The Jasper Local February 15, 2019

a lt e r n at i v e +

LOCAL + independent

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thejasperlocal.com

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friday, february 15, 2019 // ISSUE 139

JASPER NATIONAL PARKOUR// ARIEL CADORET-LANGLEY SLIDES EVER SO GENTLY DOWN A SNOW COVERED ROCK FEATURE AS MILO MICHAUD WORKS OUT HIS OWN PROJECT DURING A BACKYARD SESSION NEAR CABIN CREEK // BOB COVEY

Beloved cross country ski event to be resurrected The Jasper Caribou Loppet is making a comeback.

Not the caribou, unfortunately. Just the loppet.

A loppet is a long distance cross country ski race. The first ever Jasper Nordic Fest will resurrect the popular event and also add classic and skate ski events, snowshoe and nordic trail running races, plus a free family fun ski.

“This is a multi-day sport festival that we think is destined to become a premier loppet and sport festival,” said Trevor Soll of MultiSportsCanada, the organization which develops and manages mass participation sporting events across western Canada.

MultiSportsCanada brings the Jasper Half Marathon, the Jasper Gran Fondo and most recently, the Monsters and Miles events to this community.

Jasper Nordic Fest will take place March 9-10 at the newly developed trails at Athabasca Falls and Whirlpool Hub. “The locations are some of the most beautiful parts of the world,” Soll says. “We hope that this event will attract skiers and athletes from across Western Canada.”

The festival is excited to partner with the Jasper Yellowhead Historical Society for the weekend. Soll says the fundraising target for the JYHS is $5,000.

The historical society will be responsible for providing the bulk of the volunteers.

The event features competitive events for racers, leisurely skiers, families and kids.

Registration is now open. Go to jaspernordicfest.ca to sign up. bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

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page A2 // the jasper local // issue 139 // friday, february 15, 2019

editorial //

Local Vocal Does Jasper look good in winter white or what?

You’d think we were a proper ski town or something.

But….are we?

Even if USA Today readers were right in naming Jasper North America’s best ski town, it has to be said: Jasper National Park is anything but a ski destination.

Don’t get me wrong, I loves me some Marmot Basin, but if we’re talking about places in the world where you can swoosh down snow covered peaks, find your glide across a gamut of groomed trails and head for the white horizon wherever your heart desires, we hardly make the cut.

Don’t believe me? Check out Parks Canada’s online list of suggested alpine ski trips. Of the 11 options cited, four are in Banff, one is closed until March, two open mid-Feburary (one of which is 32 km from the road) and two are essentially mountaineering expeditions in class three (complex) avalanche terrain. That leaves two “official” JNP ski touring destination open to skiers during the entire winter: the Mount Churchill Slide Paths and Surprise Creek, on the east side of the Maligne Road. These spots have some rideable terrain, sure, but they’re hardly destinations to base a ski trip on.

This reality was brought to light a month or so ago when members of a Facebook forum based in Calgary were inquiring as to the best backcountry skiing in Jasper. They knew about Parker’s Ridge, Hilda Peak and Nigel Basin (again, technically in Banff). The Surprise Creek area had about a foot of snow and the Churchill Slide Paths were covered in, you guessed it, slides.

Cue the crickets.

That Jasper is short on backcountry ski options since caribou conservation measures took effect isn’t news, of course, but six years after those ropes went up, there has been a steady whittling down of ski alternatives. Parks promised users that there would be gains to make up for the losses but consider the ski amenities we had just a few years ago which no longer exist: a winter hub at Decoigne; an undulating, “expert” cross country track near Marmot Meadows; and grooming on the Geraldine Lakes and Edith Cavell Roads. These options may not have been the perfect solution, but the fact that backcountry skiing—with all of its rich human history in these parts—seems to be slipping from the agency’s radar completely is disheartening.

Those who don’t ride will find little sympathy for these sentiments but for those of us whose passion involves skiing up and sliding down a snow covered slope, every so often it hurts to think about all that was lost and what little was gained. bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

Speak up against wildlife poisoning Dear Editor, Until February 18, Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency is seeking public input about the future use of Strychnine, Compound 1080 and Sodium Cyanide.

