Nisga’a land woos Nass Valley tourists with parks, art

Imagine celebrating Canada Day in an independent nation surrounded on all sides by, well, Canada. If your guess is la belle province, think again. In 2000, after more than a century of negotiations, the Nisga’a signed the first modern-day treaty—the Nisga’a Final Agreement—negotiated with the federal government. Since then, the Nisga’a Lisims government based in New Aiyansh, about 150 kilometres north of Terrace, has overseen four traditional villages whose 2,500 inhabitants occupy the heart of the Nass Valley. Welcome to Nisga’a Land.

The mighty Nass River flows through the valley as smoothly as molten lava did about 270 years ago in a fiery volcanic eruption. We spent much of Canada Day exploring the Nass—the anglicized version of Lisims—in the company of Kim Morrison, chief operating officer for Nisga’a Commercial Group Tourism, now in its second year of operation. Morrison, of Mohawk ancestry, was pleasantly surprised by the 150-percent visitor increase over the past year, spurred in large part by school groups from as far afield as Toronto. “Our staff have been working full-time since May, even though I thought they’d only be needed on weekends,” the dynamo admitted. “Last year was stepping off the edge for the Nisga’a after years of tourism feasibility studies. This job suits me because I’m all about living on the edge.”

Presently, most visitors are drawn to the area to explore Nisga’a Memorial Lava Bed Provincial Park—also tongue-twistingly named Anhluut’ukwsim Laxmihl Angwinga’asanskwhl Nisga’a Provincial Park—on a 12-stop, self-guided auto tour. For Morrison, that’s just the beginning. “We’re building three backcountry fly-in lodges on the Cambria Icefields in Nisga’a traditional territory near Stewart, with a 36-kilometre trail system that leads through four different environments with bikers, hikers, paddlers, snowshoers, and backcountry skiers in mind. The first will open by the end of next year with an all-Nisga’a staff.” In a frank admission, Morrison said she herself doesn’t plan to be around in five years. “I want to work my way out of a job and have a Nisga’a in my place.”

One person who has already worked his way into a leadership role within the new nation is hereditary chief and carver Alver Tait. When we visited Tait at his studio in the village of Laxgalts’ap, or Greenville, he was in the midst of preparing the first of four dugout canoes to be launched by summer’s end. “My home is in New Aiyansh, but this village hired me to train eight apprentices in traditional carving techniques,” the Order of British Columbia recipient said. Alver, younger brother of noted carver Norman Tait, recently journeyed to Austria to raise a ceremonial pole the Canadian government had commissioned to honour the Vienna Zoo’s 250th anniversary. “These canoes represent a revival of one of the most important symbols to our people, who journeyed between winter and summer camps for gathering food like oolichan, cockles, sea lions, and salmon.” In the future, Tait’s eight apprentices will take their place as the principal canoe carvers. “Norman taught me how to design and shape a canoe in 1980, which we eventually paddled from Prince Rupert to Gingolx, or Kinkolith. It’s been a long time coming. We were working on our own then, nothing like today, where we have apprentices.”

According to Tait, fortunes changed with the founding of Nisga’a Land. “It takes a lot of money to find the trees, fell them, and move them to the carving shed. The old growth is getting harder to source.” In addition to the canoes, Alver is also carving four house poles to be installed at the new Nisga’a Museum taking shape nearby, where longhouses will honour the nation’s four principal clans: raven, wolf, eagle, and whale.

In B.C.’s northwest region, travellers seek out carvers in the same way they tour wineries in the Okanagan. The effects are similar: well-executed carvings can have as heady an impact on the central nervous system as wine. Bear this in mind as you work your way around the park and beyond. Although the carving shed in Laxgalts’ap, which is open to the public daily, is the ideal place to witness the creative process, take time to also view the four ceremonial poles that dominate the entrance to the municipal hall in New Aiyansh, as well as a similarly sized pole topped by a human figure holding a rainbow that fronts the Nisga’a Lisims government building farther uphill. Festooned to an almost baroque degree with swirling designs, the poles’ impacts are heightened to mind-altering degrees by their outdoor settings on terraces at the feet of glaciated peaks that wall the valley. And although exploring the lava fields that spread in a wide swath through the park is the main attraction, an equally attractive activity is paddling the freshwater lakes on whose surfaces the peaks are reflected to an even higher degree of impressiveness.

In total, Nisga’a Land encompasses 2,000 square kilometres of territory. Don’t be intimidated. No passports are required. Set aside at least a full day just to explore the park and adjacent villages. You’ll never look at Canada the same way again.

Access: The Nass Valley, including Nisga’a Memorial Lava Bed Provincial Park, is located 1,525 kilometres north of Vancouver via Terrace. Detailed information is available from the Nisga’a Commercial Group Tourism, 1-866-633-2696 or www.ncgtourism.ca/. For information on surrounding communities, including Terrace, call 1-866-615-7205 or visit www.kermodeitourism.ca/.

