The Jasper Local June15, 2016

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LOCAL + independent

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thejasperlocal.com

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wednesday, june 15, 2016 // ISSUE 75

PARKWAY POWER// EMILIE ST. PIERRE, MEG STANELAND, GENEVA LLOYD, RIKKE LIISBERG-LARSEN AND MADISON LAMB TAKE A BREATHER ON THE ICEFIELDS PARKWAY. THE FIVE-FEMALE TEAM WAS PART OF A LARGER GROUP OF LADIES THAT CYCLED TO JASPER FROM LAKE LOUISE MAY 28-30.

SOME OF THE LADIES DID THE ENTIRE RIDE, OTHERS COULD ONLY MAKE IT FOR PART OF THE JOURNEY. // BOB COVEY

Library staff move into 500 Robson Street The day has finally arrived. Construction on the Jasper Municipal Library has been completed and staff have begun moving into their new home on Robson Street.

“It’s emotional,” said director of library services, Angie Thom. “It’s like we’re jumping off a cliff.”

It’s taken more than three years to inch up to the edge of that cliff. The Jasper Library and Cultural Centre was initially scheduled to open in January of 2013. Construction delays, errors and problems delayed the project, pushing it more than $1.5 million over budget.

But on Monday, June 6 the doors finally opened to staff and tenants. On Wednesday, volunteers helped make a huge push, moving in more than 12,000 items in one day.

The public will be welcomed in the coming weeks.

“Every day we’re in feels a little more like home,” Thom said.

For the last three years the library was housed in the Jasper Arena. A week after she first got the key to the new digs, Thom’s eyes were still adjusting to the brightly lit room.

“Everyone’s figuring out their favourite views,” she said.

Despite the history of boondoggles, staff were focused on the good days ahead. They were also thankful for the support during their more trying times.

“Our diehard users were with us every step of the way,” Thom said. “They helped us with fundraising, grants and moving us in and out of our temporary location.

“We look forward to having them in here.”

bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

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page A2 // the jasper local // issue 75 // wednesday, june 15, 2016

editorial //

Local Vocal No decent journalist ever wants to use an anonymous source.

Doing so reduces the credibility of a story and lessens the impact of an issue. Done repeatedly, it erodes trust between the news organization and the reader.

Many times over the years I have refused to print anonymous letters to the editor or turned down a request for anonymity from someone who wanted to make a point about an issue I was writing about. The basic argument is: if you can’t put your name behind it, it’s not a very strong, defendable or intelligent point. There’s also the idea that a newspaper could write whatever story it wanted if it didn’t have actual people to back up, or refute, its reporting.

Once every few months I find myself having to persuade someone to put their name behind a statement or comment that I believe is valuable to our readership and the general community.

Sometimes I have to convince them that their singular experience or point of view will bring a much needed perspective or awareness to an issue; other times I find myself telling them that they’re not alone, that many people feel this way and that’s why it’s so important to speak up.

In the case of reporting on problems with the federal government’s pay system, I was quite certain I wouldn’t have anyone in the Jasper National Park Field Unit willing to go on the record and tell me about their negative experiences. Unfortunately, even though their speaking up would be easy to justify—Canadians need to know about the issues, and many people in this community are in a similar boat—I was correct. No one I talked to was willing to put their neck out and say that not getting paid for the work they were doing was wrong.

There is still a dark curtain of fear that hangs over our public servants in Jasper. Despite the change in government eight months ago, the cone of silence has not been lifted. Parks Canada employees are just as wary about speaking up as they were during the Conservatives’ reign—and that’s not just to the media. Speaking out of turn or stepping out of line at all, it seems, is not allowed. Talking in public without the expressed consent of local managers and higher ups in Ottawa is strictly forbidden—no matter how trivial (or how impactful) the issue may be.

This is a deeply disturbing trend, for it goes against the values of a public service. How else can Canadians be assured that the research they ask for, the services they vote for and the budgets they

pay for are being managed properly than to have the ability to talk about it openly and honestly? I understand the realities of organizations wanting to stay on message, but Canadians aren’t stupid: they see through the deception and respond much more favourably when governments own up to problems rather than try to cover their tracks.