These toxins are used to kill wolves in the name of caribou protection.

Alberta is one of the last places this inhumane way of killing is still allowed.

Wolves, coyotes and many other nontarget species die in horrendous pain and are afflicted with long term suffering.

Bones can break and muscles tear with the spasms and powerful contractions suffered by the animal.

We have a chance to stop the use of this horrendous poison.

When this poison is put into baited carcasses it kills all the other species

that may eat the meat. These animals then also become poison bait for the next animal/bird to eat them. The cycle continues.

This inhumanity to our wildlife has to stop. Please speak up and flood this government with our impassioned pleas to stop this from happening in Canada.

Currently, poison-baited moose carcasses are being put out to kill wolves.

Two hundred moose have been killed over the years just to bait with poison.

More than 1,000 wolves have died from aerial shootings, snares and poison use here in Alberta.

Don’t miss this critical chance to VoiceIn as part of a growing collective against poisoning wildlife! Comment at www. wolfawareness.org/poison-comment - Art Jackson, Jasper

The Jasper Local //

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// local community

friday, february 15, 2019 // issue 139 // the jasper local// page A3

THE JASPER IMMIGRATION COALITION HAS PARTNERED WITH THE JASPER LOCAL TO PRODUCE A SERIES OF PROFILES OF NEW CANADIANS IN THE COMMUNITY. THE JASPER IMMIGRATION COALITION IS A GOVERNMENT OF CANADA-FUNDED PROJECT THAT AIMS TO HELP IMPROVE OUR COMMUNITY’S CAPACITY TO WELCOME NEW CANADIANS WHO MAKE THEIR HOME HERE. MEET YOUR NEIGHBOUR, AND NEXT TIME YOU SEE THEM, SAY HELLO!

What’s your name? Eva Wawrzaczova How long have you lived in Jasper?

2 years Where did you live before you came here?

Texas.

Excuse me? Yes, Texas!

After my first year here, I had to leave the country, so I went home, but I missed Jasper and wanted to travel. I wanted to find a place that would feel like Jasper, so I went to Texas to work as an au pair (domestic assistant).

After five months, I came back to Jasper.

What’s your first memory of being in Jasper?

I came from Calgary on the bus and when I got to Jasper the bus driver dropped me at the train station. I showed him the address and he told me I could walk there, but I had no idea which direction! I was standing on the street wondering who I could ask when I saw a woman with her daughter. I thought she would be safe to ask. She offered to drive me to the address and gave me her Facebook.

Since that time, we have been friends.

They’re like a second family!

Was there anything that surprised you about Jasper?

Mountains. I never saw mountains like that.

They’re huge!

Are you more of a winter or a summer person?

Summer. Because I can be outside all day enjoying hiking and biking.

NICE TO MEET YOU EVA WAWRZACZOVA!

Since coming here, have you tried anything new?

Yeah! I never hiked back home. Because we don’t have mountains like this. When I came here, my friends said, “let’s do Pyramid Mountain” and I thought they were talking about Signal! My first hike was up Pyramid Mountain and I thought I would die! But it was a bluebird day and I fell in love. Since then, I hike a lot. I cannot explain how good a feeling it is to be on the top and see the view!

That’s s an ambitious first hike! How did you follow it up?

I went camping at Pobokton. My friend who was planning to go with me got hurt while hiking and the doctors told him not to go, but we went anyway. It was so nice. We met people from all over the world. We met two guys from California who were making a photo series with a small toy (prop) and “cool people” they met. Thy were walking from Jasper to Banff. It was nice because during that time there was no fires, no smoke.

Sounds like a lot of fun, Eva. Nice to meet you!

For more information about the Jasper Immigration Coalition, contact Doug Olthof at dolthof@ jaspercommunityteam.ca

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page B1 // the jasper local // issue 139 // friday, february 15, 2019

Local business //

Before she rose, Jasper baker started from scratch Before she bought the Bear’s Paw Bakery, the only thing Kim Stark had ever baked was a batch of chocolate chip cookies.