Original Article
Text CR Jack Christie
Photo CR Louise Christie

Tossup between two lakes along the Sea to Sky corridor

Just as grass is always greener in neighbouring back yards, lake water is always bluer the next valley over. At least that seems to be the case along the Sea to Sky corridor. With the advent of hot weather, droves of city dwellers turn their backs on the Salish Sea and head north to picnic and camp on the shores of Alice Lake north of Squamish. In turn, local residents there, as well as from Whistler and Pemberton, pack picnic hampers and journey farther up the highway to Birkenhead Lake, north of Pemberton and Garibaldi Provincial Park.

It’s a tough call as to which of the two lakes makes a better choice. Alice Lake’s waterfront is certainly more urban, in a manicured kind of way, with the added advantages of warmer swimming plus an expansive network of footpaths and cycling trails. On the other hand, Birkenhead Lake is far larger with more rugged surroundings to charm paddlers and anglers alike. And for the first time this year, running water is available at its campsites, marking the end of the hand-pump era. As for popularity, it’s a tossup. Reservations at each provincial park are strongly recommended. Trust me. When the Georgia Straight visited Birkenhead Lake at the start of the Victoria Day weekend, the park was full; only a few spots remained in the tightly spaced overflow section.

Although Alice Lake offers the convenience of proximity to Metro Vancouver, if travel time is not an issue, the three-hour drive to Birkenhead Lake beyond Squamish offers a wealth of rewards along the way. Minutes north of Alice Lake, spectacular views of the Tantalus Range, a massive wall of glaciated peaks, unfold to the west of the highway above the Squamish Valley. Beyond Whistler, traffic thins noticeably. Nothing tops the release of making your way out of the mountains through Pemberton before following the historic Gold Rush Trail route—now a paved road—as it winds and climbs alongside the Birkenhead River toward D’Arcy.

In contrast to Alice, where little of the circular lake is concealed, Birkenhead is far more outstretched. Much of its southern half is hidden from view of the park’s sandy beach at the north end. By land, the best way to see the lake and surrounding peaks unfold is to follow a six-kilometre portion of the Sea to Sky Trail that leads above the north shore. The trail lends itself just as readily to cycling as walking, though be prepared to shoulder your bike when rock-hopping across a creek or two. Either coming or going, those on foot would do well to loop along the two-kilometre Lakeside Trail that links the campground with a grove of old-growth Douglas fir and the Sea to Sky Trail above. Encouraged by the wind, trunks of sagging snags rub together, eliciting deep groans from the forest canopy. Find a sheltered spot on the beach in front of the grove where you can admire Birkenhead Mountain’s three peaks, which rise in graceful ascendancy. Other than here and at the park’s beach—replete with picnic tables, an off-leash dog area, and a boat launch—access points to the lake are scarce for those on foot.

Far more numerous vantage points await those who explore the lake by water. Set out early in the day to paddle to the southern end before a predictable breeze disturbs the glassy surface. Pull in to picnic and sunbathe where avalanche chutes have created gravel bars. From these, you can admire the spires of Sun God Mountain dominant to the south and mounts Gandalf and Shadowfax to the north. Even better, come ashore on the sandbar where Sockeye Creek flows into the lake’s midpoint. Competition for these prime spots is as avid as that for the Dolly Varden char sought by anglers bobbing off the mouth of the creek.

Whether you find yourself at Alice or Birkenhead lakes, one thing is certain: the implicit reward of exploring either is the discovery that, yes, the greens of the forest and the blues of the lakes surpass anything on offer in your back yard.

Access: Alice Lake Provincial Park lies 72 kilometres north of Vancouver, just east of Highway 99 in Squamish. Birkenhead Lake lies a farther 153 kilometres north, 219 kilometres from Vancouver. A fee of $24 per night is charged for each of Alice Lake’s 108 campsites and $15 per night for Birkenhead’s 79 spaces. To make campsite reservations, call 604-689-9025.

Text CR Jack Christie
Photo CR Louise Christie
Original Article

Deer Lake Park offers an escape to city dwellers

As quiet refuges go, Burnaby’s Deer Lake Park defies the odds. Traffic on nearby thoroughfares conspires against tranquility, or so one might think. Thankfully, a forested buffer zone mitigates all but the distant hum of rubber tires. At this time of year, bird calls—such as a varied thrush’s single, sustained note—predominate. So, too, do sounds of human hilarity as novice paddlers struggle to synchronize their strokes to avoid colliding with other watercraft clustered offshore of the park’s boat rental facility.

No kayak or canoe experience? No problem. Deer Lake is the ideal learning environment. If you come with a boat in tow, so much the better. The shallow beach beside the parking lot at the lake’s eastern end is the perfect place to hand launch one. With the exception of model speedboats, only nonmotorized craft are sanctioned. Just mind the gaggle of Canada geese, interspersed with colourfully-coiffed red-breasted mergansers, who jostle for handouts. The diminutive lake spreads before you with little hidden from view. Modest sandbars extend from the open fields that rise above the western shore and beckon for closer inspection. If you set a good pace, you can circle the lake in little more than a half-hour. But what’s the rush? Make like the anglers who, having set their lines, sit back and quietly bide their time between nibbles and strikes.

As seen from the lake, North Shore peaks dominate the horizon above the trees. Even finer mountain views appear if you walk the recently opened pathway along the lake’s southern bank. In fact, to fully enjoy this nature sanctuary, combine the two approaches. Once you’ve paddled the perimeter, come ashore and explore two of the attractive homes glimpsed from the water.

