business, relationships, and wilderness adventures, our society is very risk averse. Safety is emphasized ad nauseam. This safety-first mentality may reduce everyday accidents but it doesn’t help us understand our risk tolerance, and it certainly doesn’t encourage exploration of the edges of our desire for personal yeehaw and a healthy need for challenges.

Finding balance Sarah Panofsky, an avid outdoor adventurer based in Terrace, struggles to balance danger with adventure. “I love skiing and the movement of skiing through, on, over, and around amazing landscapes,” she says. “I love the feeling of thrill, adrenaline, focus, and connection. I’m drawn to big mountains, like to push myself, and have a strong desire to ski bigger lines.” Before taking up backcountry skiing, Panofsky was a rock climber. “When I started skiing the backcountry, I didn’t know what I didn’t know,” she

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says. “And didn’t really think about what I was willing to risk until after I’d had a few incidents.”

A few years ago, after a fresh storm, Panofsky started the day skiing by herself at Shames Mountain. At lunch, she met up with a group who wanted to ski the backcountry and as the sun came out in the afternoon, they were getting ready to dive into the north bowl for a second lap. “Although a plan was discussed, there was frenzied excitement about the great conditions, and the group ended up skiing off in all directions.” Panofsky was second-to-last and triggered an avalanche. “I was completely engulfed very quickly, lost my skis and poles, and my arms were pinned to my sides, so I couldn’t pull the trigger on my airbag,” she describes. “When the avalanche slowed down, I was close to the surface and had one arm free. I cleared the snow from my mouth while it stopped. Fortunately, there was a skier behind me who had seen the whole thing and he skied down and dug me out. I’d stopped at the top of a gully, and the avalanche had run a lot farther. It was a completely terrifying and very humbling experience.”

After that incident, Panofsky says she became very tentative. She pursued additional education, including the most advanced Canadian avalanche course for recreationalists (AST2) and now has a rigorous system for making decisions.

“I choose who I ski with, play an active role in group decisions, and have a realistic understanding of what I know.”

Panofsky’s experience and subsequent actions are not unusual. In 2013, Matt Lucas and three friends decided to upgrade their skills by taking a Companion Rescue Skills course. Two weeks later they were skiing Shames’ backcountry when they saw a group of four skiers caught in an avalanche. Three were buried. Using their recently acquired skills, Lucas’s group rescued all three skiers, a remarkable success story known as “Rescue at Cherry Bowl,” which is now used as a teaching tool by Avalanche Canada. Lucas was shaken by the incident and subsequently pursued additional education while ref lecting on his own risk tolerance. He now chooses to ski with select partners and makes careful, systematic decisions.

The chronology of how the skiers in these stories developed personifies the so-called Hero’s Journey, where a hero goes through stages: limited awareness, awareness of a need for change, near-death experience, acceptance of the consequences of a new reality, rededication, and, finally, mastery. Not everyone wants to experience a hero’s journey, especially the near-death part. But for some, the mystique of the mountains is worth the potential consequences.

Playing in the mountains provides elation that’s difficult to find elsewhere in life. But in seeking this elation, people can unintentionally and unknowingly expose themselves to higher risk. Much of risk management requires reconciliation of two very different concepts: risk as destroyer, and risk as creator. In the mountains, risk only exists as a growth force when there are potential negatives—because those negatives are the whetstone that sharpen the blade of extraordinary experiences.

MNEMONICS & MORE In 2002, after losing a friend to an avalanche, US researcher Ian McCammon investigated the human factors that influence the decisions of avalanche victims. His research concluded that there are six rules of thumb, or heuristics, humans use to make decisions in everyday life, but if those are applied to decision-making in avalanche terrain, they can be fatal. They’re known as FACETS: Familiarity, Acceptance, Consistency, Expert halo, Tracks (scarcity), and Social facilitation. They go like this: Ski it once and it must be the same the second time. Ski it because you’ll earn respect. Ski it because we’ve already made the plan and we’re sticking to it. Ski it because we’re following someone’s lead.

