The Jasper Local February 1, 2017 by The Jasper Local

a lt e r n at i v e +

LOCAL + independent

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thejasperlocal.com

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wednesday, february 1, 2017 // ISSUE 90

FRANCOIS LEPLANTE SWINGS FOR THE SWEET SPOT ON MELT-OUT, A LOCAL CLIMBING MECCA// TRISTAN NISSEN

Cougars euthanized by wildlife officials Two cougars that came too close to human kind were put down by Jasper National Park officials recently. One animal was deemed a threat to public safety and was euthanized. The other was put down after it was struck by a vehicle on Highway 16 just west of the Jasper townsite, according to Parks Canada. Both incidents occurred on the morning of Wednesday, January 25.

on a leash, there were no humans present when the cougar attacked and that the animal did not act aggressively when confronted. “We felt it would disappear,” said Parks Canada wildlife specialist, Mark Bradley. But the cat didn’t disappear. Parks Canada staff learned of more sightings in, and adjacent to, high human-use areas. Following carnivore management guidelines, wildlife-conflict staff determined that euthanasia was the best course of action to ensure the safety of residents and visitors.

Ten days earlier, on January 15, a local family was in shock after a cougar attacked their seven-year-old dog in their “This was a very difficult decision for Parks Canada staff,” backyard, on the edge of town. Moments after his wife found a cougar had pinned their pet, Dale Diduck chased the animal said communications officer Steve Young. “But in the end, it was a necessary action to ensure visitor safety.” into a nearby tree. At that time, Parks officials made the decision not to kill the cougar, reasoning that the dog was not bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

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page A2 // the jasper local // issue 90 // Wednesday, February 1, 2017

editorial //

Local Vocal A few summers back, someone discovered a sign at a Lake Edith beach that used strong words to convey the idea that a particular strip of sand was “locals only.” Similarly, many an Athabasca

River fisherman can tell shocking tales of turf wars when “outsiders” come upon a group of Jasper residents at their favourite honey hole.

This isn’t strictly a regional phenomenon. The best surf breaks, choicest climbing routes and comfiest bar stools have always spawned unpalatable forms of localism. However, living in a place funded by, and meant for, all Canadians, national park residents have a particular responsibility to share the wealth. It also means we have a particular responsibility to be good stewards of the land. When it comes to living with pets alongside wildlife, the case is fairly cut-and-dry. Keep domestic animals under control at all times, lest they become a threat to native flora and fauna. As we have seen with the habituation— and eventual destruction—of a young cougar in recent days, when wild animals come into contact with our furry family members, only bad things can happen. I’m not pointing fingers! Even if I was, I’d have to bend one right back at myself. If ever on a dog walk, I can’t bear restricting a pup’s boundless energy to my relatively plodding pace. And as a former cat owner (RIP little buddy), I couldn’t stand keeping Indy inside. Once I saw the joy that cat got from running free, it was unconscionable to me to keep him cooped up. If I’m honest, however, I have to admit that those warm fuzzies from seeing him zip around outside did little to help the songbirds and squirrels he learned to hunt. Likewise, I’m not sure my friend’s dog’s exercise was more important than the well-being of the elk it immediately started to chase. Pet-ownership in a national park is a delicate subject. While there are some folks who will always abide by the book, there are others who will bend the rules, relying on their own judgment to determine if their animal is a threat to wildlife or not. As we’ve seen, with a system such as this, there will inevitably be indiscretions. In reality, respecting the wildlife we live next to is a little bit like protecting one’s favourite beach or spot on the river. These are resources for all Canadians. Just because we live here doesn’t give us the right to claim them for ourselves. bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

Letter from a deer reader

Dear Jasper, Jane here. You know, Jane Doe, a deer (a female deer). Hey how about this weather? It’s so weird! I was down by the highway last week having a little lick when it dawned on me: it is freakin’ warm out. Now, I’m all for a respite from the December deep freeze (I sleep outside, remember) but what’s with the early thaw? My internal clock is confused—this winter weight I put on by gorging myself all summer is kind of embarrassing when it’s beach weather, plus the constant sunshine is causing my thick winter coat to shed. Not a good look!

