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thejasperlocal.com
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Sunday, september 15, 2019 // ISSUE 153
AUTUMN ANTHEM// BULL ELK BUGLES ARE IN THE AIR, A SURE SIGN OF SHIFTING SEASONS. // SIMONE HEINRICH
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page A2 // the jasper local // issue 153 // sunday, september 15, 2019
editorial //
Local Vocal It’s before dawn and the stars are still out.
I’m up early for once, grinding my coffee beans in the basement so I don’t wake up the family. There’s a chill in the late summer air as I step outside for that first gratifying slurp of joe and as my senses begin to perk up, I can hear the distinct reverberation of a male elk, bugling somewhere in the distance. Goosebumps. But wait. The mating call is of an usually high register. As my ears adjust to what I’m listening to, I soon realize the sound is emanating not from the wooded slope behind our house, but directly above my current position on the driveway. It sounds like the elk is upstairs. That’s when I realize the sound is not an ungulate at all. That primal scream is coming from my three-year-old daughter’s bedroom. I can hear the sound clearly now, and I’m sure the neighbours loading their fishing boat across the street can, too. As my eardrums rattle and my blood pressure rises, my parenting instincts hone in on the precise need of our firstborn. “What’s she saying?” I think to myself, taking the stairs two at a time and spilling coffee on my robe in the process. As if in answer, I hear her earpiercing shriek: “I WANT TO WATCH PAW PATROL!” Dear Lord give me patience. This summer, Jasper’s business owners’ patience has been put to the test, too, what with the depressing spate of cold, wet weather being matched by a depressed regional economy and the liquidation of some 800 daily stays at the under-construction Whistlers Campground. Now, in part due to a delayed bid/tender process, we’ve learned that the renovations will take another year to complete, to the surprise of exactly no one. Most of us knew that when Jasper experienced record visitation in 2017 thanks to the Canada 150 promotions and then had another banner year in 2018, things would eventually take a downturn. But it’s still hard to reconcile when you’ve got rent to make and employees to pay. As a new dad in 2016, I tried to prepare myself for the dizzying highs and the frustrating lows of parenthood but never did I predict that my toddler would be able to get my goat so thoroughly and that I would be at a total loss for how to handle her, and myself, during one of her temper tantrums. Jasper has had better summers, sure, but like parenting, it doesn’t help to gripe. Sometimes there’s nothing else to do but take a deep breath, switch off the Paw Patrol and deal with the fallout. Lord give us all patience. bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com
Letters, we've got letters...
Fed up with folk Festival
Dear Editor: This year’s Folk Fest was entirely too LOUD. I had a family member come to visit this past weekend and I can safely say they will never be coming back during a Folk Fest weekend again! So much for drumming up interest for visitors to that particular music venue. I live about 500 feet away The Jasper Local //
from the venue and by the time the music stopped and all the festival-goers went by my house, laughing and shouting, my company got zero sleep. We had to get up very early and head off to Hinton the next day. I’ve read all sorts of comments on Facebook and they all pertain to how loud the music was. How come everyone can get up in arms about the volume of
a rodeo but no one is checking the decibel level at a music concert? Is there a double standard being applied here? - Daphne Syrja, Jasper ________________ Gratitude for first responders
Dear Editor, I have been emphatically reminded what an invaluable and critical service Parks Canada provides
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// local history
sunday, september 15, 2019 // issue 153 // the jasper local// page A3
AmAteur historiAn And JAsper museum supporter sheilA Couture wAs one of severAl loCAl speAkers who helped bring stories of the whistlers hostel And former ski ChAlet to life during A museum outing september 8. stAy tuned for A story. // b Covey
...we've got lots and lots of letters through its public safety branch. I have also been reminded that the bush is a big and lonely place when things go wrong. On a recent family trip to the South Boundary of Jasper National Park, an unexpected medical emergency arose that no one on the trip was equipped to deal with. The helplessness of seeing a sibling in such distress, and knowing it is still a long two day ride back to the trail head, is paralyzing. It was the preparedness of our guide, Gunner Ireland, and the efficiency and professionalism of the public safety branch, that pulled our family from a deep, dark pit. The rescue team flew my sister to the Jasper Hospital where the nurses and doctors stabilized her before moving her onto Edmonton for final treatment. Please know this story would have probably ended horribly if not for the timely response of Jasper’s public safety branch and the medical professionals who work at our hospital. For the family involved this was not just another rescue but an event the size of a mountain. Thanks so much to those involved and we will never