There’s a morale problem in many of Jasper National Park’s departments, and it stems from the fact that people are being unfairly scrutinized. No one likes to feel they’re being watched, especially when they’re working their tails off with less resources than ever before. To many, the chopping block doesn’t seem far away.

We chose to use an anonymous source as a way of lifting the cone of silence on how the federal government’s payroll problems are affecting Jasperites.

Although it’s not our preferred method of reporting, in this particular case, we felt it was the right thing to do. We hope that we’ve built enough trust with our readers to justify the decision. Most of all, we hope that those in leadership positions will start listening to what’s being said, and not worry about who’s saying it.

bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

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

Bob Covey.................................................................................... bob@thejasperlocal.com Art Director

Nicole Gaboury.................................................................. nicole@thejasperlocal.com Advertising + sales

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Local community //

wednesday, june 15, 2016 // issue 75 // the jasper local// page A3

Parks employees not getting paid Jasper National Park employees affected by federal payroll system problems are feeling left in the lurch as concerns about getting paid on time, or at all, are being unheeded locally.

The Jasper Local has talked STORY TIME // HOLLY LLEWELLYN IS ALL SMILES AS SHE HELPS to several term, seasonal HER COLLEAGUES MOVE INTO THE NEW LIBRARY. // BOB COVEY and casual employees, some of whom have been waiting “If you don’t have regular access to emails, upwards of 10 weeks to receive payment from or if you’re a student in the field, how do their federal employer. you do it?” S asked.

“People are missing mortgage payments, people are selling their vehicles to make ends meet,” said one employee who spoke to The Jasper Local on the condition of anonymity.

The Jasper Local agreed to protect those employees’ identities because of pervasive fears that Parks Canada would terminate their jobs if they were known to have talked to the media.

“People don’t want to talk because of previous layoffs and gag orders,” the person who we will identify as S, said.

Last year, Jasper National Park employees were informed that Parks Canada, along with other federal government departments, would be switching to an automated payroll program called Phoenix.

But the rolling out of the program has caused payroll problems across the country. From the Coast Guard to correctional services officers, thousands of Canada’s public servants are not being paid on time, accurately, or at all.

In Jasper National Park, most of those affected are employees who work outside of a Monday to Friday, 9-5 shift. The problems are cross-departmental; from highways to trail crew, from dispatch to trades.

“No one can tell them the process or how to fix this,” S said.

The problems are particularly acute for student employees, who are less likely to have savings they can dip into. Moreover, employees who don’t have regular access to a computer or phone aren’t able to spend time trying to navigate the convoluted help-lines.

In the past, Parks Canada employees could call their pay advisor in Calgary and request for an error to be adjusted. Now the system is automated but those same employees report being blocked out by the computer.

Getting through via telephone is no better.

The 800 number is constantly busy. S phoned two or three times per hour for a week only to get a busy signal. When S finally did get through, the voice prompts were confusing and unhelpful.

“I have to be able to change over my manager on Phoenix, but it won’t let me go through the necessary steps. My bosses can’t see me in the system.”

S said stories of people becoming desperate are rampant. Employees passed around a hat for one colleague who was having a hard time putting food on the table after weeks without a paycheque.

“I don’t know how people are living,” S said.

Parks Canada’s media relations issued a statement which said the agency is working with Public Services and Procurement Canada to minimize issues.

“There are measures available to resolve issues, including issuing emergency salary advances where required,” it reads.

S said employees are out of patience.

“It needs to be addressed now. A plan needs to be put in place.” b covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

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page B1 // the jasper local // issue 75 // wednesday, june 15, 2016

Local fitness //

Jasper cyclists gearing up for endurance event

THE OPEN ROAD // CYCLIST JEFF BARTLETT DURING LAST YEAR’S 4,600 KM TOUR DIVIDE. BARTLETT AND FIVE OTHER JASPER BIKERS WILL PARTICIPATE IN THE ALBERTA ROCKIES 700, A BIKE PACKING ADVENTURE RACE FROM HINTON TO COLEMAN.// JEFF BARTLETT

Six Jasper cyclists are preparing themselves for a butt-busting, quad-quivering, lung-loosening good time.