Anyway, the reason I’m writing isn’t to complain about the rapidly warming climate (nothing we can do to combat that, right guys?) but to speak for the rest of my forest friends on this strange tradition you humans have. What do you call them…fireworks? You know, when the peaceful evening sky turns into a kaleidoscopic nightmare and the entire Athabasca Valley sounds like a Yosemite Sam TED Talk? Look, I know you folks like to stare at bright lights and who doesn’t like to scare the hell out of domestic dogs, but half an hour of 190 decibel explosions in a national park? If you ever

The Jasper Local //

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// Local energy

Wednesday, February 1, 2017 // issue 90 // the jasper local// page A3

What's coming down the pipe? Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain Expansion Project is set to commence in Jasper National Park this spring. Following an open house session on January 26, The Jasper Local put forward questions about the project to Lisa Clement, Trans Mountain media MEAGAN SAUNDERS BUSTS THE CRUST ON MALIGNE LAKE. // N GABOURY relations personnel. Clement emphasized integrity management program. In order to that she is not an expert or an engineer and that activate a line we have to run a number of detailed information can be found tools through the line to get data. One tool is a by visiting www.transmountain.com Smart-Pig (Pipeline Inspection Gauge) which

The Jasper Local: Clear something up for us: Of the two pipelines travelling through Jasper National Park, which one is active and which one will become activated when the TMEP is in operation? Kinder Morgan: In 2007 the Anchor Loop Project added an additional loop to the existing, original line from 1953, with the intention to twin the line. That section, which is almost 10 years old now but has never been turned on, will go into service with the TMEP. JL: Why wouldn’t Kinder Morgan replace a line that’s more than 60 years old? KM: Because of the way they are maintained, a pipeline generally has an infinite life. What causes pieces to be replaced are anomalies. JL: What constitutes an anomaly? What repairs might be needed to a pipeline? KM: It could be a small divot, a hole, a ding, or a dent. That could happen during construction, where a piece could have a mark. It could happen with a rock or corrosion or weather over time, which is why we run in-line inspections before they become issues. JL: What is the in-line inspection process? KM: The in-line inspection is part of our

goes inside the line and feeds information to a computer system. That will determine how much work we need to do.

JL: Many parts of the park where this pipeline travels through are far off the beaten path and are difficult to access. How do you assure the public there would be a timely response if there was ever a spill in these areas? KM: Part of our [NEB approval] conditions include response times in rural areas. We’re going to add emergency cachés or pods with equipment in those types of areas so we can have quicker response times. We’ve got pump stations on either side of Jasper; there’s equipment and staff there. JL: How many workers will be in Jasper and when will the work begin? KM: Crews will be around 10 to 15 people, and probably around 150 people over the course of 18 months. Inline testing work will begin in the spring. The actual reactivation won’t be until late 2018, once the rest of the other line is mostly built and then it won’t go into service until 2019. There will be no worker camps in Jasper. This conversation has been edited and abridged. bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

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wanted to see the scat from a dozen different species of wildlife, I’m sure you’d find plenty, post-pyrotechnic party.

I know they’re popular with the kids and obviously the city folk dig them, but next year, could you tone down the boom-

boom? I just about ran in front of a bus. Talk about deer in the headlights! Your four-legged friend, Jane Doe, Jasper

page B1 // the jasper local // issue 90 // wednesday, february 1, 2017

Local community //

SLIPPERY SLOPE // TWO TOBOGGANING HILLS IN JASPER WERE CLOSED RECENTLY AFTER A RISK ASSESSMENT DEEMED THEM UNSAFE. THE MUNICIPALITY WILL HOST A PUBLIC DISCUSSION ON THE MATTER AT 7 P.M. ON FEBRUARY 6, IN THE EMERGENCY SERVICES BUILDING. // BOB COVEY

Pleasing parents while protecting public is tough sledding All of this begs the question: did the municipality staff jump the gun? While it seems most of Facebook would agree they did, it’s important to remember the town is not necessarily taking the action to stop local sledders—i.e., those kids of parents who know the risks—but to prevent injuries or death of folks that aren’t aware of the dangers; visitors from out of town, for example. Mark Fercho, the town’s CAO, isn’t about to ignore a risk consultant’s advice, no matter how many people get upset. He defends the

“It’s frustrating for local parents who feel like the fun police rolled into town” CO-AUTHORS ERIK PAUKSTAT AND PATRICK MAHLER TACKLE JASPER’S SLIPPERIEST SUBJECT: SAFE SLEDDING

Now that a risk assessment has been commissioned by the municipality, Snapes Hill and the slope beside the Catholic Church have been deemed unsafe for sledding.