forget what everyone has done for us. - Howie Klettl, on behalf of the Klettl family ___________________ Egregious cyclist etiquette
Dear Editor, I am an avid walker and have enjoyed walking in Jasper and the surrounding trails immensely. I have discovered, to my considerable dismay, that the greatest threats to pedestrians in and around Jasper are cyclists. I have had to dodge bicycles on sidewalks and crosswalks. Many cyclists ignore stop signs. I have watched cyclists ride through intersections without looking to see if there is a pedestrian or a vehicle. Cars have stopped for me at a crosswalk on Connaught only to have a cyclist tear by them, right in front of me. I have had cyclists silently approach from behind on hard-packed trails with nary a bell warning. I can usually hear bicycles coming from behind on gravel trails so I can get out of the way, but the scariest encounter, which now moves me finally to write this letter after several weeks of thinking about this issue,
was when I was walking this morning through the pedestrian tunnel under the CN tracks. Just as I was exiting the tunnel, a cyclist coming down the ramp tore by me at a speed which barely allowed him to make the turn into the tunnel, just missing the edge of the tunnel which I was approaching. Had I been one step ahead of where I was, he would have collided with me. He was so close to the tunnel wall I would have been hit before I could have gotten out far enough to see him coming. Cycling is great here, but except for the sidewalk on the east side of Connaught that is part of the Discovery Trail, I thought sidewalks were off limits to bicycles? Stop signs are for bicycles as well as motorized vehicles, and pedestrians in crosswalks have the right of way. A bell on the trail can be heard quite a ways away and gives walkers a chance to get out of the way. To all of the cyclists who are narrowly avoiding disaster, on behalf of beleaguered pedestrians like myself, please educate yourself on, and observe, the rules of the road. - Stephen Kristenson, Jasper
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page B1 // the jasper local // issue 153 // sunday, september 15, 2019
local science //
Ancient alpine ice unlocking secrets of Jasper’s past A bison bone found high in the alpine near Maligne Lake is opening doors of discovery for paleo-environmental researchers in Jasper National Park.
In 2016, Parks Canada historians surveying an ice patch near the headwaters of Trapper Creek were surprised to find what looked to be a bison humerus melting out of the snow. While the large bone’s location indicated that bison would have visited high alpine ice features in the Rockies several hundred to several thousand years ago—an interesting discovery, to be sure—Todd Kristensen with the Archaeological Survey of Alberta says what’s even more exciting is the potential for more discoveries in the ice itself; researchers are viewing the ice patch where the bone was discovered as a beautifully-preserved repository of centuries-old data. “We now have confirmation that these ice features are more than 6,000 years old and loaded with interesting information,” Kristensen said. This past summer, Kristensen’s team, which included project partners from Parks Canada and the Royal Alberta Museum, revisited the Trapper Creek ice features to tap into that information. The team extracted ice cores, from which they’ll be able to form a more complete picture about the ecology in the Rocky Mountains thousands of years ago. “This is a really stable ice feature that has about 6,000 years of levels of ice, inside of which there’s information about pollen, what kind of plants were around, where the treeline was moving up to and retreating from…there’s volcanic ash in there…it’s just a fascinating look at the paleo-environment,” Kristensen said.
The repositories are relatively small snow and ice patches which typically form on the north side of mountain ridges. Because they don’t move downslope like a massive glacier, they don’t churn up whatever’s inside them. This makes them valuable not only to
scientists who are looking for intact isotopes and vegetation samples, but also to archaeologists looking for clues of human-animal interactions. Large mammals which used the ice patches to take refuge from predators, bugs and the summer heat would, theoretically, be
THIS ICE PATCH IN THE MALGINE RANGE STORES 6,000 YEARS OF VALUABLE ECOLOGICAL DATA. RESEARCHERS ARE MINING ICE CORES FOR STUDY. //
TODD KRISTENSEN OF THE ARCHAEOLOCIAL SURVEY OF ALBERTA WITH A BISON BONE DISCOVERED IN THE HIGH ALPINE. // COURTNEY LAKEVOLD