Ski it because it feels so good to make first tracks. Ski it because we all have the skills and we’re a crew.

Even just knowing the heuristics helps.

But it’s not enough. Enter the Avaluator.

Available as a double-sided card, it asks a series of questions that, when answered, provide a score. Chart the score on the other side and you get either caution, extra caution, or not recommended. Another good one is the mnemonic ALPTRUTH, which stands for Avalanches, Loading, Path, Terrain Trap, Rating, Unstable snow, and Thaw instability. When three or more of these clues are observed, avalanche hazard rises sharply.

Research into snow science is ongoing: how snow crystals, temperature, slope, wind, and other elements impact avalanche potential. Continued research into how human factors affect decision-making is underway by Simon Fraser University’s Research Chair in Risk Management, Pascal Haegeli, among others.

Want more information? Check out: Avalanche Canada Bear Mountaineering Canadian Avalanche Association Facebook groups: Backtalk, Bulkley Backcountry Ski Society, Prince George Backcountry Ski Conditions Hyland Backcountry Services Ltd. Little Cedar Services Northwest Avalanches Solutions Ltd. Skeena Valley Expeditions Windy.com

n i g h t b i r d s

photos: laskeek bay conservation society

by Dave Quinn

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een from the water, this island is like many of Haida Gwaii’s over 300 islands and islets. Its craggy foreshore gives way to wind-sculpted hemlock and cedar, which in turn protects a stunning core of wild coastal oldgrowth giants in the sheltered heart of the island. A study in contrasts, on these islands the soft verdant rainforest moss begins where cold igneous rock ends, and the heartless black-blue of the Pacific yearns to swallow the rich rotting red trunks of 1000-year-old trees returning to the forest floor.

The island has secrets, however. Secrets that are quiet through the day, and come spectacularly alive in one of nature’s true spectacles at night.

Our plan is to spend the night on this island with seabird researchers, to experience what happens here at night. The only hints of what’s to come are a not-toosubtle fishy smell around the entire coastline, and small, pathetic piles of feathers sprinkled across the entire rainforest floor of the island’s interior, like some nocturnal trolls have been pillow-fighting the spring nights away. A shocking number of dead eagles dot the island, crumpled talon-and-beak emperors returning to the mossy earth.

We reached the island via a difficult, rock-strewn channel. Only navigable by kayak above three-quarter tide, timing is everything with the Hecate Strait swell and windchop joining forces with the jagged rocks below to make us earn our landing. Our tents are set in a clearing. The rules: no lights, no fires, no tent guy lines, no gear left lying around.

As dusk approaches, a perceptible change comes over the wild coast tribe around us.

In the distance, rafts of small seabirds begin to gather, lines of black dots on a shimmering mercury sea. A patrol line of seals arrives, their shiny heads moving back and forth like an armada of tiny fishing vessels just offshore. A steady line of bald eagles wings from the larger islands out to the smaller islets, taking up posts in the broken, grey tops of snags around the islet’s perimeter. Even to the most dulled human senses, it is clear that something is about to happen.

Just before dark we head to another small clearing created by the introduced deer who keep the islands tended to a park-like undergrowth. The island is silent but for the squeaky laundry line imperatives of the eagles and the constant background wavewash concerto.

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seabirds, bouncing off branches and trees just as their prey do. This is the source of the dead raptors, as this tasty, abundant prey comes with a high risk of broken wings and necks.

Here be birds The prey is abundant, indeed. On that dark island, literally tens of thousands of pairs of pelagic seabirds, birds whose entire lives are spent on the ocean but for the imperative to find a dry spot to lay their eggs, crowd that spring night.