But in 2002, when she and her thenpartner decided they wanted to live in Jasper and own a business, never having baked from scratch before didn’t seem like a particularly big hurdle.

“I thought when you bought a business, you hired employees and they did the work,” she said. “How hard could that be?”

Turns out, really freaking hard.

No days off for months. 26 hour shifts. Staff shortages. An economic downturn. It didn’t matter. Stark was committed. She wasn’t just learning a new trade but also the minutia of operating a business. She gave it everything she had, because that was her only option.

“I learned if you want to be successful in something you’ve invested your hopes and dreams in, you have to put everything into it,” she said.

Seventeen years later, that hard work has paid off. Stark is the owner of not one but two successful bakeries (The Other Paw was established in 2007).

She employs more than two dozen staff throughout the year and after being recognized by her peers as the Jasper Park Chamber’s Business of the Year this past October, Stark was recently declared a finalist for the Alberta Chamber of Commerce’s Business Awards of Distinction.

“It was a surprise,” she said. “I was like ‘how did that happen?’”

On the surface, her success may indeed seem unlikely. She is, after all, a vegetarian who makes sausage rolls.

She can’t stand white chocolate, yet her signature treat is the raspberrywhite chocolate scone. And despite having installed one of the first commercial cappuccino machines in Jasper, Stark doesn’t even drink coffee.

“I drink hot water,” she shrugs.

To those who know her, however, her outcomes aren’t surprising at all. This is, after all, a woman who recently finished the UTMB, the world summit of ultra marathons, a 171 kilometre, 10,000 metre elevation gain, single stage mountain race based around Chamonix, France. Nine years ago, she could hardly run three kilometres.

“I’m not a quitter,” she laughs.

She could have been. She could have quit in 2007, before her business qualified for the federal government’s temporary foreign worker program and she was able to hire sufficient staff. She could have refused to make wedding cakes—a skill she didn’t possess—instead of travelling to Chicago for a two week master’s course to learn the craft. And when the economy was in the toilet she certainly could have pulled her sponsorship from one of several of the charities she supports (speaking of which: The Polar Dip runs February 17, 12 p.m. at Lake Annette). But quitting is not part of Stark’s makeup. She’s goal-oriented.

She’s driven. Even in the winter, when business is slow and both bakeries are fully staffed and she could easily stay home and spend the day walking the

JASPER COMMUNITY HOUSING UPDATE The Development of Affordable Housing in the Community of Jasper.

FLOUR POWER // KIM STARK FROM THE BEAR’S PAW BAKERY HAS BEEN DELCARED A FINALIST FOR THE ALBERTA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE’S BUSINESS AWARDS OF DISTINCTION. // BOB COVEY

Stark remembers being in an airport dog or planning her next trip, she’d (back when the shop used to close in rather keep busy at work.

“I don’t want to keep doing a job if I’m November) and seeing the writeup. no longer excited about it,” she said.

“That was huge,” she says.

Her passion shows. Quite literally, in The publicity was great, however, fact. When she designed The Other Stark will always come back to one Paw, she decided to create an open ingredient which has determined the kitchen so people could see the staff at success of her bakeries: the staff. Some work. of her em“People love ployees to watch the have been “I learned if you want to be successful baking, that with her in something you’ve invested your hand-shaped for nine hopes and dreams in, you have to put artisan feel,” years. She everything into it.” she says. has loved Putting her to get high stanto know dards on disthem, to play has created a culture in her cafés. see them grow.

At least two regular “coffee klatches,” “They’re not just people I work with, one for men and one for women (rethey’re family,” she said. tired locals, for the most part), show up As she says this, one of her senior to the Bear Paw every day, in varying employees clocks in for her shift. Stark numbers. tells her she’s thinking of redecorating.

And then there are the visitors. The “Take a look at some of the hangings Bear’s Paw has always had a regional and let me know what you think following and the smell of sticky buns should stay and what should go,” Stark surely lures plenty of first-timers says. “Be honest. I can take it.” through the doors, but ever since O, You bet she can.