Over the past half-century, as part of a long-term community vision to acquire all the private properties around the lake, the park has expanded from 10 hectares in the mid-1940s to more than 10 times that size now. Burnaby’s heritage planner, Jim Wolf, explained that in the process of transitioning Deer Lake into a public waterfront park, the city acquired the largest precinct of heritage properties of any urban centre in Canada. “The city now owns 35 heritage sites around the lake, from small cottages to an Arthur Erickson–designed home, with only four or five private properties left in the acquisition plan,” he said. “This all started as a dream in 1912 after the Oakalla lands were turned into a prison. The idea really coalesced in the 1960s among citizens and the municipality. In future, this will be Burnaby’s Stanley Park.”

When appraising Erickson’s two-storey, post-and-beam Baldwin House, tucked into the woods beside Deer Lake, the Hermetic dictum, “As above, so below,” likely will take on an entirely new interpretation. Completed in 1965, the pavilion-style home is a world removed from Erickson’s concrete magnum opus atop Burnaby Mountain, Simon Fraser University, which opened that same year. In order to preserve the house, as well as the nearby Eagles Estate, Wolf detailed how Burnaby partnered with the Victoria-based Land Conservancy. “Getting [the conservancy] to establish their regional office here has given us so much more scope to share the park with everyone.”

After one look at Baldwin House, who wouldn’t want to spend a few days relaxing there? As it turns out, that’s entirely possible. At the neighbouring Eagles Estate heritage garden, the Land Conservancy’s regional director, Tamsin Baker, described how the nonprofit land trust had been looking for office space when approached by the City of Burnaby. In 2003, conservancy staff moved into the 1930s-era home built for Violet and Blythe Eagles. In 2005, a similar arrangement to acquire the Baldwin House followed suit. “Renting special places like the Baldwin House is the way we connect people with the work we do. We now own five properties spread around the province with a new one in Tofino slated to become available by year’s end.”

Whether you simply take a day trip or enjoy a weekend getaway at Baldwin House in Deer Lake Park, make sure to stop by Eagles Estate. Interpretive tours of the home’s interior are offered during weekday office hours. No matter when you visit, savour the tranquility that pervades the heritage garden, recently restored to its former glory. “When we moved in, the yard was covered with ivy and blackberry bushes,” Baker said. “It was a mess.” With patient tending from local volunteers, the garden has reemerged from the overgrowth to once again display its original elegance. To fully appreciate the renaissance, simply sit beneath one of the blossoming trees where the hillside falls away to the lake below and revel in this tranquil legacy.

Access: Deer Lake Park lies six kilometres east of Vancouver in Burnaby. The main entrance to the park is located just south of the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1). Take the Canada Way exit (#33). Turn left on Canada Way and immediately right on Sperling Avenue to Deer Lake Park. An alternative approach leads east from a parking area on Royal Oak Avenue between Kingsway and Canada Way. For bus information, phone TransLink at 604-953-3333 or visit TransLink’s Web site. The park is wheelchair accessible. For a map and further information, call the Burnaby Parks and Recreation office at 604-294-7450. To learn more about heritage preservation in Burnaby, visit www.heritageburnaby.ca/. For details on the Land Conservancy, including rental rates on the Baldwin House, call 604-733-2313. For details on boat rentals at Deer Lake, phone 604-839-3949.

Text CR Jack Christie
Photo CR Louise Christie.
Original Article

Location is key for scenic Puget Sound forts

Long before Johnny Cash popularized the song “Ring of Fire”, U.S. naval tacticians constructed a triangle of fire at the mouth of Washington state’s Admiralty Inlet, within sight of Victoria and the southern Lower Mainland. Over a century ago, three forts—Casey, Flagler, and Worden—were built there overlooking Puget Sound’s northern entrance, where the straits of Georgia, Juan de Fuca, and Haro converge. Woe betide an enemy vessel that strayed into the crossfire of artillery mounted at the forts.

Fact is, none ever did. About three decades after the forts were built, technological innovations, chiefly the advent of aviation, neutered their effectiveness. No longer was Seattle imperilled, at least by threat from sea. Still, it was two decades before the U.S. military abandoned the forts. When they did, in the 1950s, Washington state officials stepped in and, in a move akin to turning swords into plowshares, rendered the properties into parkland.

In a state where public waterfront is at a premium, that was a mighty coup indeed. Not only did the citizenry of the Evergreen State benefit, so did denizens north of the Peace Arch border crossing. All three forts lie within easy getaway distance from Vancouver. Before the onset of summer vacation, when the parks teem with campers, now is a good time to plan a visit.

At first blush, you may wonder what would compel you to brave a border crossing just to visit an old fort. Once you’ve seen the forts for yourself and experienced the natural beauty of the settings the three share, you’ll understand the triangle’s strategic importance. Although none sport battlements to rival the ramparts of Quebec City, the panoramic landscape in which they nestle—capped by mounts Baker and Rainier—offers more than ample reason for exploration. Although Fort Casey State Park on Whidbey Island lies within comfortable striking distance for day-trippers from Vancouver, Fort Flagler, on Marrowstone Island, and Fort Worden on the nearby Olympic Peninsula offer overnight options. These range from campgrounds at the two state parks to resorts and heritage bed-and-breakfasts in Port Townsend and nearby Port Ludlow, affordably priced even if the Canadian dollar has retracted from last year’s dizzying rally against its greenback counterpart.