The outer coast’s fishy smell is from the fish-oildrenched Wilson’s and Leach’s storm petrels, rhinoceros and Cassin’s auklets, and shearwaters who make their nests under rocks and roots around the outer shore. These all incubate and hatch their young on land, the parents swapping feeding sessions, returning for the nightly trade-off with bellies full of herring and other small fish to feed their young until they are old enough to leave the nest and safely navigate the high seas. The unwise choice to walk the island perimeter

at night with a headlamp on would result in surprising these birds, who are drawn to light. The unfortunate result of surprising a petrel is that the petrel promptly vomits the entire contents of its stomach—partly digested fish and oil—all over the source of the surprise. Both the victim and the bird suffer unpleasant consequences.

The real stars of the nocturnal show here are the murrelets. Marbled murrelets are famous as the poster children of old-growth forest protection efforts.

Making their nests high in the mossy branches of oldgrowth trees, these birds are known to fly clear across Vancouver Island and Haida Gwaii from their wild West Coast feeding grounds to reach the sheltered, towering old-growth forests they need to build their nests.

But the miracles here on the ground are the ancient murrelets, named for their grizzled white feathers sprinkled like salt on a black pepper background. These birds, which only breed in Canada on Haida Gwaii’s offshore islands, spend their entire lives at sea, feeding

photo: dave quinn

Finally, after a long spring dusk, darkness.

We wait, ears straining.

Suddenly, a whirring, wing-whistle sound careens through the forest from the direction of the sea, ending with a soft thump on the mossy forest floor. Then another. And another.

The air is now filled with whirring from every direction. Soft thumps like cats falling from the sky fill the forest around us. And then the birds start calling, and the entire world comes alive with sawing noises, crrrcrrrs, squawks, and a cacophony of sounds to thrill the soul of a wilderness lover. Soft, silent shapes bounce along the forest floor, rolling inexorably towards the water like black and white bouncy balls on long legs.

These are chicks! Most are less than two days old.

Quiet cheeps rise up from their epic journey to the sea from their nest burrows far inland.

Suddenly, the rushing whoosh and whap of large birds flying madly through the forest, as a squadron of eagles dives in after the prey. Unbelievably, these huge predators fly headlong into the forest after the

Small, pathetic piles of feathers sprinkled across the entire rainforest floor of the island’s interior, like some nocturnal trolls have been pillowfighting the spring nights away.

far offshore. Like all members of the Alcidae (auk) family, these birds are designed more for life at sea than on land. They are solid little birds, with stout bodies and wings suited more to underwater flight in pursuit of prey than to their football-like trajectory in the air. They can fly straight and fast, but turning is not their forte.

These 200 to 250 gram birds lay eggs that weigh up to 45 grams, over 20 percent of their body weight. The first egg is laid in the nest burrow in early April, and left behind as the female returns to sea to feed and grow another 45-gram egg, which she lays in the same burrow six to seven days later. The first miracle: egg number one is left cold for a week then somehow magically comes back to life with incubation. Both eggs are then incubated alternately by the female and male, with one adult feeding offshore during the day, and returning to swap roles after dark. Chicks hatch a month later, two to three days apart. Miracle number two: chicks are born with adult-sized legs, which allows them to leave the burrow soon after they emerge from the egg. After dark, the parents call the chicks out of the burrow with calls that bond the family. The adults then fly out to sea, leaving the gangly chicks to stumble, bumble, roll, fall, and run up to a kilometre through rugged rainforest to the coast.

The chicks orient to star- and moon-light coming in through the trees at the coastline, downhill angles, and to the sound of the surf to reach their watery home. If they make it past the eagles, these tiny superstars reach the sea, where they must thread a gauntlet of hungry seals and fish waiting to gobble them up like popcorn, to somehow find their parents among tens of thousands of other birds bobbing around

in the stormy Hecate Strait. Straight-up marine miracle. If they survive and rendezvous with their parents, by dawn the family has swum together up to five nautical miles offshore, where the chicks begin their pelagic life.