Tobogganing on either hill, for now at least, is forbidden. For Jasperites, this type of action stings, particularly at Snapes, where generations of parents have been able to rest assured that their kids aren’t far away as they burn off a bit of energy and get some fresh air. The closure may be a sign of the times, and it certainly has people rolling their eyes at our over-protective, litigious society, but the municipality is sticking to their guns and saying children’s safety is the priority.

closure as similar to a boil water advisory— i.e., take the action immediately and discuss potential mitigation later. Fercho also reminds us that there will be an opportunity to hash it out on February 6. Still, it’s frustrating for local parents who feel like the fun police rolled into town. Karen Jacobs likens sledding at Snapes Hill to playing road hockey in the street: you’ve gotta keep your head up. Wendy Hall says the spot is a recreational hub for dozens of west-Jasper children and Tina Petluk-Byrd, who’d collected more than 200 signatures on a petition to ask the municipality to reconsider the closure, says the town was too quick to react. “They haven’t considered other ways to prevent accidents,” Petluk-Byrd said. It might not seem so, but if a mechanic says your bearings are old and there’s a risk they could fail, do you still drive your family to

the city because you promised the kids a day at the waterpark? Or do you cancel the trip until you fix the problem? And let’s be honest, there is more traffic on both streets than when Jasperites who grew up in “The Good Ol’ Days” were sliding down the slopes on their wooden toboggans. It should also be noted that modern plastic sleds slide a heck of a lot faster than those ancient relics (the toboggans, not the Jasperites). It’s a bit ironic that the one sledding spot which remains open is the one with the worst track record, in terms of carnage. Centennial Park is steeper, has a lessgradual runout, and the natural bump at the bottom has been the site of many a sprained ligament, broken bone and bloody nose. But again: the risk that got Snapes Hill and the Church Hill shut down is the risk of something happening that a person wouldn’t be expecting, like a kid sliding underneath a passing car. Smacking your head after catching big air on a jump with two of your friends on the same GT Snowracer? Unfortunate, but not unexpected.

“If there’s a risk your bearings could fail, do you still drive your family to the city?” Call it a sign of the times or a bubblewrapped society, but this is the world we live in. We can do more than post our frustration on Facebook. If kids in Jasper want to hit up their favourite slopes in the future, they and their parents will have the chance to come to the table on February 6 to talk it out. with files from bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

wednesday, february 1, 2017 // issue 90 // the jasper local// page B2

Local romance //

Apres-ski, romance soars at Marmot's Eagle Chalet Late Saturday morning a green Ford sedan rolled up to my roadside perch and I opened the trunk to wedge my snowboard in amongst the hodgepodge of touring skis, x-country ski boots, snowshoes and knitting yarn. Our “first date” had been spent shivering in a tent on Maligne Lake and I was hoping to up the romance a notch with an afternoon of snowboarding followed by dinner at Marmot Basin’s Eagle Grill and Lounge. If nothing else, a couple of hours spent in the midmountain lodge would confirm whether or not she was still willing to sit close to me when preserving body heat was no longer imperative to her survival. Our first date had been spent shivering in a tent. I was hoping to up the romance a notch.

It had been a few days since the last snowfall, but the talented grooming crew at our local mountain had worked their usual magic and the conditions were ideal for smooth and speedy carving. After a handful of cruiser runs off the Eagle Express, the clouds parted and we headed to Paradise to catch the last rays of sunlight. By 3:30 p.m. I had still managed to

ATHABASCA BARNBURNER’S LIAM CULLEN PERFORMED A SOLO SHOW FOR THE JANUARY 21 EVENING AT THE EAGLE. // SUPPLIED

avoid any humiliating crashes, so I decided not to push my luck and casually suggested we slalom down to the mid-mountain for an après shred. Stomping through the doors with ruddy cheeks and birds’ nest hair, my date and I were guided to a table by the window, backdropped by the fading light on Knob Hill. Enthusiastic servers brought rejuvenating apéritifs and my charming companion carried the conversation while I weighed the merits of coq au vin and beef tenderloin. Throughout the lodge, quiet conversations gave way to relaxed laughter that echoed off the stone hearth and exposed beams. Quiet was restored, if only briefly, by the arrival of the main courses. Dessert was served with coffee and an irreverent brand of folk music delivered by the very capable