The Oprah Magazine said The Bear’s Paw is a must-stop in Jasper, the Bob Covey//bob@thejasperlocal. line-ups have been that much longer. com

COME TO LEARN MORE about the proposed housing project from the Jasper Community Housing Corporation.

Provide your feedback on the work completed to date and learn more about the next steps.

Tuesday, February 26th 2019 Jasper Library Basement Presentation starts at 6:00 PM followed by roundtable discussions until approx. 9:00 PM

Coffee & snacks provided This session is being hosted by the Jasper Community Housing Corporation and facilitated by the Alberta Rural Development Network.

The goal of this consultation is to gather feedback from the community of Jasper on the consultations conducted to date, and the next steps planned for the proposed project.

NO AUTOGRAPHS, PLEASE // SOMEHOW, OPRAH MAGAZINE DIDN’T MENTION THESE GENTS WHEN THE BEAR’S PAW BAKERY WAS FEATURED AS A MUST-STOP IN JASPER IN 2008. LOCAL COFFEE KLATCH CULTURE AT THE PAW IS AS STRONG AS THE BREW. // B COVEY

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friday, february 15, 2019 // issue 139 // the jasper local// page B2

Local beer //

The light at the end of the tankard SEARCHING FOR MEANING AT THE CRAFT BEER AND BARLEY SUMMIT I’m a beer dork.

Not a beer geek, mind you—that would require knowing something about the beer brewing process. I’d need to learn about different fermentation vessels and particular yeast strains, for example. Or at least know what a mash is.

Being a beer dork simply means I like to drink different, dorky beer.

Milkshake IPA? Sounds sweet. Oyster stout? Shuck yes. Pickle sour?

Brine not? Even if I don’t always fall in love with these strange brews, I certainly enjoy the tasting and trying of unorthodox creations.

But after taking a month off the sauce in January, by February 1, when the Craft Beer and Barley Summit set up at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge for the second year, I wasn’t yet ready to give my palate such a weird workout. I didn’t want my brew to be hickory smoked, bourbon aged or jalapeño infused. I just wanted a beer.

All of this was just fine for my festival buddy, Pete. For one thing, Pete’s taste buds aren’t as beer-curious as my own—he’s not dying to try the hoppiest trends in hipsterville. For another, he’s diabetic. If he puts too much sugar in his body, say, in the form of a mega-malty coffee porter or a super strong double bock, he’s putting his health at risk. Our plan, then, was to avoid the lure of the most brazen beers and instead turn our attention to the unsung studs on which the entire beer industry has been built. We called it: Operation Lager.

Fast-walking down to the Jasper Brewing Co. to catch a shuttle to the JPL, Pete and I were arm swinging like two soccer moms talking about their a-hole bosses. Our hurried pace betrayed the fact that we were leaving the kids with the wives and could hardly wait to take that first sip. Did I mention I hadn’t touched a beer in a month?

Staying true to our mission, while we waited for the bus, Pete asked the barman at the pub for a Crisp Pils, his go-to light lager from Jasper Brewing. I, being the self-professed beer savant, was immediately sucked into trying the Brew Pub’s latest creation, an east coast style IPA. I was disappointed in the beer’s lack of haziness, while Pete was disappointed in my lack of commitment to our cause. I promised I’d try harder.

When we arrived at the lodge, we were immediately greeted by the folks from Apex Predator Brewing, out of Edson. These folks have made a big splash in the strong beer world, and again I felt the irresistible siren song of a full bodied ale steering me off course. Thankfully (because

after a month off the booze my alcohol tolerance was lower than a teenager’s), they were showcasing their amber lager, an authentic Czech-style beer that tastes lighter than it looks.

With a fair bit of caramel and a maltiness, however, we figured this beer qualified as more of a welterweight than a lightweight.

We thanked our hosts and made our way into the grand ballroom, on the hunt for our proverbial Manny Pacquiao.

