The Jasper Local September 15, 2018

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Saturday, september 15, 2018 // ISSUE 129

BLUE VIEW // FROM MONKHEAD PEAK, JASPER’S JESSE MILNER LOOKS BACK FROM WHENCE HE CAME AFTER CANOEING DOWN MALIGNE LAKE ON A MISSION TO TACKLE 3,300 METRE MOUNT WARREN // PAUL ZIZKA

New hostel building set to begin assembly Things are a little less sleepy on Sleepy Hollow Road these days.

Hostelling International’s 157-bed facility has foundations poured and site-servicing is well underway. Over the next six weeks, 66 pre-built module units will be fitted together to form four different buildings including a three-storey lodge, two staff complexes and a maintenance building.

“We can’t wait to move forward,” said Alistair McLean, CEO of HI Canada Pacific Mountain Region.

The module units will come in drywalled, with

electricity and plumbing installed. Cranes will position the units into place.

The $11 million project has been in HI’s plans for more than a decade. Once complete, the current HI-Jasper, which is seven kilometres out of town on Whistler Road, will be decommissioned and the property will rehabilitated by Parks Canada.

Construction is currently on schedule. McLean said the grand opening is planned for late May. “This has been a long time coming for us,” he said. bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

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page A2 // the jasper local // issue 129 // saturday, September 15, 2018

editorial //

Local Vocal Looking for this? We hope so.

Sorry we kept you waiting.

The Jasper Local had a few issues with production this edition, namely: there wasn’t much of it.

September is always a slow news month, but it was more than there not being enough to report on which caused a lurch in our assembly line. To be honest, I had a case of the yips.

An affliction best known in the arena of competitive sports, athletes struck by the yips are suddenly unable to perform routine, on-field tasks.

Golfers chunk easy shots, baseball pitchers miss their target by 50 feet and basketball stars can’t hit a free throw to save their lives.

In my case, I was second guessing editorial decisions that should have been run-of-the-mill.

Which stories to pursue, how to cover issues which had already been given media attention and whether my opinions were worth a damn were questions I suddenly felt powerless to answer. The worst part was that the self-doubt was paralyzing.

I wasn’t getting any work accomplished, yet I wasn’t taking action—such as discussing the problem with a colleague, friend or loved one—to remedy the situation. Soon enough, I could feel the September 15 deadline slipping away.

Mercifully, over the weekend, I happened upon the story of Ben Nearingburg’s incredible achievement of ascending all 54 peaks in the Canadian Rockies taller than 11,000 feet. After hearing Ben describe bookending his mission with an 118 km, 11 day grind to find his way to and from the summit of remote Mount Tsar, I felt like I could—as a ball player might say—get back in the game.

What cured my case of the yips wasn’t simply being inspired by Ben’s (and Liam Harrap’s) expedition. Amazing as the story was (check it out on page B1), what really shook me out of my inertia was the reminder that there are people like these guys all throughout our community. Not all of them are hardy mountaineers, but there are folks at the top of their class when it comes to pursuing their passions and yet doing so with humility, grace and not a hint of braggadocio. It was in large part to seek out and celebrate these types of stories that The Jasper Local was created in the first place. Occasionally, I can forget that fact.

So please forgive our tardiness. As the leaves start to fall, we here at The Jasper Local are buoyed by the notion that the slower pace of autumn will allow us to get to know more of the lesser-known but notable stories of the people who call this community home. Hit me up if you can help. bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

Heart of a Lion On September 8, 2018, Jasper said goodbye to a remarkable gentlemen.

Helmut Kreiner was a dedicated servant to his community. This did not stop him from pursuing the things he loved. In fact, it was giving back to the places he called home which gave his extraordinary life so much meaning.

In 2008 I interviewed Helmut for The Elder Skinny, a publication run out of the Community Outreach Services office. I learned that the man who was a constant presence at the Lion’s Park, the

ski hill, the aquatic centre and residents’ doorsteps—fundraising with birthday calendar sales— had another life in another town before he made his indelible impact on this community.

Kreiner was a councillor, and then the mayor, of Whitecourt, Alberta.

He and his wife Gertraud fostered 21 children in addition to having four of their own. He invented and sold headlight protectors to travellers venturing north on the Alaska Highway before investing in the tourism industry here, where he would plant new roots in 1995. cont on A3...