fingers and vocal chords of Liam Cullen. The gregarious multiinstrumentalist interspersed catchy tunes with genuinely funny banter. At one point he had the whole room banging on tables and singing along with the chorus. The only person singing louder than me was my date. So far, so good. The evening culminated with the final run of the day: a rare nightski down Bunny Hop. When the patrollers and ski instructors gave the signal, diners began squeezing their feet back into their boots and wondering silently whether that third glass of wine had been ill-advised. Before long, we were gathered atop fresh corduroy backlight by ski patrol ski-doos. Two-dozen well-fed skiers and boarders descended the run gently, if sometimes awkwardly, under the sparkling lights of the cosmos.

Back at the Caribou lodge we turned in our headlamps and shuffled toward the waiting bus. As we wound up toward parking lot three, I couldn’t help feeling I’d made a pretty good showing of date number two. After rattling down the bus steps and over to her car, I noticed my smiling counterpart pulling a sleeping bag out from the yard-sale clutter of her trunk and laying it across a snow bank. We sat for a long while taking in the stunning beauty that is the Jasper night sky and when she nestled in closer to me, I was reasonably sure she wasn’t just trying to stay warm. Evenings at the Eagle will move to the Caribou (lower) Chalet for the February 19, March 17 and April 15 events. Doug olthof // info@thejasperlocal.com

page b3+B4 // the jasper local // issue 90 // wednesday, february 1, 2017

PET CEMETERY // STORY BY BOB COVEY // WILDLIFE PHOTOS BY MAR

OF CATS and COYOTES

EVERY YEAR, DOZENS OF DOMESTIC CATS GO MISSING FROM JASPER YARDS. LIVING ADJACENT TO WILDERNESS HAS ITS PERKS, BUT LONGEVITY OF PETS IS NOT ONE OF THEM. WHILE NO HARD DATA EXISTS ON KITTY CONFLICTS WITH FOXES AND COYOTES, JASPERITES KNOW THAT THOSE CATS WHO VENTURE OUTSIDE ARE AT RISK OF WILDLIFE PREDATION ...

July 23, 2016. My financé Nicole and I were at a hipster diner in North Vancouver when I got a call from my roommate, Jesse.

“Hey man, Indy didn’t come home last night.” Indy was our cat. Jesse was watching him while we were away. I tried to play it cool. “He’ll turn up, he always does.” Truth be told, I was a bit anxious. Our threeyear-old tabby, who’d been living as an “outdoor cat” for the past year and a half, wasn’t used to spending the night out. He’d been away from our place for extended periods before, but he’d always found shelter. Someone would invariably take him in. I hoped the same thing had happened this time, but Nicole wasn’t so easily pacified. “I’m worried,” she said, the first of many such utterances during the proceeding two-day journey home. Nicole and I both knew that every day we let Indy outside, we were flirting with the danger that he might never come home again. We often said as much. This was part of the Jasper lifestyle, we half-joked, where the big wild is on the other side of the property line. Sure, he might one day get eaten by a predator, but Indy lived like cats were meant to live: free. Every day, he roamed the back of the Caribou Creek Co-ops like a duke surveilling his estate lands. He knew every log, dumpster and vehicle undercarriage for four blocks. He had been in half of the neighbour’s houses and was known variously to kids, dog owners and bylaw officers. He was trusting and very cute, but

INDY WAS LOVED BY MOST OF HIS NEIGHBOURS, NOT INCLUDING FOXES AND COYOTES. // BOB COVEY

could also be a total jerk, like the time he bit the hell out of Mike Greer’s hand after running into his trailer. When Indy was a kitten, we debated keeping him indoors, but I grew up with outdoor cats; PARKS CANADA DOESN’T HAVE DATA ON I had a strong ARE 20 JASPER CATS PER YEAR GET SNA predilection for the easycome, easy-go nature of letting them prowl around to their heart’s content. Although my decision wasn’t universally popular in the neighbourhood,

We both knew that every day we let Indy outside, we were flirting with the danger that he might never come home again.