The Alberta Rockies 700 is pegging itself as an epic adventure through the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies. The 700 km self-supported bike event will see cyclists depart from Hinton and ride a combination of logging roads, secondary highways and gravel parkways en route to Coleman, AB. Says Jasper’s Jeff Bartlett: “It’s the perfect example of Type Two fun: something that’s fun in retrospect.”

Bartlett, along with Derek Anderson, Josh Blomfield, Chris Peel, Matt Staneland and Greg Van Tighem, are the Jasper riders signed up for the marathon tour. They, along with 50 or so other masochists, will depart Sunday, June 19 at 7 a.m. along Highway 40 towards Nordegg, where it is thought most riders will stop to refuel and rest.

Hintonite Jonathan Hayward, who created the event, said he dreamed up the concept after

participating in an endurance ride in Oregon a year ago. He said he liked the open format: riders can choose to look at it as a race or simply as an interesting tour.

“There will definitely be some people who are going to be riding it like a race, other people will take a week and tour the route,” he said.

That ’s not to say there aren’t rules. Riders have to be fully self-suppor ted. That means they can’t pre-book a hotel room, they can’t have dinner at a friend’s house, they can’t make a food drop…they can’t even draft off one another. “ You’re responsible for your well-being along the entire route,” he said. “There’s no pre-planning. You star t with what you think you’ll need to get to your next supply point.”

Bar tlett has recent experience with this type of riding. Last year he rode the Tour Divide, a 4 ,600 km, 50,000 ver tical-metre epic from Banff to the Mexican border. It took he and Coburn Brown 26 days. He hopes to complete the Alber ta Rockies 700 in just over two days.

“I think the coolest thing is it’s a road I’d never ride,” he said.

Chris Peel hasn’t biked the northern half of the route—although he’s driven it plenty of times.

Last week, however, he biked the south stretch, from Coleman to Canmore. He reported good riding on unpacked gravel, less so on the maintained stretches. The paradox would reverse itself with fatter tires, he figured; he was riding a fairly skinny set up. Come race day, the veteran long-distance sufferer plans to ride 460 km from Hinton to Canmore in the first day-and-a-half, find a hotel room and then ride the rest of the way after a decent sleep.

“I’m feeling fine now, we’ll see what next weekend’s like,” he said.

Although he hasn’t put in as many huge days as Peel, Derek Anderson’s speed and racing experience puts him among the favourites to place well. Anderson said the key to staying in the race is pacing, nutrition and hydration.

“It’s an unknown challenge,” he said. “I’m looking forward to managing the variables without prior knowledge of the route.” bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

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Early season ATV use at Kinney Lake under scrutiny Early-season ATV use on the Kinney Lake trail is being called inappropriate by some of those closest to Mount Robson Provincial Park.

The BC Government’s allowance of the use of all-terrain vehicles on the lower reaches of the famous Berg Lake Trail for maintenance purposes sparked a letter to the Rocky Mountain Goat—the Valemount based newspaper—by a staff member at Mount Robson.

“The impression we are giving visitors is that motorized vehicles are a good solution if a park contractor thinks they can save a little time and money,” the letter writer said. “I, among others, do not believe it is appropriate.”

The Goat and The Jasper Local have agreed to keep the letter-writer’s name anonymous because identifying them would compromise their job security.

But some Mount Robson residents take

issue with the motorized vehicle use, too. Neysa Weatherbee wonders why the contractors couldn’t do more with bicycles and non-motorized methods of transport.

“We already have helicopters going up there several times a week.

Now with an ATV buzzing by…it would really lose what makes the trail special.”

Quartz Contracting is the Park Facilities Operator. Owner Loraina Stephen says that prior to the peak hiking and camping season, quads are “essential for yearly trail maintenance activities.” She says the quad is used by senior trail staff for transporting gravel, lumber, equipment, supplies as well as people.

“It’s very efficient in the spring and fall [for] start-up and shutdown work,” Stephen said. “The vehicle usage (including any allterrain use) is minimal and only as needed for the first leg of the trail to Kinney Lake.”

Not everyone is irked at the idea of quads on the trail. Susanne and Markos Ecker from Berlin did the hike to Kinney Lake on June 12. They said they have no problem with park staff using a quad for maintenance reasons. Similarly, Rese Wilejto from Burns Lake said she didn’t see any damage on the trail due to motorized use.