Colony conservation Seabird colonies on over 200 islands and islets of the archipelago support over 1.5 million breeding seabirds each spring. Rankine Island, alone, an 800-metre-wide treed island off the east coast of Moresby Island, supports over 25,000 Cassin’s auklets, a similar number of ancient murrelets, and 14,000 storm petrels. A microarchipelago made up of Bolkus, George, Skincuttle, East Copper and a handful of smaller islets just north of Rankine supports over 60,000 pairs of breeding auklets, murrelets, storm petrels, and shearwaters. Together with non-breeding birds and chicks this 75-hectare island hosts a nightly party for well over 200,000 individual birds on any busy spring night.

Sadly, many of these nocturnal marvels of nature have fallen silent in recent decades. Introduced predators are the main culprit. Rats brought in with logging camps and ships, and raccoons introduced in the early 1900s for a fur-trapping industry find the burrowing seabirds easy prey. On Langara Island, which was likely once the most important seabird colony in the entire Haida Gwaii archipelago, a nesting colony of over 200,000 pairs of ancient murrelets was reduced to less than 15,000 pairs after black rats were introduced in the mid-1900s, and Norway rats Winter 2017-18

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just a fraction of what they once were, before the rats arrived.

The Haida have always known the secrets of the sea bird islands. Songs celebrated the return of SGin Xaana, the night birds, every spring. Adults were harvested using large fires along the coast to attract and distract the birds, and both eggs and adults were dug out of burrows.

Many in Haida Gwaii have always thought Laskeek Bay should have been included inside the island’s Gwaii Hanaas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Area. Located just north of the reserve’s northern boundary, Laskeek Bay is biological treasure whose waters teem with marine life, and whose islands and islets are important seabird nesting sites. The Laskeek Bay Conservation Society was formed in 1990 to

continue Canadian Wildlife Service researcher Dr. Tony Gaston’s long-term seabird studies in the region.

In addition to taking local school groups to its research basecamp on Limestone Island in the bay, the Society accepts volunteers to stay on-site and assist with their seabird and other marine life studies, which, 28 years in, are now some of the longest-running marine-life research programs.

These magical islands are best avoided completely during the April to June breeding seasons, as any light, noise, or human activity has negative impacts on the breeding birds. Volunteering with Laskeek Bay Conservation Society is the best way to experience firsthand the magic of the night birds.

photo: glenn bartley

appeared in 1981. At the same time five other species of seabird were completely wiped out. While rats and raccoons pose the main threat to burrow-nesting seabird colonies, human development also poses a threat. On Langara Island, a sport fishing lodge was built on the site of an important nesting colony, and noise and light pollution from other lodges also poses problems. The elephant in the ocean is the ever-present threat of an oil spill.

Ironically, a rat eradication project on Langara Island using rat poisoning techniques developed in New Zealand has been funded from the Nestucca Environmental Recovery Trust Fund, the result of a lawsuit after the Nestucca oil spill killed 50,000 wintering seabirds off Vancouver Island in the late 1980s. Seabird numbers are slowly rising on Langara, but are still

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TRAIL MAP

Skip Mountain words by Matt J. Simmons & map by Morgan Hite

Distance: 14 km return Elevation gain: 1180 m Trailhead: 443109E / 6009756N This is a serious peak and it offers one hell of a view from its summit. There are alpine lakes, countless minor summits and endless forests, creeks, rivers, and streams. The indefatigable Skeena River cuts a swath through the jagged mountainous terrain.

Haida Gwaii floats lazily in the ocean beyond the Hecate Strait. The Alaskan Panhandle dips down into Canada, almost touching our northern shores. Closer, there’s Work Channel, drifting its tidal waters inland to meet up with old dusty logging roads. Mount Hays, a tiny bump on a very big landscape, hides the coastal town of Prince Rupert from view.

Skip Mountain is a short scramble from the Skeena and arguably the best hike within half an hour from Rupert. There are two ways to access the summit: The first is directly opposite the Tyee viewpoint on the Skeena River, the point where the highway first descends down to meet the river if you’re coming from Rupert, or climbs up and away from it if you’re coming from Terrace. Park at the viewpoint and carefully cross the highway to access the old road. Follow the road to

its end and look for a flagged trail/route on the right. Follow the route up the long south-facing flank of the mountain into the open subalpine and eventually, to the alpine.