A common characteristic of the shoreline shared by the landscapes surrounding forts Casey and Flagler, as well as many of the islands in northern Puget Sound, are smooth-faced cliffs similar to those at Point Grey. All three state parks feature kilometres of fine-gravelled beaches paired with endless views. On the Whidbey Island side, kids will delight in clambering around the old gun mounts and restored lighthouse at Fort Casey. The bluffs rising high above the beach are a fascinating backdrop to this wind-swept area. The Olympic Peninsula lies directly across the water to the west. On a clear day, the jagged, snowcapped peaks of Hurricane Ridge stand out sharply. As seen from the opposite side of Admiralty Inlet at forts Worden and Flagler, a long line of peaks extend from the north shore and Mount Baker’s smooth south face to Mount Rainier’s distinctively shaped volcanic snowcone near Seattle.

The best place to take this all in is from a bike seat or a boat. Although Whidbey Island features an extensive network of pedal paths around Fort Casey, rip tides incited by the convergence of currents deter boaters on Whidbey Island’s shoreline. The paddle option is only recommended on the Olympic Peninsula side of the inlet, particularly the clear, shallow waters surrounding Fort Flagler’s Marrowstone Point, named by Captain George Vancouver for the soft clay cliffs that define the shoreline. Whether you paddle from one of the park’s launch ramps or walk the perimeter of the point, the ever-changing views are a constant source of wonder.

Consider renting a kayak either at Port Townsend’s tourist-thronged waterfront or at the far quieter Port Ludlow nearby. Launch at Port Ludlow’s marina and enjoy an hour or two paddling around Ludlow Bay. This region has long been known as the wooden-boat capital of the Pacific Northwest. There’s plenty to ogle from a water-level vantage point. In Port Ludlow, the sight of a majestic schooner—the W.N. Ragland—dwarfs all else. Once owned by Neil Young, who named it for his grandfather, its twin masts, with riggings strung like spider webs, tower 32 metres above a broad, sloping deck ( also see companion article posted in our “News” section). Because the sheltered bay lies on the lee side of the Olympic Mountains, barely a breeze ruffles the Ragland’s reflection on the bay’s surface. Only passing river otters dare disturb the scene. Launched in 1913 as the Lilli—her “born” name—she originally saw service as a rock hauler in the Baltic Sea. Since the late 1970s, she’s been a rock hauler of a different sort, one that inspired Young to write, “As long as we can sail away, there’ll be wind in the canyon, moon on the rise, as long as we can sail away.”

Access: Fort Casey lies 190 kilometres south of Vancouver via I-5 and Highway 20. Take Exit 230 in Mount Vernon–Burlington. Washington State Ferries links to Port Townsend–Fort Worden from Keystone on Whidbey Island, a 30-minute crossing. Reservations are strongly advised. Regional tourism information is available from Washington State Tourism. Fort Flagler lies 30 kilometres south of Port Townsend near Port Ludlow. For information on the W.N. Ragland, visit www.wnragland.com. Visit www.portludlowresort.com for kayak- and bike-rental rates.

Text CR Jack Christie
Photo CR Louise Christie
Original Article

Haida Gwaii’s waters run deep

A kayak trip through the stunning Haida Gwaii islands stays with you long after the last paddle

Ottawa-based songwriter Ian Tamblyn put it best in his composition “Woodsmoke and Oranges”: “There’s something about this country that’s a part of me and you.” All it takes is one visit to a place like Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site to viscerally confirm that. Just start paddling and see for yourself. You’ll get shivers from the thought that this domain belongs to everyone.

Vast natural riches are spread above and below the tidemarks of 200 islands strewn throughout the southern third of Haida Gwaii (also known as the Queen Charlotte Islands). To float at low tide through Burnaby Narrows—properly called Dolomite Narrows—is to drift through a marine dream world. Colourful colonies of whitecap limpets, red turban snails, blue topsnails, and giant plumose anemones spread below the surface and climb the sides of the winding, shallow, kilometre-long channel that separates Moresby and Burnaby islands. Palm-sized red rock crabs scuttle through patches of seaweed that sprout like leaf lettuce. Nurtured by a constant flow of oxygen and nutrients, green, red, and brown algae lend even more hues to the intertidal palette.

Biologist Duane Sept spent a decade studying this remarkable ecosystem. On the phone from his home on the Sunshine Coast, Sept asserted that preserving this marine habitat in 1987 was a great service. “There’s more protein per square centimetre here than anywhere else. Burnaby Narrows in particular is rated as having the highest density of living matter on Earth.’

Such lush scenes set national parks apart from the normal space-time continuum. Removed from all signs of human habitation, you feel as if you’ve suddenly arrived on another plane. A tingling begins in your toes and climbs to the nape of your neck, signaling an elevated state of mind. Higher ground, indeed.