The letter-writer admits there are times when motorized options are acceptable such as medical emergencies or significant trail

construction where heavy lifting is involved.

“But regular trail monitoring and basic maintenance should not be on the list,” they wrote.

Weatherbee wonders if the government could put in place limitations to the days of the week when vehicles are allowed.

Quartz Contracting holds the 10-year bundle contract for the BC Provincial Parks which includes the Meadows Rivers campgrounds, Overlander Falls, Rearguard Falls, Lucerne, multiple day use areas from the Jasper border to Jackman Flats, the BC Visitor Centre at Mount Robson, and the first part of the Berg Lake Trail from the trailhead to Emperor Falls.

Stephen says the company has held contracts with BC Parks for over 30 years, Laura Keil // goatnewspaper@gmail.com

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Local leadership //

wednesday, june 15, 2016 // issue 75 // the jasper local// page B2

Local climber selected for alpine leadership course Estelle Blanchette-Stewart has received a lot from climbing, and now she has an opportunity to give something back.

The 35-year-old was recently selected for The North Face Summer Leadership Program. Run through the Alpine Club of Canada, the program helps nurture emerging ACC club leaders to improve their skills for leading groups at the local section level.

Blanchette-Stewart, who has been climbing with the Jasper-Hinton section of the ACC for several years, said she’s excited to develop her skills so she can share her passion for the mountains with others.

“It’s exciting,” she said. “I’m passionate about Jasper and the mountains. It’s rewarding to take people out and expose them to things they may not have the skills or confidence to do on their own.”

Not so long ago, Blanchette-Stewart was the one being exposed to new adventures. An avid hiker and scrambler, she was keen on getting to the next level in the mountains, but it wasn’t always easy to find reliable partners. A friend suggested she join the local Alpine Club.

“I didn’t know it existed,” she said.

Not long after she joined she was achieving new heights—literally. She remembers the thrill of her first multi-pitch climb on Roche a Perdrix, her first 11,000-foot peak on the summit of Mt. Willingdon and her first Grade 4 ice climb on the Weeping Wall.

“The Alpine Club has given me a lot,” she said.

And now she wants to give something back. She and nine other climbers from across the country will fly into the Northern Selkirk Mountains this July to take part in a seven-day course focusing on mountain skills and leadership development. The course is designed to build longevity into the Alpine Club by giving those who are already active at their local section level the skills and confidence to lead section trips.

“I’ve participated in lots of trips,” she said. “This is an opportunity to increase my skill set so I can increase my leading skills.”

Although she was able to get an introduction to climbing via the JasperHinton section of the ACC, Blanchette-Stewart said her confidence in the mountains took a major step forward after she signed up for ice, rock and glacier travel courses through a private company. She plugged Rockaboo Mountain Adventures for helping her advance her skills exponentially thanks to the ability to work with certified mountain guides.

Still, it was the ACC which provided her an initial introduction to people with whom she could plan trips in the mountains. For a nominal membership fee,

NO PAIN, NO GAIN // THE BANFF JASPER RELAY TOOK PLACE JUNE 3-4, ONCE AGAIN DRAWING MORE THAN 700 PARTICIPANTS AND SUPPORTERS AS COMPETITORS TAGGED OFF A 15-STAGE, 290 KM RACE.// VALERIE DOMAINE

ESTELLE BLANCHETTE-STEWART IS ONE OF 10 CLIMBERS WHO HAVE BEEN SELECTED BY THEIR LOCAL ALPINE CLUB OF CANADA SECTION TO TAKE PART IN A LEADERSHIP COURSE SPONSORED BY THE NORTH FACE.// SUPPLIED

she said, there are amazing opportunities to learn and have fun.

“Not every trip is a big ski tour or climb,” she said. “There are some great scrambles, bike rides and cross-country ski trips.”

Blanchette-Stewart said besides the incredible scenery she expects to see in the Selkirks and the inspiring people she’s confident she’ll meet, she’s most looking forward to working on her mountain skills. Route-finding, in particular, she said, is something she wants to gain more experience in.

As a female climber, Blanchette-Stewart said she recognizes that there are less girls than guys taking part in these types of activities. However, it’s not something that she’s actively thinking about or necessarily concerned for.