For the second year in a row, the Jasper Craft Beer and Barley Summit saw a dozen or so breweries and product representatives from across Alberta brave brutal winter roads to set up two nights of beer tasting booths adjacent to a bonanza of pub food, prime rib and oversized parlour games. During the day, beer-themed seminars and high profile guest speakers quenched guests’ thirst for industry knowledge. At night, it was a spectacle of sampling. Patrons had the option of ponying up for a all-weekend beer geek extravaganza with an added-on

STEADY NOW //OVERSIZED PARLOUR GAMES EQUAL OVERSIZED FUN// BC

“During the day, beerthemed seminars and high profile guest speakers quenched guests’ thirst for industry knowledge.”

JUST HOPPY TO BE HERE // LOCAL LIGHT BEER DRINKER PETE SCOTT SAMPING THE GOODS FROM BOW RIVER BREWING//BOB COVEY

Superbowl event, or they could do as Pete and I did and poke our heads in for one night of the party.

After trying a half dozen lighter beers, such as the Hay City wheat ale from Olds College Brewery (clean with coriander), the Juniper Bock from Folding Mountain (bold, piney) and the Dirty Bird Black Lager from Last Best (roast-forward, dry), Pete and I were still on the hunt for that perfect, pale pint. We’d been to most of the sampling stands when we discovered, at the very back of the room, the guys from Legend Seven.

Legend Seven’s branding emits a very Game of Thrones-type vibe. In a beer world oversaturated with goofy puns and spartan, minimalistic labels, Legend Seven’s art is simply spellbinding. Although my inner beer dork desperately wanted to try the Temptation IPA, sticking with the game plan meant asking for the Serpens Pilsner. It turned out to be a very good move.

Serpens Pilsner is the beer your Molson Canadian-swilling dad,

PINT TIME = A GOOD TIME // OBLIGATORY BEARD PHOTO OP // B COVEY

your radler-sipping wife, your triple IPA-swishing brother-in-law and your Guinness-drinking grandma can agree on. It’s crisp, it’s smooth and it’s nuanced. It has just enough body and mouth feel to give beer snobs something to write about in their tasting journal, yet is light and refreshing enough to warrant chucking a sixer in the golf bag.

As Pete placed a mug of this prizewinning beer (Gold Medal: 2018 World Beer Awards) up to his lips, his eyebrows arched knowingly.

Here, finally, was the light lager we were looking for. Milkshake IPA dorks, eat your heart out. bob covey //

bob@thejasperlocal.com

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page b3+B4 // the jasper local // issue 139 // friday, february 15, 2019

FEATURE // STORY AND PHOTOS BY BOB COVEY

When a foot of snow fell on Jasper February 1, Ross Derksen figured he was in for a long week.

Then the temperature plummeted and Derksen, the Municipality of Jasper’s Operations Service Manager, knew he was in for a long week.

He was right. Thanks to the cold, not only did the new snow turn Jasper’s streets into solid ice, but the machines the town would normally use to dig its residents out were freezing up. Moreover, the arctic temperatures left Derksen’s crew, his contractors and the taxpayers who were waiting for their streets to be cleared with that much less patience. Although he wouldn’t put it that way.

“People are pretty understanding,” he lied.

As the point man for setting up snow plow operations, Derksen knows how logistically difficult it is to keep on top of a big storm. Streets can’t be cleared of traffic soon enough, graders can’t grade smoothly enough and loaders can’t load fast enough. Meanwhile, nearly a dozen trucks, most of which are hired from local contractors, sit waiting for their payload before unloading it at the rodeo grounds.

At least that’s how the municipality used to do it.

Now, changes may be afoot.

The impetus comes from the town’s new Director of Operations, John Greathead.

Greathead saw Jasper’s snow removal system at work after the first storm of the winter and thought: there’s got to be a better way.

“You’ve got seven traffic movements to load a truck,” he said, describing the constant back and forth motions and bucket raising that a loader has to perform. “That’s not terribly efficient and it also poses safety concerns.”

At his last post, in Fox Creek, Greathead’s crew had a snowblower. Not the kind your father-in-law uses to clear his sidewalk, mind you. We’re talking a loader-mounted, turbo-diesel industrial blower that can move upwards of 2,200 tons of snow per hour up to 150 feet away.