As Sept observed: “There are a few other such narrows along the West Coast, but nothing to compare with what you’ll find at Burnaby”—which is why you’d be well advised to pack along a copy of Sept’s newly revised full-colour The Beachcomber’s Guide to Seashore Life in the Pacific Northwest (Harbour, $26.95) to help make sense of the wealth on display.

As you lift your eyes from the glassy aquascape, Yatza Mountain rises to the west, one of a rolling series of peaks in the San Christoval Range that culminates in the 1,164-metre Mount Moresby, whose snowcapped crown stands as a reminder that even in the midst of summer it’s wise to keep a tuque and warm gloves handy. In July and August, the two months when fair weather favours paddlers on the Northwest Coast, temperatures generally hover 10 degrees below what Vancouver experiences.

Prolonged stretches of sunshine can never be taken for granted in the “Misty Isles’. A VHF radio is invaluable for staying abreast of weather forecasts. In fact, listening to updated reports offers riveting after-dinner entertainment and provides a crucial link with the water taxis that whisk groups of kayakers to and from the park and with the Haida Gwaii Watchmen staff stationed at five historic villages within the national park and heritage site.

Haida roots run millennia deep here. So when a watchman offers a suggestion or a word of advice, such as where to find sheltered campsites or sources of fresh water, it’s conveyed with authority. Teams of four watchmen work monthly shifts at each site, from Hlk’yah GaawGa, or Windy Bay, on Lyell Island—where Native-led logging protests in the 1980s resulted in the preservation of a 1,475-square-kilometre tract as national park—to Nang Sdins Llnagaay, or Ninstints, on Anthony Island, off the wind-whipped southwest coast.

By far the park’s most sought-out natural feature, besides Burnaby Narrows, are the hot springs on Gandll K’in Gwaayyayy. This island is a must-see for many reasons, especially near the end of a paddle journey, when you’ve been without the benefit of a warm shower. A state of constant dampness, if not outright wringing wetness, is the reality of sea kayaking near the rain forest. The only places you can bank on having warm feet are in a dry sleeping bag and in these naturally hot pools.

Just observe the protocol of only 12 visitors at a time and you’ll be welcomed ashore by the likes of Eric Olson, whose grandfather built the first watchman cabin here in the early 1980s. “I’ve been a watchman since before there were watchmen,’ he said when visited in his carving shed in July.

As an artist with a growing reputation in the Lower Mainland, Olson spends a month or more each year creating masks in the original cabin where watchmen first bunked. Accommodation these days is far less rustic. Newer, more spacious quarters nearby feature solar-powered appliances and a composting toilet. “What brings me back from logging?’ the 45-year-old Olson wondered aloud as he gazed around Juan Perez Sound, where humpback and grey whales were breaching. “How could I not come back?’

Transporting visitors around the park most often falls to Heron Weir and his partner, Laura Pattison, who run Moresby Explorers, an outfitting and guiding company based in Sandspit, on Moresby Island’s northeast corner. At the wheel of a Zodiac water taxi powered by twin 200-horsepower outboard motors, with eight kayaks lashed on top, Weir told the Straight that his favourite time to visit the national park is May and June. “There are obnoxious numbers of whales around then—hundreds, mostly humpbacks,’ the lifelong island resident said.

National parks are celebrated for wildlife. Twenty species of whales, dolphins, and porpoises swim the waters of Gwaii Haanas, along with Steller sea lions and seals. Black bears, sleek river otters, shy Sitka black-tailed deer, and a host of raptors and seabirds work the shorelines and sheltering forest, where spongy, emerald-green mosses thickly carpet the open floor, as smooth as snowdrifts.

Spring is the best time to begin planning the logistics for a self-supported visit or to book a guided tour. Every Canadian should have the opportunity to venture here at least once. It’s our birthright. Just don’t all come at once. Hardly seeing another human soul is an integral part of experiencing Gwaii Haanas. When you do return home, the space-time continuum will never seem quite the same again. Part of you will always be floating here, on the boundary of the world.

ACCESS: Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site can be reached by boat or floatplane only. Parks Canada information, including mandatory visitor orientation times, is available on-line or by calling 1-250-559-8818.

B.C. Ferries sailings to Skidegate Landing and Alliford Bay are posted at www.bcferries.com. Air Canada Jazz flies twice daily between YVR and Sandspit, on Moresby Island. The average cost per person for the two-hour flight ranges between $500 and $800, plus taxes.

For general information on Haida Gwaii, visit www.qcinfo.ca/ or www.queencharlotteislandsguide.com/. Moresby Explorers offers water-taxi service, boat tours, and kayak rentals (1-800-806-7633), as does Queen Charlotte Adventures (1-800-668-4288).

July and August are the best months to explore Haida Gwaii. However, the ocean waters around it are bone-chilling year-round. When paddling, a wet suit is a must, as are basic safety skills, such as self-rescue. Preparation for exploring Gwaii Haanas National Park by sea kayak should include a session in capsize recovery. For information on spring courses, visit www.ecomarine.com.