The Jasper Local //

Jasper’s independent alternative newspaper 780.852.9474 • thejasperlocal.com • po box 2046, jasper ab, t0e 1e0

Published on the 1st and 15th of each month Editor / Publisher

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saturday, september 15, 2018 // issue 129 // the jasper local// page A3

Calling all caring canyon cleaners Sean Proctor cleans up nice.

Sure, he’s a scruffy-bearded Jasperite, but he has plans to help Maligne Canyon sparkle.

The local hiking guide is organizing a shoreline cleanup to help rid the gorge of garbage.

“You’d be surprised how much trash people throw there,” he said.

He would know. Proctor guides guests up and down Maligne Canyon’s steep trails most everyday. Before the winter sets in and he starts guiding ice walks there, he plans to pick it clean of litter. Call him proud of his surroundings.

“Of all the hikes around Jasper, this one gets the highest number of people and the most amount of garbage,” he said.

To remedy that, Proctor is partnering with Parks Canada and several other local guiding operations. The organizations will work with Vancouver-based Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup to document the debris they collect, contributing their part to the 57,200 kgs (and counting) of litter on 2,601 kms of Canadian shoreline collected thus far in 2018.

The clean-up day is scheduled for September 30. Interested volunteers should meet at the Maligne Canyon Teahouse at 9 a.m. or, if you can only join for a half-day, at 5th Bridge at 1 p.m.

WILD TRASH // JASPER’S SEAN PROCTOR IS INVITING MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC TO HELP CLEAN UP MALIGNE CANYON ON SEPT 30.

MEET AT THE TEAHOUSE AT 9 A.M. OR JOIN AT 5TH BRIDGE AT 1 P.M.// BOB COVEY

Parks Canada will provide the necessary gear: vests, pickers, gloves, etc.

“The plan is to cover as much ground as we can. Bring your friends!” he said.

Contact Proctor at info@jasperhikesandtours.ca for more information. bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

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Open house to address Pyramid Bench tree felling Parks Canada will provide details on fire hazard reduction on the Pyramid Bench at an October 2 open house.

Approximately 500 hectares of mountain

pine beetle affected forest west of Jasper is planned to be harvested starting sometime after October 8.

The operation will see mature pine and spruce trees selectively removed.

Douglas fir, aspen and trees in riparian and wetland

areas will be retained.

Parks Canada is inviting the public to stop by the Lobstick Lodge from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. to learn how the project will improve community wildfire protection. - BC

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When he arrived in Jasper, Helmut dove headlong into volunteerism. He filled sandbags, recycled waste paper from Canada Post and drove residents to medical appointments.

We’ll miss seeing his smiling (grimacing?) face

as he zipped around town on his e-bike. The next time you have the opportunity to volunteer your time, consider Helmut’s example.

He showed us what a positive impact such service can have on not just one’s community, but on one’s self, as well.

- Bob Covey

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page B1 // the jasper local // issue 129 // saturday, September 15, 2018

Local mountaineering //

Ben there, climbed that

LOCAL MOUNTAINEER FASTEST TO ALL 11,000 FOOT SUMMITS Jasper’s Ben Nearingburg has become the youngest member of the Canadian Rockies 11,000ers club.

Harrap had spent hours pouring over maps, satellite imagery and emailing every heli lodge, mountain guide and logging company in the area that might help ascertain whether or not their plan was even possible. In the end, the only conclusion they could draw was that they’d have to find out for themselves.

The 30-year-old has joined an exclusive list: those who have stood atop all 54 peaks higher than 3,353 metres (11,000 feet) in the Canadian Rockies. In accomplishing the feat in only five years, Nearingburg has done it faster than anyone before him.

Five years ago, after getting to the top of several of the peaks described in Alan Kane’s Scrambles in the “It’s still soaking in,” he said, two days after he returned from successfully ascending Tsar Mountain, Canadian Rockies, Nearingburg found himself on a solo trip on Banff National Park’s Mount Temple. a rugged, rarely climbed mountain in a seldom It was the first 11,000 foot peak he’d climbed and visited corner of British Columbia, approximately 20 although he was delighted with the accomplishment, kilometres west of the Columbia Icefields. far from his mind was the idea of someday checking Of all the 11,000 foot peaks on the list of 54, Tsar is off all 54 11,000 foot peaks in the Canadian Rockies. It the most remote. To access it by foot, Nearingburg wasn’t until he had a few more big mountains under (co-author of A Peakbagger’s Guide to the Canadian his belt, including Mount Clemenceau, the fourth Rockies) and his partner Liam Harrap (known in highest mountain in the Canadian Rockies, that the these pages for his 5,500 km ski/hike from Jasper to thought occurred to him that he might at some point rise above 11,000 feet on 54 different summits.