“Some of the best climbers and best leaders I know are female,” she said.

When asked what she’d say to people who look at her experience and are curious how they can get on their own path to mountaineering, BlanchetteStewart didn’t pull any punches.

“Join the club,” she said. “It’s a small investment with big rewards.”

Bob Covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

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page b3+B4 // the jasper local // issue 75 // wednesday, june 15, 2016

LOCAL FEATURE // STORY BY BOB COVEY

MAKING OT COURSES GREE SINCE

AN INSULATING, EARLY-SEASON SNOWFALL LAST NOVEMBER, A MILD WELCOMING SPRING HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO MAKE COURSE CONDITI THAN THEY’VE BEEN IN 40 YEARS. THE JASPER LOCAL TAKES A SWING “Other courses are justly famous for their spectacular surroundings, but none of these courses compare with Jasper in the varied beauties of its snow topped mountains, multi-coloured trees and vegetation and glorious water hazards.”

Dr. Alister MacKenzie didn’t have to blow smoke up anyone’s kilt when he sang the praises of the Jasper Park Lodge golf course in 1928. The architect of some of the world’s most famous courses already had more than two dozen tracks on his impressive resume when he called Jasper the best inland course in North America. And although it was 90 years ago when Jasper’s undulating fairways, dramatic views and supreme playability imprinted themselves on the Englishman’s mind, today the architect of Augusta National wouldn’t be alone in his admiration for the Stanley Thompson-designed course. Nearly nine decades after MacKenzie was mailing his typed-out report on the Jasper National Park golf course via steamer, Canadian golf course designer Ian Andrew was blogging about many of the same themes, namely: the Fairmont JPL’s spectacular surroundings, its broad appeal to all calibers of players and the course’s unparalleled sense of scale.

Besides being a golf course architect, Ian Andrew is a history buff. So when he says his favourite course isn’t the vaunted Pine Valley in New Jersey or Scotland’s tradition-steeped St. Andrews, but the 18 holes in Jasper National Park, it’s important to remember he’s played and consulted all over the world.

“I’ve travelled the world and I’d put the landscape in Jasper up against anything I’ve seen in France or Switzerland,” he said. “The difference is the golf course. You will not get into a mountain landscape and find a golf course of that quality anywhere else.”

To be sure, Andrew is a Stanley Thompson devotee. The Brantford, Ontario-based designer has studied all 88 of the Canadian master’s works and it’s fair to say he has a strong bias towards Thompson’s flamboyant, dramatic courses. In 2015, Andrew wrote a piece for Golf Club Atlas hypothesizing that Thompson’s work at Jasper Park was “the” watershed moment for Canadian golf.

“I always wanted to know when that exact moment Thompson had his epiphany,” he said.

“I had previously thought this came at Banff Springs, but the more I ventured down the path, the more I believe that it came at Jasper Park.”

What changed his mind was, in part, how

lore turns into legend at JPL. The 1926 story, for example, of the ninth hole causing financier Sir Harry Thornton, then-head of the Canadian National Railroad, to “quietly blow a gasket,” as the 1946 Saturday Evening Post put it, is rich in mythology. As the story goes, the hole named Cleopatra was too evocative for Thornton; its anatomically-suggestive fairway contours led the railway magnate to chastise Thompson for his indiscretion.

“That was largely a legend created by Thompson,” Andrew explained. “I certainly believe the whole idea of the reclining woman—Thompson was extremely well read, loved poetry and the classics and wasn’t afraid of symbolism—but how much of the story [of Thornton’s temper tantrum] is true is up to who’s listening.”

Still, for all of the expressive architecture, what makes JPL stand out for Andrew is the course’s combination of scale and accessibility. He calls that same par three—number nine—one of the best par threes anywhere.

“I love the fact that it’s all about trying to feed it into that plateau. If you miss right or left, good night. The fun part is if you’re willing to play for that beautiful shot that will feed you to the green. If you play to the spot he’s given you he’ll do all the work for you. I’ve always enjoyed that sort of hole.”

For MacKenzie’s part, Cleopatra was one of the few holes he had suggestions for.