Greathead made some calls and the following week one of these heavy-duty units was on its way to Jasper, including an operator, from southern Alberta.

Call it a trial balloon.

While the machine had some clutch issues (again due to the cold snap), and the operator wasn’t willing to put the scraper all the way to the pavement (on account of not knowing Jasper’s roads and possible collision points—man hole covers, for example), once it was up and running, Greathead said the snowblower was outpacing the trucks.

“I think it outperformed expectations,” he said.

Derksen, for one, was impressed. Looking at work that had to be done from the 300 block of Geikie Street to Pine Avenue and from Cabin Creek on Patricia Street to downtown, Derksen estimated he’d need nearly two days with the regular equipment to complete the job. When the blower got it done in five hours, he was, fittingly, blown away.

“It was mad,” he said.

But by no means did the machine perform perfectly. The aforementioned scraper height meant in many spots the grader had to make a pass anyway, and

Derksen wondered aloud a likelihood of the blower hu ice chunk over its intende onto someone’s vehicle.

“That would be an issue,” But Greathead indicated h the positives outweigh the The amount of time the tru is greatly reduced with the fact which was plain to see lumbered down Connaugh filling a truck box up with snow in as little as 30 seco “The biggest cost is trucki Greathead said.

Derksen, for now, is cautio optimistic about the poten for major efficiencies, were municipality to purchase i snowblower (they cost nor $100,000). Such an ask ha council, Derksen said. Yet “If it gets bought into, in m think it’s worth it,” he said

Bob Covey // bob@thejasp

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red aloud about the e blower hurtling an its intended target and vehicle. an issue,” he said. ndicated he believes tweigh the negatives. time the trucks sit idle ed with the blower—a plain to see as it Connaught Drive, ox up with compressed as 30 seconds. st is trucking it out,”

w, is cautiously t the potential ncies, were the purchase its own ey cost north of an ask hasn’t come to n said. Yet. But… ht into, in my opinion I it,” he said.

ob@thejasperlocal.com

DO YOU EVEN LIFT? // THE MUNICIPALITY OF JASPER’S DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS, JOHN GREATHEAD, WANTS TO IMPROVE EFFICIENCIES WITHIN JASPER’S SNOW REMOVAL PROCESS. // BOB COVEY

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page B5 // the jasper local //issue 139 // friday, february 15, 2019

RIVER OTTERS SURE ARE ADORABLE— until they start chomping your nose off!

This was the lesson learned by a local long-nose sucker, as observed by Jasper wildlife photographer Simone Heinrich recently. According to Heinrich, their somewhat repulsive eating habits certainly didn’t make them any less interesting.

“I watched the otter get the sucker out of the water and bring it onto the ice. The fish flopped around for a bit until the otter gave it another bite.”

Turns out, suckers are a pretty common

local wildlife //

food for otters—along with sculpins, as Heinrich observed last month (shown in the first photo). Whatever they’re eating, however, they’re not big on sharing.

“The other two tried to come close a few times, but as soon as one approached, the feeding otter moved his snack in the opposite direction,” she laughed.

When they weren’t fishing, these otters seemed to be goofing around. Heinrich said they would roll and play on the ice, in the deep snow and all over each other.

“I was amazed by their agility and how quickly they could move in the snow,” she said.

Although active year round, river otters are primarily nocturnal. However, during the winter, they’re more diurnal, which explains why we’re able to see a bit more of this playful creature this time of year.

While these critters were keeping to themselves, there have been reports of river otters attacking dogs. So if you’re walking along local lakeshores or beside the river with your pooch, keep an eye out. You wouldn’t want those teeth chomping your schnauzer’s snoot! simone heinrich // instagram @simoneheinrichphotography

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local avalanche safety //

friday, february 15, 2019 // issue 139 // the jasper local// page B6

Ski guide launches new avalanche eBook Latimer is also the co-founder of Shadow Light Productions, a video and multimedia company.