The second route, and the one depicted in the map, is 30.8 km from Galloway Rapids Bridge. Coming from Rupert, continue east past the Tyee viewpoint and along the Skeena River for roughly six km. There is a small quarry on the left. Park in the pullout and follow a very old overgrown road up the ridge. Once on the road, the route, though brushed in, is easy to follow. Eventually it leads to a subalpine bog where it’s wet in summer and icy in winter. Follow the flagging up into the alpine.

The trail leads to a spectacular lake, nestled into rocky ridges and towering cliffs.

From the trailhead to the lake is about five km. Technically, the trail ends here. To access the summit of Skip Mountain, scramble the ridge on the right-hand side of the lake (northern shore) for another two km. At the peak there is a summit cairn and an unforgettable view.

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The final push to the summit of Skip Mountain is worth every step.

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BackWords

books sherman alexie You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me, Little Brown, 2017

The best way to explain Sherman Alexie’s new memoir is to tell you about its eighteenth chapter. In it, he describes in terrible detail his propensity for dealing with grief by, well, visiting the little boys’ room. The book centres around the death of his mother, and this chapter ushers us into the close confines of the funeral home’s toilet as he handles his mother’s send-off, while taking care of his sadness in his own particular way.

“As I squatted on the old toilet, I wept for the first time since my mother died. And then I shat. I wept and shat. And, yes, I am famously gifted as a weeper and a shitter.” It is a moment simultaneously hilarious, disgusting, honest, and heartbreaking.

As is the rest of the book. Not only dealing with personal grief and loss, Alexie—a Spokane- Coeur d’Alene-American based in Seattle or, as he puts it, “an urban Indian”—writes about racism, reconciliation, addiction, poverty, love, and plenty more. Through it all, he unflinchingly reveals

himself to the reader, constantly questioning his motives and pointing out his own inconsistencies. A mixture of prose and poetry, the book covers a lot of ground, and a lot of history.

For those who don’t know Alexie already, start with The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, his 1993 collection of short stories that inspired the cult classic film Smoke Signals.

And when you’re done, read this one. So much in this book is relevant right now: to our communities, to our lives, and to our personal growth.

You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me should be a sad book. It isn’t. It’s a touching tribute. A cautionary tale. And a very, very funny read.

— Matt J. Simmons

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BACKWORDS

music kamasi washington

music destroyer

Harmony of Difference, Young Turks, 2017

Ken, Merge, 2017

Two years after the epic release of The Epic—a three hour critically acclaimed masterpiece—Kamasi Washington is back with a six song EP inspired by his sister’s art installation, showcasing all that is good in his interpretation and leadership of a modern jazz band.

Like in The Epic, Harmony of Difference takes you on a journey from soft whispers to a full on roar all in the span of 32 minutes. Those familiar with Kamasi will recognize the soaring melodies and song structures that are his style, and each song showcases a bit of something the others don’t. Rhythms change from jazz to disco to latin and back again, and solos get shared— even the cello player gets a moment to shine in this EP, and these solos will impress—this band doesn’t mess around.

Kamasi Washington, possibly the best tenor sax player out there, has assembled an amazing band, and has packed this EP full to the brim with a variety of instrumentation, unique arrangements, and melodies not found in most other current jazz offerings. This record won’t disappoint other than it’s short. Here’s looking forward to his upcoming 2018 sophomore album and hoping it’s at least a double LP.

There is something theatrical about Vancouver’s Destroyer, musical brainchild of Dan Bejar. His vocal delivery conjures the stage and the lush, complex compositions only serve to reinforce the feeling. Think soft horns, sweeping strings, and dramatic use of percussion. And yet, Bejar—a member of indie rock band, The New Pornographers—definitely has a rock n’ roll sensibility. Don’t let the band name deceive, though: this is no heavy metal outfit.