Text CR Jack Christie

Photo CR Louise Christie

Original Article

Spring break in a day: here are four fun ways

Nothing says “March” like the advent of spring school break. When you’re looking to free yourself from winter’s bonds, there’s no need to venture far from home in Metro Vancouver. Vernal greenery and good times are on welcome display at every turn. With those rewards foremost in mind,  here are a quartet of day trips for spring-break outings.

First up: South Surrey’s Redwood Park, replete with some of the best natural hide-and-seek stashes around. A grove of towering coast redwoods dominates the ridge above historic North Bluff Road, or 16th Avenue, in the Hazelmere Valley. Almost a century old, the park’s anchor tenants, members of the world’s tallest tree species, still have a ways to go before they match their record-holding cousins in Northern California, the tallest of which top out at more than 100 metres.

No matter. The redwoods’ drooping skirts encircle them and brush against each other like a troupe of Sufi dancers. As French writer Colette observed, children only value that which can be hidden. In this evergreen realm, secret alcoves abound. And not just on the ground. Look up and you’ll spy a bachelor pad–sized tree house, a replica of the one inhabited for decades by the park’s former owners, brothers David and Peter Brown. During their lifetimes, the twins planted redwoods, plus 32 additional species, on their property.

When the City of Surrey turned the Browns’ arboretum into parkland, efforts were made to attract families, including expanding a kids’ playground. That’s where the Georgia Straight met Abbotsford photographer Jeff Andrews with four of his 10 children. “Since my wife, Gisela, gave birth to triplets in April,” he said, “we’re going to be taking things day to day on spring break.” No doubt Redwood Park figures large in their plans, especially as Andrews’s in-laws conveniently live directly opposite the park. A detailed profile of Redwood Park is included in my guide 52 Best Day Trips from Vancouver . The City of Surrey Web page also has detailed directions.

If you live on an island ringed with dikes, it’s easy to be lured onto a bike and to simply start rolling along. Richmond’s portion of Lulu Island boasts a sinuous 47.5-kilometre network of sea-level pathways. Some stretches touch historic landmarks, such as London Farm in Steveston, where the first Europeans began the dike-building effort. Other sections, like Middle Arm Trail, pass beside the latest city attraction, Richmond’s Olympic speed-skating oval, with its massive exterior panelling designed by Musqueam artist Susan Point.

Accenting a bike ride here are numerous other public-art installations inspired by the Fraser River’s proximity. Watch for a waterfall through which a metallic school of salmon swims. The best place to stage a visit is Richmond River Park beside the No. 2 Road Bridge, or one of the numerous pullouts along River Road between the Moray Bridge and Terra Nova Park.

Should your day trip more closely resemble a class outing in size, follow the breeze to Port Moody’s Rocky Point Park. Without doubt, this multi-activity playground will satisfy the fussiest of little rippers. Budget an hour or more to cycle, stroll, in-line–skate, skateboard—whatever—around the eastern corner of Vancouver’s inner harbour. Along the way, poke your head in at the Noons Creek Hatchery to see how the salmon fry are fattening up prior to their release.

Just uphill from the hatchery lies a mellow-flowing skateboard park, always worth a look in, as are the twin PoMo Rotary Bike Trials and Sk8 parks at Rocky Point’s downtown entrance on Murray Street. Seek out Pajo’s fish-and-chips stand inside the park. Grab some hot fries, strike out for the end of the long pier that out into Port Moody Arm, and let spring breezes freshen your worldview. For details on Rocky Point Park, pick up a copy of 52 Best Day Trips from Vancouver or search cityofportmoody.com/.

Finally, if you go out in the woods today, you’re in for a big surprise, or at least a little magic. If you go out in Pacific Spirit Regional Park on  Saturday night, March 21, be prepared for something even bigger. What started 18 years ago as a Boy Scouts night hike has morphed into something called Night Quest. These days, Metro Vancouver Parks invites spring breakers to experience the heavily wooded forest on Vancouver’s West Side for themselves. In the safety of hundreds of fellow questers, of course.

Night Quest began when park volunteer and Scout leader Ed O’Brian came up with the idea of observing the changes that happen in the forest as sundown blends into twilight and night eventually envelops all. Each year, O’Brian dons a glittering, leafy-green robe as he becomes the embodiment of Pacific Spirit Park itself.

From the park’s 16th Avenue entrance just west of Blanca, Night Questers follow a two-kilometre, lantern-lit trail. Musicians line the route as shadowy forms and glistening eyes peer out on all sides. The heady scent of cedars blended with the rich loamy aroma of the forest floor lends an air of calm that you could never anticipate. Fleece up to avoid getting chilled. Gather around a campfire for entertainment as drumming fills the night. Bring flashlights or lanterns, and allow at least one hour to complete the quest. As the Boy Scouts say, be prepared—and come early.

One of the best things about Night Quest is that it’s free, and you don’t need to register. Just show up. And remember to duck out of the way of the flying squirrels, of course. Details on regional park spring-break events can be found on Metro Vancouver’s Web site.