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followed by ancient hunters. “In understanding how the bison were moving we can understand how people might have glommed onto that pattern,” he said. Four years ago, working from this hypothesis, Kristensen and his fellow archaeologists discovered a leather strip on the border of Jasper National Park and Mount Robson Park. They eventually carbon-dated the artifact to approximately 270 years ago. The strip— possibly a piece of a moccasin or part of a snare—was left behind by humans who were moving on this landscape not long before David Thompson mapped Athabasca Pass, in 1811. “To produce a date that puts it right on the cusp of when Europeans are arriving in the province gets everybody excited about an important time in Alberta’s history,” Kristensen said in 2015. During this most recent expedition, Kristensen and his team were once again scouring ice patches for melted-out artifacts, but there was one problem: the patches had grown, not shrunk. The cold, wet summer of 2019 put a damper on the search by covering up potential cultural caches. “It was a challenge to find things but it’s just a matter of time before we’re back to the normal steady melt,” Kristensen said. In fact, time may be running out to make these important discoveries. All across North America, as the climate warms, archaeologists are racing to survey high alpine ice patches before they disappear. As the ice melts and exposes potential artifacts, those artifacts, having been encased in ice for thousands of years, become susceptible to degradation. “In some cases you only have a couple years after it melts out to find it, otherwise it’s gone forever.” Bob Covey //bob@thejasperlocal.com
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Local community //
sunday, september 15, 2019 // issue 153 // the jasper local// page B2
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page b3+B4 // the jasper local // issue 153 // sunday. september 15, 2019
FEATURE // story by bob covey // photos by mike gere
IT’S 3 A.M. AND JASPER PHOTOGRAPHER MIKE GERE IS STANDING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MALIGNE LAKE ROAD WITH HIS TWO TRUSTY COMPANIONS: HIS DOG, GINGER, AND HIS CAMERA. There’s a new moon, meaning the lunar disc isn’t visible to the naked eye, so Gere has high hopes of capturing the blanket of stars that will have appeared in stark contrast to the dark sky high above the Medicine Lake Slabs. Gere’s idea is to use the iconic mountain range and the heavenly bodies as a backdrop for a different take on the oftenimitated image of a vehicle descending into the photogenic Maligne valley. His vision is a streak of tail lights making S-turns down the pavement—a nocturnal, slopestyleinfluenced concept that, like most of his ideas, has been turning over in his mind ever since it occurred to him. But the shot’s not working. Time after time Gere sets up his tripod, remote-triggers his camera’s shutter and drives his car in a pattern he thinks will emulate a skier’s cadence. Time after time, when he checks the results on his viewfinder, he is disappointed. There’s too much cloud cover. The slabs are too dark. The tail lights are too bright. The shoot’s a bust.
MIKE GERE // INSTA: @MIKEGEREPHOTO
Ginger yawns, giving her owner a knowing look. Gere shrugs in agreement, chucks his kit in the car and heads home to bed. “Sometimes I go out and it doesn’t work,” he says. But sometimes it does work. Sometimes an idea forms in his brain and he’s able
fire fallout, Gere, like m trying to eke out a livin money-makers—Jaspe dramatic mountains—w As such, he had to figu captivating images wit skylines and backdrop
MIKE GERE // JASPERPHOTOTOURS.COM
to execute it as good or better than he imagined. A quick glance at Gere’s instagram page—with its mind-melting images combining complex pyrotechnic displays set amongst pristine mountain environments and, more often than not, enveloped by the dazzling night sky— proves as much. But if you think that Gere’s latest listings in his increasingly psychedelic portfolio are influenced by something smokable, well…you’d only be half right. Last summer, with the better part of Western Canada swathed in forest
his work for nearly two decades previous.
“I asked myself ‘How c get more creative with foregrounds?’” he said So he did what anyone looking for inspiration the Dollar Store. “I bought glow sticks, s and all sorts of plastic t shine a light through,”
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NIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION DARK SKY SPECIALIST TRIPPING SHUTTERS IN TRIPPY SETTINGS
most photographers ng here, realized his er National Park’s were unrecognizable. ure out how to make thout the famous ps that had populated
Gere was going light painting. He’d dabbled in the art before, using artificial light sources to fill in shadows or highlight certain landscape features. But now he was taking the full plunge. As he experimented with the art form, Gere added to his kit. He bought specialized tools: lasers, chain lights and circuit boards to control light patterns. He stocked up on coloured gel sheets. He customized his own light tubes, wands and
“I doesn’t matter how much sleep I’ve had, if there’s a clear night and auroras I have a go-bag,”
o A RARE, DAYTIME CAPTURE OF THE NOCTURNAL CREATURE // B COVEY
can I h my d. e n would do: he went to
sparklers, flashlights things you could he said.