And Andrew notes in his Golf Atlas piece

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THER GOLF EN WITH ENVY E 1925

D WINTER WITHOUT ANY MAJOR FREEZE-THAWS AND A WARM, IONS AT THE FAIRMONT JASPER PARK LODGE GOLF COURSE BETTER G AT GOLF HISTORY IN THE ROCKIES. that alterations to this hole constituted the single biggest change from the original course design to what golfers know today. The difference was in the bunkering. After designing Jasper’s course, Andrew discovered, Thompson was commissioned for another now-famous Rockies track in Banff.

However, his Banff Springs bunkers had much more style than those created here. As such, he was soon called back to give the Jasper sand traps the same treatment. Along with hole nine, holes one, three, four, five, six, 10, 17 and 18 were either given new bunkers or the existing bunkers were reshaped and flared.

On June 8, two dozen or so Jasper Park Lodge Golf Club members were relishing in those ebbs and flows, as those participating in the bi-monthly men’s night tried to get 18 holes underfoot before the clouds closed in. Despite the gloomy skies, former head superintendent Brian Hill, who was playing in a group with Rich Bergen, wasn’t complaining.

He told associate golf pro Troy Mills 2016 has been the best opening course conditions he’s seen in 40 years.

After those finishing touches however, the golf course has remained, for the most part, identical to that which golfers would have played in the 1930s.

Andrew heartily approves of leaving a classic course be; tinkering inevitably leads to confusion, he said, not only with regards to individual shots but with the course’s overall pace and intensity.

All three architects—Thompson, who 91 years ago envisioned a world-class golf course where there existed only rock, trees and bog; MacKenzie, who called Jasper’s final hole “the best finish in the world of golf,”; and Andrew, who said he’d choose Jasper as the last 18 holes of his life—would have seconded that notion.

“Once of the joys is how he’s presenting everything to you,” Andrew said. “Part of it is that he allows you to have some fun, allows you to relax and then comes at you again.”

“The stars aligned,” Mills agreed. “When you get Mother Nature cooperating the grounds crew can do unbelievable things.”

“There’s no greater experience in golf,” Andrew said.

bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

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page b3+B4 // the jasper local // issue 75 // wednesday, june 15, 2016

The art of teaching old horses new tricks you have to open a gate or pull a pack over them. It’s very important that they have that faith.”

“Go around there again, put a little lope motion in your body.

You might have to over-andunder like that, but see if she can drop her head and pick up that canter.”

Although he’s spent his life around horses, Nelles didn’t always make a living with them. Like his friend and mentor, the late Tom McCready, Nelles was a Canadian national ski racer and, eventually, national coach.

Larry Nelles is calling gentle instructions as a horse and rider circle around a small corral at the Pyramid Riding Stables. Wearing a beige stetson, brown leather chaps and with spurs on his well-worn boots, the 78-year-old cowboy looks like he rode right out of a historical photo from the Jasper Museum and Archives.

“He just had a way about him that made you feel really special,” said Loni Klettl, who skied under Nelles’ tutelage as a young girl.

What set Nelles apart as a trainer is not just his ability to understand the mechanics of athletes (whether two-legged or four) but his adeptness in articulating how to improve those mechanics. For Nicole Klopfenstein, a relatively new horse rider, she went home from the clinic with a better awareness of where to hold her horse’s reins and how to apply more gentle, subtle pressure.

And in a sense, he has.

Nelles grew up in the backcountry of Jasper National Park. Raised at the Snaring Warden station, his father Alex wore warden badge number 17. His grandfather, John Curran, wore badge number three. Coming of age surrounded by wilderness, Nelles developed a special connection to nature, and to horses.

Before he was old enough to attend school, it was discovered that Nelles had a gift.

“I had a real feeling for horses,” he said.

“When you watch Larry ride there’s very little touch,” she said. “You can’t really tell he’s doing anything at all.”

On June 11 and 12, as part of a weekend horsemanship course, Nelles was helping other Jasper riders obtain that feeling. He was teaching them to build trust with their animals so they could learn to handle their animals “in a learning frame of mind,” as he put it.

“It seems humans often want to bring the horse into their world instead of going into the horses’ world,” Nelles said. “I try to show them that it’s easier to ask your horse to do something rather than tell it.”

The lessons weren’t just for beginner riders, either.