like-minded pet owners solidified my resolve. Besides, once the decision was made, there was no going back: after Indy got his taste of freedom, he’d meow at the door incessantly until we’d let him out. Keeping him inside would drive us all insane, I reasoned. We even convinced ourselves that he wasn’t that keen on killing things. A billion birds per year might die because of cats but our Indy wasn’t part of the problem, I figured. That bubble burst one day when I found what I thought was one of Nicole’s earrings on the step. It wasn’t her jewelry, I discovered. It was a tiny, beautiful, iridescent hummingbird’s head. In hopes we’d nullify Indy’s stealth-mode, we bought him a collar with a bell. That got lost. We bought another. Gone the following day. Finally, Nicole fastened one of the shimmering bracelets that she bought in India around his neck. Deke, dropping off a cartoon for the paper later that week, saw our cat’s fabulous new look and burst out laughing.

RK BRADLEY, BOREAL NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY

// MARK BRADLEY//BOREAL NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY

PET AND PREDATOR CONFLICTS, BUT ROUGH ESTIMATES APPED UP. WHAT DOES THE FOX SAY? // MARK BRADLEY

Deke is an animal lover, owns multiple pets and is an old-time Jasperite who believed that we were playing with fire by allowing Indy to run all over creation. He understood our motivation for letting him outside, but encouraged us to keep a bead on the little brat by ordering a GPS device for his collar. In hindsight, it probably would have been a good thing to have, but then again, I don’t think Indy just wandered away. He liked our bed and his premium cat food too much for that. So what did happen to Indy? Our first thought was that a fellow Jasperite fell in love with him and took him in. He was very friendly cat, and this theory also gave us the most hope that we’d see him again. Soon, however, we began to suspect that he wasn’t the victim of a cat-napping, and the more likely reason for his absense was what we feared all along: a predator from the adjacent big wild. About the same time Indy went missing, our next door neighbour spotted a coyote in our shared backyard. That was enough to give us pause, but something didn’t add up for me. How could Indy, who was as quick as…well…a cat, fall victim to a loping, comparatively leadfooted coyote? Instead, my theory centred on another oft-seen, fluffy-tailed hunter: the red fox. I’d seen one in my neighbourhood recently, and not long before that, a friend spotted a fox which had chased a cat under a car. Foxes’ swift speed, coupled with the fact that the animals I’d seen exhibited extremely bold behaviour, made me think that this was the cat killer. But then I talked to the experts. First Mark Bradley, a wildlife specialist with Parks Canada, then Steve Malcolm, another park

specialist who focuses on human-wildlife conflicts. Both men were putting their money on the coyotes, reasoning that red foxes are too small to take down anything larger than a kitten. I’ve spoken to several people about their experiences losing their beloved fur balls. When Courtenay Davidson’s cat Delila failed to report, she knew something was wrong. She is still holding hope that her long-haired princess will come back, but it’s been more than five months, two of which were mired in a deep freeze. Rena O’Brien found evidence her cat had a “natural” death when she found its collar on a trail near her home, and Dawson Turner had a similar experience, finding his cat Pumpkin’s collar on the Pyramid Bench. Malcolm and Bradley don’t have a lot of data on coyotes or foxes—or cats becoming the lunch thereof. Malcolm guesses that at least 20 cats go missing each year from the community and he suspects the four or five coyotes that show up on his perimetre trail cameras are the culprits. Bradley, who has cats of his own, says simply: “If you want to avoid this type of thing don’t let your cat out.” I suppose I’m still of two minds when it comes to cats and living next to wildlife. I realize that outdoor cats contribute to the problem of bringing predators close to town, but there’s something heartbreaking about a life spent indoors. With apologies to the bird and small mammal populations, irritated neighbours and local bylaw, if I had to do it over again, I think I’d let him roam. Bob Covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

DELILAH WENT MISSING IN AUGUST. HER OWNER STILL HOLDS OUT HOPE FOR HER RETURN// COURTENAY DAVIDSON

page B5 // the jasper local // issue 90 // wednesday, february 1, 2017

Local celebrity //

Jennifer Heil: Athlete, ambassador, advocate skiing a little over one year after what had been a very challenging 2009-2010 season. That year, Heil had been favoured to become the first Canadian to win an Olympic gold medal on Canadian soil. In the event, she came up just shy, taking second place to the USA’s Hannah Kearney. The following year, however, she went on to become FIS World Champion in both moguls and dual moguls and retired with plenty left in the tank.

“Tall.”