ONE OF MANY NUMBING RIVER CROSSINGS//SUPPLIED Because remote Clemenceau is known as one FOREST SPRITE OR PEAK-GNASHING BEAST?// BC of the most difficult peaks to access—and in part because he had done the trip with Harrap and Jake Alleyne during their Jasper to rock bands that ended in cliffs, they somehow had Mexico push—the idea began to take shape, he pieced together a route that brought them to the said.

Tsar Glacier. Between backtracking, bush whacking, tottering above no-fall zones and using a drone to Still, there are scout their way, they now had Tsar in their sights— 11,000 foot “We kind of agreed although just barely. A storm had pelted the area the we’re not done this trip peaks, and day before and the mountain was blanketed in snow. then there are

until we’re sitting in a car.”

ASCENDING THE TSAR GLACIER

the 11,000ers which have reputations for being especially fierce. These are the technically demanding, notoriously crumbly, difficult to access and dangerously glaciated peaks that ward off even the hardiest of mountaineers.

Each season Mount Alberta, Mount Robson and the north, south and middle towers of Mount Goodsir repel many experienced climbing teams. As such, once Nearingburg was able to check those peaks off his list in 2015 and 2016, he knew he could get serious about pursuing even the most elusive of the 54 summits.

“Until you’re confident enough to get through those, it’s not really worth talking about the other ones,” he said.

Because his name can be found in so many summit registries, Nearingburg has in short order gained a reputation as a confident, ambitious mountaineer. The list of people who have climbed all 54 11,000ers include Rockies legends such as Don Forest, Rick white knuckle paddling down the Kinbasket Collier, Bill Corbett and Nancy Hansen. But River exit. The entire 118 km trip took them 11 days. such accomplishments can be deceiving.

Nearingburg is not an alpha-male, testosterone-laden mountain man. In person he Mexico in 2014) walked for seven days. Along with comes across more of a forest sprite than the peaktheir food, camping and mountaineering equipment, gnashing beast his resumé suggests. Soft spoken the duo also carried pack rafts, with which they with gentle eyes and a scraggly beard, he gives a planned to make an aquatic exit from the distant area disarming little bow as he shakes hands. As a hiking via the turbulent Kinbasket River, which eventually guide and wildlife tour guide during the summer empties into Kinbasket Lake. and a ski patroller in the winter, he hardly exudes the While the trip’s incredible distance, punishing image of the extreme mountain shredder that can so elevation gains and losses, horrendous bush often crowd online climbing forums and social media whacking, complicated route finding, endless pages. Clearly, however, he has plenty of experience crevasse-dodging and nerve-racking river crossings lugging around heavy packs for extended tours in all presented their own unique difficulties, the most complex, mountainous terrain. stressful aspect about the trip, Nearingburg said, was not knowing if the route would “go.” With limited information about the area, not only were they unsure On the morning of the eighth day of their mission to climb Mount Tsar, rain pelted against if they’d be able to find a way to Tsar’s base camp Nearingburg and Harrap’s tent. To their amazement, from the Icefields Parkway, they also weren’t sure if the day before they had made it to the planned base they’d be able to make their exit, because as far as camp. Despite their intended approach into the they could tell no one had ever descended the 1,000 metre headwall that stood between the mountain and Sullivan Valley being cutoff multiple times by gaping crevasses, raging whitewater, too-steep canyons and the Kinbasket Reservoir. Together, Nearingburg and

Hours later, having navigated through a maze of crevasses, the pair were on a rocky spine, coined by previous climbers a “sidewalk in the sky.” For the first time in a week Nearingburg imagined they might make the summit. Later, kicking steps in waist deep snow, engulfed in a whiteout, that positivity was checked. But after delicately slithering over three snow-and-ice rolls which guarded the summit ridge, Nearingburg’s GPS chirped. They were at the top.

They were also behind schedule. A quick fog-encased selfie and they began the descent. It was not yet time to relax.

“We kind of agreed we’re not done this trip until we’re sitting in a car,” Nearingburg said.

Indeed there was a long way to go yet. The next day, a 1,000 metre headwall between them and the valley bottom constituted the pair’s first objective hazard.

This monolithic feature in fact represented yet another crux of the trip, and the two were elated when they discovered they could in fact work their way down the near-vertical moraine.