Bejar’s lyrics are thoughtful: “I couldn’t see, I was blind / Off in the corner, doing poet’s work / That’s alright for now / It was just a dream of your blue eyes”.

Like his 2015 release Poison Season, this album speaks to a sense of place and a mood. Ever spent time in Vancouver in the winter? Bejar obviously has.

There’s a reason Ken opens with a tune called “Sky is Grey”.

Pair this album with short, dark days, warm fires, and a nice vintage merlot.

— Matt J. Simmons

— David McTavish

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Two Sisters Cafe Food for life

Organic, locally sourced, fresh & delicious.

3763 4th Avenue, Smithers 250-877-7708 twosisterscafe.ca

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Studio and gallery

Professional repairs, rentals, and sales of violins, brass, and woodwind instruments

NOW OPEN Mon, Wed, and Thurs from 10am to 5pm. All other days/times by appointment. . Wheel-thrown and hand-built pottery made from stoneware and

Visit our website for a listing of local music instructors. Contact us if you are an instructor anywhere in northern BC and would like to be listed on our site.

porcelain (food, oven, and dishwasher safe) by Franziska Cody . Working studio where you can witness the pottery process . Custom orders, wedding registry . Artwork from local and international artisans

3877 13th Avenue, Smithers 250.847.0318 . michael@horncraft.ca horncraft.ca

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Skeena Landing

Experience the beauty of Prince Rupert’s waterfront. Our tastefully appointed guest rooms and warm hospitality of your hosts will make you feel at home.

Conveniently located minutes from Terrace, The Lodge is the perfect quiet getaway for any traveller. A few steps and you’re at the doors of great shops and an on-site restaurant. The recentlyrenovated Lodge ensures excellent comfort and a quality stay.

Short-term serviced and executive apartments available. Visit our website for online reservations.

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Roadhouse Smithers

Comfort food, well travelled

Vet to Pet Mobile Service Mobile veterinary services

NEW LOCATION: 8 to 5 and Saturdays 11-5 at 1283 Main Street in Smithers (in the corner, by Louise’s Kitchen). If you need a fast answer, please call or text. Caring for your pets for 36 years.

778.210.1883 vettopetinfo@gmail.com vettopetmobile.ca

Community Futures Nadina

Upscale casual restaurant serving internationally inspired comfort food, with a smile. Check out our delicious share plates, tapasstyle small plates and cocktails. Now open for dinner Sundays & Mondays and until midnight Thursday to Saturday.

Serving Burns Lake, Granisle, Houston, Smithers, Telkwa, Topley and area. Office open by appointment in Smithers now at 3876 Broadway Ave.

3711 Alfred Ave., Smithers Check roadhouse-smithers.com for hours & more info.

Find us on Facebook & Instagram

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Little House Antiques / Antiques, Artisans & Oddities Unique holiday gift shopping!

George Little House — VIA Rail Station

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Classic Indian cuisine Now open! Come join us!

Experience the beautiful tastes and aromas of southern India at Chef Abhi’s, at the Lodge at Skeena Landing, open for lunch and dinner Tuesday to Sunday.

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Lakeside Multiplex 110 Flogum Dr. Burns Lake, BC 250-692-3817 recreation.burnslake.ca

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#116, 1717 3rd Ave. Prince George, BC 250-981-1159 www.sunsetstudio.ca

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Whether you’re traveling for work or pleasure, keep your practice going! Drop in to any of these welcoming studios en route to stretch your body & stretch your horizons. Check their schedules for a chance to try something new.

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ORIGINAL INFOGRAPHIC by Jan Diehm for The Huffington Post SOURCES: Studies by University of Illinois, University of California at Los Angeles, University of Oslo, Colorado State University, University of Pennsylvania, Ball State University, Harvard University, Charité-University Medical Center, Boston University, West Virginia University, University College of Medical Sciences in new Delhi, Temple University, Dr. Loren Fishman, Alan Kristal of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Integral Health Clinic in India ILLUSTRATIONS: Shutterstock

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