Their experience creating videos for commercial and Latimer, who was born and raised in educational purJasper but who now lives in the Bow poses, along with Valley, completed his first avalanche Latimer’s long safety course as a teenager in 1978. resume of teachThat was well before the avalanche ing avalanche bulletin now relied upon by skiers, safety skills, has snowboarders, climbers and sledders, culminated in even existed. a new project.

In the meantime, Latimer paid his Avalanche! The dues. By the 1990s he was working Guide’s Guide to in the ski industry, building his skills Safer Travel in as an avalanche technician. Today the Mountains he’s an ACMG-certified ski guide, has been recently plying his trade at heli, snowcat and launched as an FORMER JASPERITE AND ACMG-CERTIFIED SKI GUIDE, DOUG LATIMER, HAS PRODUCED A ski touring operations, working as eBook. an avalanche forecaster, teaching NEW E-BOOK ON AVALANCHE SAFETY FEATURING INTERACTIVE CONTENT. // SUPPLIED But it all began, he mountain winter safety and holding said, with that first the reins as lead guide and manager avalanche course study of avalanches, he added, led him skills and experience to understand of Purcell Mountain Lodge.

40 years ago. and move safely through avalanche to believe the subject was a perfect fit Along with his spouse, Rachel Gauk, “While the course was terrain, but I hope that my book can for an interactive eBook. very basic and limited provide a reliable base of knowledge “Understanding avalanches requires by today’s standards, it from which to move forward. drawing from many different dis“While the course was very basic introduced a whole new The six chapters—The Basics, Trip ciplines to understand the science, and limited by today’s standards, level of complexity in the application of skills, route finding and Planning, Moving Through Avalanche it introduced a whole new level of natural world that I had Terrain, Advanced Skills, Avalanche human aspects of the phenomenon,” been completely unaware he said. “This seemed like a natural fit Search & Rescue and Human Faccomplexity in the natural world that I of,” Latimer said. tors—are well organized and easy to for an interactive book.” had been completely unaware of.”

That complexity of the navigate. Descriptions of the public An avid reader and unabashed book avalanche bulletin include instruclover—the couple’s home tions on how to use it and contain a has a rich library—Lathyperlink to the actual bulletin. Withimer said when eBooks in each chapter the reader will find began to become more commonplace, he expected video instruction, relevant web links, traditional text, images and exercises the digital format would which incorporate decision making incorporate elements not in real locations in western Canada’s possible with traditional mountains. It also includes sobering books. That, however, footage of actual avalanches. hasn’t been the case.

Based on current best practices in the “I expected audio, video, avalanche industry, the content aplinks to other resources to plies to recreational mountain travelexplore, and interactive lers. The eBook also includes detailed components to enhance step-by-step download instructions learning,” he said. “To my and readers are invited to provide disappointment, eBooks feedback. generally have a very limited multi-media capac- As thorough and in-depth as this book is, however, Latimer cautions there ity, and most are simply is no substitute for a professionallyon-screen text.”

Not so with his new eBook. taught AST course and spending time With 170 pages of text, Ava- in and around real avalanche terrain.

But, he suggested, it is an excellent lanche! The Guide’s Guide to Safer Travel in the Moun- resource to add to those courses.

“After 20 years of guiding, I have tains. incorporates 120 minutes of video and more actively worked to try and distill my thought process down to simple and than 100 colour photos, as concise questions that can be used well as animations, exercises and expert interviews, to find the best answers in avalanche terrain,” he said. “That is what I have all of which allow users to delve into detail within the tried to instil in my book.”

Avalanche! The Guide’s Guide to Safer complex content. The eBTravel in the Mountains is currently ook encompasses the curriculum for the level 1 and compatible with laptop or desktop 2 AST (Avalanche Skills computers. The final version will be Training) courses, which available in May, and anyone who purLatimer teaches in the field chases an earlier version will receive a on a regular basis. free update.

And indeed, this eBook has To learn more or purchase a copy, a lot more to offer than a visit: www.shadowlightproductions. traditional paper book. ca/e-books/ “The book is very direct and focussed,” Latimer Lynn Martel // says. “No book can provide info@thejasperlocal.com an individual with the

To understand avalanches is not a straightforward undertaking, says Doug Latimer.

He should know.