“It was as tenuous of terrain as either of us had travelled,” he said.

Not long after, Nearingburg and Harrap were at the valley floor. Finally, after nine days of carrying them, they were able to break out their pack rafts. But this would be no booze cruise. Once in the river, laden with 80 pounds of gear, the class two-plus whitewater pushed the paddlers to their limits.

“It was terrifying,” Nearingburg said.

After the fast water subsided, they were dealt another problem: both of their boats were damaged by rocks.

To avoid further compromising the rafts, they elected to walk. It was nice hiking, until is wasn’t. Their last push on foot was alternately thrashing through bush and picking their way through the water. By now it had been raining steadily for the last two days.

Soaked to the bone, they finally reached the lake. One last camp, some enthusiastic patch work for their boats and they set off into the reservoir. So close to the end, not even the whitecaps on the lake could dampen their spirits. Three hours of paddling later, Nearingburg and Harrap beached on the forestry road. Their pickup—Nearingburg’s girlfriend—was waiting for them with lunch and victory beers. Their Mount Tsar pilgrimage was complete. And so was Nearingburg’s quest for 54 11,000 foot peaks.

For a full trip report, visit Nearingburg’s website, www.benthereclimbedthat.com bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

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saturday, september 15, 2018 // issue 129 // the jasper local// page B2

Local trails //

“Historic” trail maintenance project sees volunteers tackle Great Divide Trail Through-hikers of the Great Divide Trail are applauding recent volunteer efforts in Jasper National Park to clear a severely overgrown section of Maligne Pass.

getting surprised by a grizzly bear. At certain points, Hagen said they were pushing through the wiry branches with their entire bodies.

“It was a frustrating bit of Besides being known as an historic section of trail,” she said. “The lack trail in JNP, Maligne Pass is part of the 1,100 of maintenance in the km GDT trail network which traverses the Maligne Valley Canadian Rockies felt unnecessary from Waterton and preventable, National Park to “If the park likes the and did not add Kakwa Provincial work we did and much positive Park, northwest continues to want to my GDT of Mount Robson. us to open up those experience.”

For years, up until meadows, we feel the this August, when Having said justification is there.” the Great Divide that, both Hagen Trail Association and Pickering—two of an estimated (GDTA) was granted 60 hikers who trekked the GDT this permission to clear the Trapper Creek summer—were elated when they learned area, Maligne Pass had seen little to no that last month, the GDTA got the green trail maintenance. Formerly designated as light to start clearing the trail near Trapper “decommissioned” by Parks Canada, the Creek campground. It took a full year for the status has since been updated to “abandoned,” paperwork to go through, but on August 11, meaning existing trail infrastructure will together with the Jasper Trails Alliance and not be removed, but no maintenance will be the Friends of Jasper National Park, GDTA performed. volunteers hacked, snipped and chopped willows for a full day. Despite the 17 hardy In July, GDT through-hikers Jake Pickering souls busting their humps, their work only and Mandy Hagen had been anticipating amounted to 200 metres of cleared trail. some unpleasant walking as they made their way north of Poboctan Pass, but still “It was the tip of the iceberg,” said Brad Vaillancourt, director of the GDTA. “If the park likes the work we did and continues to want us to open up those meadows, we feel the justification is there.”

JOCELYN WOOD WAS ONE OF 17 VOLUNTEERS WHO HELPED CLEAR WILLOWS NEAR TRAPPER CREEK. THE GREAT DIVIDE TRAIL ASSOCIATION SPURRED THE WORK BEE.. BELOW, A GLIMPSE OF TOUGH TRAIL CONDITIONS. // SUPPLIED

weren’t prepared for what they ran into.

Sharp, stiff, hip-to-head-high willows and dwarf birch scratched their legs and grabbed at their packs. For kilometres, the trail was completed obscured—posing not just potential navigational challenges, but tripping hazards, not to mention increasing their chances of

CATARACT PASS, JNP. ONE OF THE MOST SPECTACULAR SECTIONS OF THE GTD TRAIL.

Canada, and the entire Te Araroa Trail, a 3,000 km hike from the tip of New Zealand’s North Island to the bottom of the South Island. “This was 159 per cent harder than any day I have had on a trail so far.”

Although the horrible travel in Howse or Maligne passes didn’t dissuade Winter and her GDT partner from carrying on, Vaillancourt says such experiences can put an unfortunate blemish on the trip for others. After all, the point of the GDT is to help connect people with nature, not make them hate it.