Text CR Jack Christie

Photo CR Louise Christie

Original Article

Backcountry sports still chugging right along

Despite a bad case of the avalanche blues that rocked the new year, reports from the Canadian Avalanche Centre indicate that the local Coast Mountains’ snow pack has begun to stabilize. Recent advisories from the CAC have downgraded the threat of slides from Level 3, “considerable”, to Level 2, “moderate”, and even Level 1, “low”, along both the Sea-to-Sky and Duffy Lake and inland corridors.

This is welcome news for those who venture into the backcountry, whether on snowshoes, skis, or snowboards. In a survey I conducted, lodge operators and alpine guides may not have awarded top marks to snow conditions thus far, but they aren’t giving this winter a failing grade, either. However, as a consequence of the steadily souring economy south of the border, they do point to an avalanche of cancellations.

Whistler-based heli-guide  Dave Sarkany, a member of the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides, said that many U.S. clients are walking away from their deposits. “This is not small change, either,” he said. “Some of them have put down as much as $20,000 to reserve helicopter skiing at a backcountry lodge.”

In the silver-linings department, belt tightening is credited as benefiting less expensive backcountry operators. Powder Mountain Catskiing Catboarding’s general manager, Gordon Calver, told me he would give this winter a “really good” grade. “We’ve taken a lot of heli-ski business, especially when they see we’re half the price,” the 38-year-old lifelong Whistler resident said. “We’re running at about 70 percent capacity. The majority are tourists. While the U.S. market has slowed down quite a bit, we’re seeing more Scandinavians coming than before.”

Although Whistler-Blackcomb has struggled to exceed a 150-centimetre base all year, Powder Mountain’s terrain surrounding Cypress Peak currently measures 430. “We’re spending more time with clients in the high alpine,” Calver said. “Unlike typical Coast Mountain conditions, this year’s snow is dry and light, with effortless skiing in the wide-open, huge bowls.” As for the sustained avalanche danger, Calver cited the expertise of his company’s guides as the reason that “we’ve never had a problem, never an accident.”

Callaghan Country’s manager, Brad Sills, a long-time leader with Whistler’s search-and-rescue team, dealt with two avalanche-related fatalities on the same day in December. Despite this, he said that this winter’s unusual conditions—both meteorological and economic—couldn’t have come at a better time for his backcountry lodge. “Our guests used to be 70 percent from the U.S. They’re not coming this year, but our business is up, thanks mostly to Vancouverites drawn to the Callaghan Valley because of the new Whistler Olympic Park. People who used to cross-country ski are coming back into the sport because it’s affordable.”

Sills characterized newcomers to Callaghan, which lies immediately south of Whistler, as falling into two categories. “On one hand, you have the over-60 types who grew up at Hollyburn and ski-walk 15 kilometres a day. Then there’s the younger set, many from the mountain-bike community, who want to stay in shape. They’re used to single-track riding and aren’t shy about uphill challenges at all.” He also pointed to a new trend spawned by the groomed 12.5-kilometre trail that links the Nordic centre with his lodge: ski touring on skate skis. “Grooming has introduced a new level of backcountry touring. Elite skate skiers can make it up to the lodge in an hour. It also means faster, safer descents. If you come from an alpine background, this will put the fear back into you.” Sills advised lesser mortals to budget three to four hours for the ascent through the old-growth forest, half that for the ski out.

Is Sills surprised at how the valley has suddenly blossomed into a sports hub? “We started a lodge here in 1981. In our first ever management plan, we envisaged creating the most comprehensive Nordic ski facility in North America.” This makes Sills’s recent hard-earned success even sweeter.

Another sector of the snow-sport market enjoying growth this winter is backcountry-skills training. Programs offered by groups like the Vancouver-based Canada West Mountain School are oversubscribed. When reached by phone at the CWMS’s midtown office, director Brian Jones said that he noticed a marked increase in enrollment even before there was snow on the ground. “It’s been a cumulative effect of seeing several major figures killed in avalanches in the past, coupled with a constant media barrage, plus the new crop of backcountry skiers entering the market each year.”

Jones highlighted the curriculum covered in a typical two-day course: measuring snow packs, then learning to understand and apply the results; crucial equipment needed to adventure safely; and avoiding avalanche terrain by knowing how to recognize it.

Bonus marks are awarded for hiring a guide like Sarkany to safely—and quickly—take you where the best snow lies.

Access: Current South Coast snow conditions are posted at www.avalanche.ca/. Details on Powder Mountain Catskiing Catboarding are posted at powdermountaincatskiing.com/. For Callaghan Country, visit www.callaghancountry.com/. Canada West Mountain School courses are listed at www.themountainschool.com/.

Text CR Jack Christie
Photo CR Louise Christie
Original Article

With ski cross, the best take no prisoners

Aleisha Cline is a snow leopard learning to change her spots as she mounts her skier-cross comeback. Since withdrawing from competitive sport five years ago, Cline, one of Canada’s most well-rounded athletes, has focused on raising a family in Squamish with her husband, mountain biker Shamus March.

Five months after giving birth in May to her second child, Asia, she was back on the prowl. Smiling large, Cline related “In August, I felt like a bag of bones going downhill at the Continental Cup in Australia. But I won, which was a big surprise to me. I figured I might as well keep going.” Interviewed during training at Cypress, the four-time Winter X Games ski-cross champion admitted that an unforeseen challenge was learning how to flip the switch from “mommy to meanie” mode on race day.