poi balls. The results were dazzling. “I wanted to make the light itself the subject, while trying to be as pure as I could and capture the shot in a single image,” he said. That didn’t mean he was giving up on auroras and the Milky Way. On the
MIKE GERE // FB: MIKE GERE PHOTOGRAPHY
contrary, Gere was even more tuned in as to when the night sky would be at its most photogenic. He was eager to try out his new tools with his foundational understanding of dark sky image capturing. When the stars aligned (literally), he would drag himself out of bed and haul his assortment of paraphernalia to some of the most iconic locations in the park. “I doesn’t matter how much sleep I’ve had, if there’s a clear night and auroras I have a go-bag,” he laughed. The images speak for themselves. A lamp-lit skim around Spirit Island. A swirling, sparkling whirling dervish with Angel Glacier in the background. Haloed hikers. Phosphorescent paddleboarders. Electrifying flyfishermen. “Once that idea forms and I see something in my head I tend to lose sleep over it until I have that Eureka moment and I figure out how to do it.” When he does figure it out—and the solution to the puzzles often involve long nights, lots of gear hauling and (always) a full mug of coffee—his creative instinct is satisfied. “I like to put the realism in surrealism,” he jokes. And now, he’s helping others get surreal. This was Gere’s first summer working entirely for himself. The veteran raft guide was finally able to ditch the oars in favour of his budding business, Jasper Photo Tours. So far, it’s working. And if it wasn’t, his trusty companion Ginger would surely let him know. Bob Covey //bob@thejasperlocal.com
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Local Golf //
page B5 // the jasper local //issue 153 // sunday, september 15, 2019
The Eagles have landed // Alex Dumais looks over a putt on the par 4, 14th hole during the Fall Classic at the Jasper Park Golf Club. Dumais followed up a blazing 66 with another lights-out 68 to win the tournament by 19 strokes. // Bob Covey
Grounds crew staffer grinds up competition Swirling winds and frigid temperatures couldn’t stop local golfer Alex Dumais from going low at the Jasper Park Golf Club’s Fall Classic. The 28-year-old scored an eightunder par 134 (66, 68) over two blustery days on the legendary Stanley Thompson-designed track, scorching the field and dusting his closet competitor by 19 strokes. “It was pretty cold and really windy,” Dumais said. “My game plan was hitting the ball solid and taking out the big numbers.”
Mission accomplished: on the That included holing out from the tournament’s opening day, front bunker to the back pin on 17, Dumais was minus seven on the for birdie. course’s four par fives, making “I didn’t expect that,” he said. eagle on holes His playing partner “It’s a really special two, 10 and 13. on day two, Jasper’s golf course,” he said. On the 581-yard Nick Cloutier, ex“I love knowing that 13th, Dumais pected that Dumais I’ve been a small part piped his driver had the tournament of the history.” to a spot on the in the bag after the 581 yard hole to Caledon Woods, set up a long, downhill 5-iron. AfOntario-native posted his 66. ter reaching the green in two, he Cloutier, whose 11-over made him then made a 20-foot uphill putt. the runner up, said with the way “It was one of those days where Dumais was hitting the ball, no everything was going in,” he one was going to catch him. laughed. “I don’t think he missed a fairway. He never gets into trouble,” Cloutier said. He certainly didn’t while The Jasper Local was snapping photos. A three-putt on the slick putting surface at the par three 15th was his single blunder and it only took him one hole to get it back, sticking a short iron to four feet on the picturesque par four 16th known as The Bay. He sunk the bird. Dumais, who has worked on the Jasper Park Golf Club grounds
crew for the past three summers and gets in two or three rounds of golf per week, is a former captain with the Humber College Golf Team, in Toronto. Dumais spent five years at Humber, helping his team win championships and collecting individual honours, including a first place result at the Toronto Star Amateur in 2013. And now his name is on another trophy, alongside the likes of one of Jasper’s most famous visitors, American actor and crooner Bing Crosby. In 1947, Crosby won the 18th annual Totem Pole Golf Tournament, which has since been rebranded as the Jasper Fall Classic. The record shows a 44-year-old Crosby shot a final round of 69, holing his last putt to take the title. Dumais says it’s a privilege to play a course with such a rich past. “It’s a really special golf course,” he said. “I love knowing that I’ve been a small part of the history.” Bob Covey //bob@thejasperlocal.com
bad Baby steps // Nick Cloutier and Alex Dumais on the short but difficult par 3, 15th. Cloutier was runner up // B Covey
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local folk fest //
sunday, september 15, 2019 // issue 153 // the jasper local// page B6
//The Jasper Folk Music FesTival hiT all The righT noTes on The sepTeMber 6-8 weekend and FeaTured a sweeT harMony oF local TalenT and visiTing Musicians. The unTeThered energy oF youThFul FesTival goers was pulsing unTil dusk aT which poinT The big kids Took over. // bob covey phoTos
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