Valliancourt and the through-hikers are hopeful that more partnerships for improving the GDT in the national parks can be formed,

The GDTA was granted permission to clear roughly 6.5 kilometres of trail in the Trapper Creek area, unfortunately, heavy rain spoilt the group’s plans for a second day of volunteer work. Still, the work they did achieve was, in Vaillancourt’s eyes, “historic.”

“For two non-profit trail organizations to go in and do this type of work is significant,” he said.

Maligne Pass isn’t the only section of the Great Divide Trail that’s notoriously gnarly. Through-hikers who make it out of the Howse Pass section, from Conway Creek to the Glacier Lake trail junction, in Banff National Park, tell tales of hundreds of windfallen trees, dangerous river crossings and thick, unrelenting overgrowth.

“The forest grew thick and brutal as it cut more into our skin and our souls,” blogged Nicola Winter, a GDT hiker who has done the 4,260 km Pacific Coast Trail, the 5,000 km Continental Divide Trail from Mexico to

so that one day, more people will be able to experience the magic of the wilderness.

“People won’t care about something they haven’t experienced,” he said.

“And once they care about it they will want to protect it.” bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

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page b3+B4 // the jasper local // issue 129 // saturday, september 15, 2018

FEATURE // PHOTOS BY SIMONE HEINRICH

RUT RA

These guys don THE ELK RUT, WHICH PEAKS FROM MID SEPTEMBER TO MID OCTOBER, IS OFFICIALLY ON. If you couldn’t tell from all the bugling, this is a time when the bulls are vying for the hearts of their female counterparts.

Dominant bulls will defend their harems—which can be comprised of 20 cows or more—from competing bulls and predators. For wildlife watchers, it is an entertaining time of year, to say the least.

Disputes between elk are common— such as when the randiest of bulls aggressively fight off others males which are attempting to sneak up on the harem— but the testosteronefueled behavior doesn’t necessarily stay within their species. Bulls are known to charge people and vehicles.

Unless you have a death wish, coming between them and their harem is a big no-no and as multiple videos have demonstrated in the past few weeks, it’s just not worth the selfie.

One evening this week photographer Simone Heinrich was watching a bull elk with his harem on a stretch close to a river crossing.

There were a few smaller bulls around who tried to sneak in on his females without success—the big guy spotted and chased the intruders immediately. After sniffing around his harem and showing off his highpitched bugle (if you’ve never heard

it, it’s bizarrely beautiful), his harem began to cross the river.

“You could see him getting agitated,

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AMPAGE

n’t take no bull not letting them out of his sight,” Heinrich said.

When almost all of the females had

crossed, the bull herded the two cows that were left in the same direction.

Finally, he jumped in the river

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himself, thrashing his way across the river to be with his gals.

“It was pretty awesome to watch him cross the river that fast,” Heinrich said.

A bit further away from where Heinrich was shooting, she could see a group of young bulls trying to establish dominance over one another.

They snorted and sniffed, bugled and bucked. They aren’t quite in the Grad Class of 2018 yet, but soon enough they’ll be the challengers to the current champ.

bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

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page B5 // the jasper local // issue 129 // saturday, September 15, 2018

fall snaps //

(CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT): ARTIST SATOKO NAITO (RICO) AND AUTHOR LIZ OLSEN WERE SIGNING COPIES OF THEIR NEW CHILDREN’S BOOK, CINNAMON BEAR COMES TO TOWN, PUBLISHED THROUGH THE JASPER COMMUNITY TEAM, AT THE JASPER LIBRARY AND CULTURAL CENTRE SEPTEMBER 17. (BOB COVEY) // MOUNTAIN FAERY BROOKE CARTEN JUMPS FOR JOY WHILE TREKKING A SNOW-BLANKETED DISCOVERY TRAIL (NICOLE COVEY) // ANGLER JOE CUNNINGHAM ANCHORS UP NEAR HIDDEN COVE ON MALGINE LAKE (BOB COVEY) // JASPER GENTLEMAN QUINTA ODORIZZI SIGNALS FOR A LEFT HAND TURN DURING AN ALL-DAY SNOW STORM ON SEPTEMBER 13.

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local arts //

saturday, september 15, 2018 // issue 129 // the jasper local// page B6

Great tunes, good peeps and mountain vistas PHOTOS BY: CHRIS TOBIAS

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