It’s not a word you would associate with the discipline of mogul skiing, where top athletes jackhammer down the courses at a rate of up to three moguls per second and launch off short-transition jumps to throw off-axis spins and full-rotation flips. Neither would you necessarily associate the word with Jennifer Heil, the Olympic Gold Medalist and five-time overall World Cup Champion freestyler skier from Spruce Grove, Alberta who stands about 5’4”. And yet, when I asked her what kind of thoughts pass through a mogulist’s mind as they missile down those difficult and dangerous courses, she mentioned “tall” as a key word that athletes like herself use to draw themselves back to the fundamental principals of execution they have practiced with exacting dedication. As much as an adjective, “tall” can be an attitude. It’s one that Heil has exhibited from the tops of podiums and around the world – from Burkina Faso to Bangladesh – as an ambassador for such laudable campaigns as Right to Play and Because I am a Girl. Beyond her very impressive athletic accolades, it was her commitment to supporting the aspirations of young female athletes around the world that led to Heil being named one of Canada’s most influential women by the Canadian Association for Women and Sport and Physical Activity in 2013. When I spoke to her on a gloriously sunny Saturday afternoon at Marmot Basin’s Caribou Lodge, her compassion, intensity and intellect were hard to miss. Heil was back in Jasper to take a few runs with young skiers as part of Marmot Basin’s promotional campaign for Jasper in January. When I first met her, she was signing autographs and taking photos with a gaggle of bright eyed young twoplankers, encouraging the star-struck skiers to “dream big.” She certainly

// AFTER RETIRING FROM SKIING, JENNIFER HEIL HAS FOCUSED ON PHILANTHROPIC VENTURES AND MENTORING YOUNG ATHLETES. // JENNIFERHEIL.COM

skiing, and if you don’t have that passion, none of the training is worth it.” Marmot Basin, she said, gave her the chance to take her skiing to the next level. As Heil recalls, those early training camps were about fun and adventure, but soon the training became more goal-oriented. In her early teen years, she learned the importance of visualization to success in the discipline of mogul skiing. From the age of 16 onward, she never did a run down a mogul course without first visualizing her precise fall-line turns and big, technical airs. That process of visualization, she soon learned, was as valuable in other aspects of life as it was in sport. Success is often a matter of visualizing the most elegant and efficient line through life’s obstacles and then executing that vision.

// HEIL DURING HER SILVER MEDAL RUN AT THE 2010 VANCOUVER OLYMPICS. HEIL GREW UP SKIING AT JASPER’S MARMOT BASIN. // JENNIFERHEIL.COM

had. By age nine, she told me, she had already decided she wanted to be an Olympic champion. She just wasn’t sure which sport she would choose. Skiing was an obvious answer. Her father, Randy, introduced her to the

‘‘I’ve been in skis for 31 years and I feel as lucky now as I did then.” sport at the tender age of two and from there she became involved with the Edmonton Ski Club. It was here in Jasper, however, that her love of skiing truly blossomed. “Quite honestly,” she confided, “[Marmot Basin] is where I fell in love with

That is the kind of lesson that Heil has tried to pass on to young athletes since retiring from competitive

After retirement, Heil began focusing her attention on philanthropic ventures and mentoring young athletes. She began hosting an annual girls-only mogul camp that aims to tailor its approach to the experience of young female athletes. “As we know,” she told me, “across all sports the experience for boys and girls is very different, and we need to coach differently.” As a role model for young women, however, Heil offers more than skiing tips. During our lunch at Marmot Basin, for example, she pointed to a screen showing millions of women around the world protesting against the USA’s contentious new administration. She explained to the young women at our table the importance of defending the hardwon progress for which so many of their foremothers had sacrificed. Her words were delivered with surety and sincerity that, I can only assume, are characteristic of champions. These days, Spruce Gove’s worldbeating daughter resides in North Vancouver where she is raising two young boys. She remains a very active athlete, skiing in the deep snowpack of the coastal mountains and surfing the frigid breaks of Vancouver Island. “I’ve been in skis for 31 years” she noted, “and I feel as lucky now as I did then.” She expressed deep gratitude to all the people who rallied around and support her Olympic dream, but I sensed no hint of regret that her competitive days are behind her. “My race now,” she said, “is chasing after my boys.” Doug olthof // info@thejasperlocal.com

THE JASPER PARK CYCLING ASSOCIATION IS A LOCAL VOLUNTEER ASSOCIATION REPRESENTING ALL DISCIPLINES OF CYCLING WITHIN JASPER NATIONAL PARK. WE’VE PARTNERED WITH THE JASPER LOCAL TO BRING YOU BI-WEEKLY CYCLING TIPS TO HELP YOU ENJOY RIDING IN JASPER.