Outfitter and former JNP horse packer, Sean Elliott, said the tools that Nelles provides he and his fellow packers are invaluable. Deep in the bush, over rough

HORSE WHISPERER // LARRY NELLES GREW UP IN JASPER NATIONAL PARK’S BACKCOUNTRY. THE 78-YEAR-OLD FORMER NATIONAL SKI RACER AND COACH TEACHES HORSEMANSHIP TO ALL LEVELS OF RIDERS. // BOB COVEY

terrain, trust between man and horse is at a premium.

“A lot of time the horses put their trust in you to cross a bad section of cord or a bog,” Elliott said. “Being able to move your horse around other horses—maybe

Horses are so sensitive, Nelles says, that when a rider is in the proper position, and when that all-important trust has been established, there’s very little physical prompting necessary.

“Once you get that foundation, you can start to make direction changes and transitions with no resistance,” Nelles said. “If there’s effort, you’re either out of time or your balance is off.” bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

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wednesday, june 15, 2016 // issue 75 // the jasper local// page B6

Local history //

In the shadow of Jasper National Park Yvette Vinson lives at the Pine Valley Lodge in Hinton. Earlier this month, Hinton’s Stuart Taylor had the opportunity to sit and visit with her, and to learn about her early experiences in the region.

Yvette Vinson has been in Hinton a long time—before the town’s population spike in the 1950s when the pulp mill went into operation. Yvette arrived in the 1940s, on the heels of WWII. She was young and single. Early on, she worked as a waitress at the Jasper Park Lodge. While there, she rubbed shoulders with Hollywood stars who were making a film called The Emperor’s Waltz. She still has the autograph Bing Crosby gave her. Other famous names in that film included Joan Fontaine and Richard Haydn. It was directed by the famous Billy Wilder.

In 1947, Yvette met Tom Vinson. They married, settled at Brule, and started a family. On the property at Brule was a natural spring that David Thompson, the famous mapmaker and explorer, visited more than 200 years earlier. Tom and Yvette raised seven children together (the award-winning folk singer Laura Vinson among them). Yvette told me that their home had a telephone with a crank on the side, and that they shared the phone line with Black Cat Ranch, CN Rail, and the local ranger station. She said her family knew a call was for them when there were three long rings of the bell.

Tom and Yvette bought an outfitting business from Fred Brewster in the 1950s, managing the stables and trail rides at Jasper Park Lodge. They also operated the Tonquin Valley Lodge and the Shadow Lodge on the Skyline Trail.

Tom was involved in hunting and guiding throughout his entire life, not retiring

until 1984. There’s a great photo of him online at Alberta Archives after he caught a prize trout in the Tonquin Valley.

Tom had an enormous reservoir of knowledge about regional wildlife— including caribou, bears, moose, and much more.

He was regularly called on to advise government biologists. Both he and Yvette had the opportunity to work with tourists and famous people alike, including British royalty and a Canadian Prime Minister.

PIONEERS // YVETTE AND TOM VINSON AT THEIR FORMER HOME IN BRULE. THEIR LIVES HAD HISTORIC CONNECTIONS TO SOME OF JASPER’S MOST FAMOUS FOLKS. // SUBMITTED

Tom was still active when radio collaring for grizzly bears was getting started. His opinion was that the grizzlies would get riled up about it. Sure, they’d lie on the ground after being tranquilized, but they’d never forget having a tooth pulled and an ear tag or neck collar attached. Tom figured the bear would be thinking about that experience for a long time, and that if they ever met up with the perpetrators of such a thing, there’d be hell to pay.

Today, well into her 90s, Yvette has no trouble at all remembering the early days of Hinton. She says the streets weren’t paved. When it rained, everything was mud and the streets would get rutted.

She told me about the Old Hinton Hotel, Skogg’s Store, and the post office, which

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When it rained, everything was mud and the streets would get rutted. back then was run by Dorothy Woodley.

Fred Hanson ran the Imperial Oil gas station.

Many of Tom and Yvette’s descendants are still in the area. They have helped to build and develop the communities that are thriving in our part of the province. It means the roots this couple put down are not just in the past, but very much in the present, and will reach far into the future.

Stuart Taylor // sztaylor@shaw.ca