THE BIG TIRES ON FAT BIKES GIVE THEM A VERY DIFFERENT FEEL FROM OTHER BIKES. The benefit is a much bigger footprint, which provides better

grip, comfort, and shock absorption. Similar to how a cross country skier chooses different wax for different temperatures, one of the key things about riding a fat bike is selecting a tire pressure that matches the current conditions. The trick is to find the balance where traction is good but the rolling resistance isn’t bogging you down. A general guideline is to start at 8 psi for soft conditions (with some people running as low as 4 psi), 12-15 psi for trail riding, and 20-25 psi for pavement. If you find you’re having trouble keeping traction, drop a little pressure. If you add pressure and you’re starting to get that bouncy

tractor feel to the ride, your pressure is probably a touch high. Even a minimal change of 1-2 psi can make a significant difference to the way the bike handles. Next time you’re out on your fat bike or take a rental for a spin, bring a pump with you and take the time to play around with your tire pressure and find out what works for your setup and the conditions of the trail.

wednesday, february 1, 2017 // issue 90 // the jasper local// page B6

Local history //

Royal Scottish Blood in the Canadian Wilderness and his colleagues were expected to do what they could. The rangers lived in cabins, scattered here and there and connected by telephone. To assist them, a pack train of 15 or 20 horses were kept ready at Old Entrance during the months when fire risk was high.

James Shand-Harvey was quite different from the typical Canadian pioneer. He was a lineal descendant of the Royal House of Stewart, which ruled Scotland and England. In his youth, he used to have tea at Windsor Castle with Queen Victoria and her grandson, who was his friend.

Shand-Harvey was a good friend of the Metis and Aboriginal communities. In 1912, he vigorously defended the rights of Jasper’s displaced Metis who were trying to retain their settlement lands in Grande Cache. Earlier, he had personally witnessed a firm promise by a federal agent that these folks could settle on lands of their choice outside of the park.

Shand-Harvey was Eton-educated and a commissioned military officer. At age 25, he came to Canada seeking adventure. He stepped off the train in Edmonton with 500 pounds sterling and a return ticket. His education had given him a good knowledge of the math needed for survey computations, so he took a job with Dominion Land Surveyors. He sold his return ticket, and used the money to buy a rifle and a horse. Shand-Harvey had a variety of other jobs, including packing freight, prospecting, trapping, guiding tourists, and working as a forest ranger in the summers. By 1911, he was a seasoned packer and guide, escorting pack trains from Swift’s Ranch over the Moose River Trail to Mount Robson for Curly Phillips. His clients included climbers like the legendary George Kinney and members of the Smithsonian Institute such as A.O. Wheeler and Byron Harmon.

James Shand-Harvey died in 1968. He was mentally alert and conversant on any topic ‘til the end. He is buried in Hinton. // JAMES SHAND-HARVEY CAME TO CANADA SEEKING ADVENTURE. HE FOUND PLENTY IN JASPER.// ARCHIVES CANADA

other (this cabin can still be seen in Old Entrance). Shand-Harvey would pack in supplies and set caches from September to October, work his trapline from November to February, pack out furs from February to

Stuart Taylor // Stuart Taylor is an amateur historian and member of Hinton Town Council. Let him know what you think of his historical features or suggest another subject for him to cover. Email: info@thejasperlocal.com

“Shand-Harvey had a variety of jobs, including packing freight, prospecting, trapping, guiding tourists and forest ranger.”

For many years, Shand-Harvey trapped from his cabin north of Entrance near Moberly Creek. He relished his complete freedom. His home cabin, at Old Entrance, had a bed at one end and shelves filled with the writings of English authors at the

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April, and relax from May to August with a bit of guiding or prospecting. As a ranger, Shand-Harvey fought fires in the summer. Fire prevention and firefighting were in their infancy, but he

// JMYA PA 31-41 // JASPER YELLOWHEAD MUSEUM & ARCHIVES