Cline’s current quest? Nothing short of a gold medal at the 2010 Olympics. That’s the only bauble not yet on display in her trophy cabinet of ski and mountain-bike honours. On February 6, she took the next step toward achieving her goal at the Freestyle Grand Prix events that previewed Olympic action on the aerial, mogul, and ski-cross courses at West Vancouver’s Black Mountain in Cypress Provincial Park. She won.

Like short-track speed skating, ski cross features fast, furious, take-no-prisoners action among four competitors simultaneously plunging downhill. National alpine ski team alumnus Chris Kent, event coordinator with the B.C. ski-cross team, stated what it takes to thrive in this fledgling Olympic sport: a “diffused focus” frame of mind. “You need a wide view to see the whole group, like Gretzky on a hockey rink, with eyes in the back of your head. Champions like Aleisha look for a hole in the midst of the flow. Once she gets out in front, nobody can pass her.”

When Kent likened ski cross to a “slow-speed downhill”, he meant that racers are launching off jumps and absorbing gravitational forces in banked corners at speeds of 60 to 70 kilometres per hour, far slower than the then-world record 215 kph that Cline clocked at a speed skiing competition in France in the 1990s.

Her talent for gliding across both snow and air has served her well. But skill is not all that’s needed to triumph these days. “The girls are really dirty now, pushing and grabbing. They’ll skate into you!” she lamented with a regretful nod to a more chivalrous era. Funny what being elevated into the global spectacle will do to a once tightly knit, fringe sport family.

In Kent’s experience, cussedness has been a hallmark of men’s ski cross since the sport’s inception in 1994. “When I entered my first ski-cross race at Whistler, I got in the gate next to [American ace] Daron Rahlves. He stuck his pole in front of my ski and I was on my face before I knew it. Such a rip-off!”

Despite that still-smouldering memory, Kent said he’d definitely compete if he were a decade younger. “People who do well in this sport have strong alpine-race backgrounds and stand tall, like Stan Heyer,” in reference to the national ski-cross team member who spanked Rahlves in the final heat to win last month’s Winter X Games ski-cross crown in Colorado.

That rivalry is sure to play out again on Black Mountain. That’s where ski-cross and boardercross course designer-builder Jeff Ihaksi recently gave me a guided tour. The Whistler-Blackcomb millwright draws on his snowboard-racing background “to get a feeling for what the athletes want and how the course should flow by maximizing aspects of the topography. You build using the mountain.”

Ihaksi shaped his first boardercross course a decade ago at Whistler’s World Ski and Snowboard Festival. By 2006, his talents were in high demand in Turin, where he sculpted the inaugural boardercross Olympic course. This season, the 35-year-old is designing all the World Cup cross courses, though he takes pains to credit his team of groomers. In a tradition originated by a Canadian ice maker at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, Ihaksi predicted there will be more than a few loonies buried among the run’s rollers, tabletops, berms, and Wu-Tangs.

At a viewpoint that took in both the Lions and Howe Sound, Ihaksi pointed out where the starting gates will be positioned. Cypress’s Upper Forks Trail plummets in steep, tight turns—“B.C.–style”—then unwraps from the forest into a wide-open, X Games course that favours gliders. “Skiers making air in a corner is one of my favourite sights. No matter what feature I throw at them, they’ll master it.”

Think that Cline didn’t know that? -

Follow Aleisha Cline’s blog at www.aleishacline.com/.

Here’s her account of events leading up to her victory:

“Official training started on Tuesday and on the second run the first big double finished off my shins and I was done for the day.
I suffered through the next day of training with a few quarter runs, watching how the course ran.

On Quali day, I opted out of any training runs at all and had my first run under the clock…
I finished 10th! That had been my best finish in a world cup thus far. Honestly, I was quite happy with the result and decided that if worse came to worse it would end up a top 15 at the end of the day, but I’d do my best to make it to the second round!

Well, I went through the 1st and 2nd round finishing both rounds in second place behind the french skiers, Ophelie David, World Champ was in the second round. I mentioned to her before the race that we hadn’t race together in at least 4 years, I think it was in Torino at the World Champs, I was both excited and nervous to start the round with her in it!

To make a long story longer, my starts had been fast all day and in the 3rd round I got out just ahead of Ophelie and safely made it to the bottom ahead of her. She wasn’t very happy and made it know to me at the finish….She should have passed me if she didn’t like skiing behind me!

The final round brought Ophelie, Ashlegh, Karin Huttary [Note: see News post on Karin elsewhere on jc.com] again I was first out of the gate and kept my focus on being first off the double and into the turn. As the race progressed through the second turn and off the 3rd jump, I heard some screaming and hoped it wasn’t something I did, watching the video that evening, it wasn’t.

Near the bottom Ophelie miss judged the step down step up combo and flew upside down and landed quite hard banging her head. She seemed OK at the finish but was shook up and not very happy.

…and the final outcome was that I finished my 40th day of skiing (in 5 years), my daughter’s 9 month birthday and the first ever Canadian held World Cup Skicross event on top of the podium!”

Text CR Jack Christie
Photo CR Louise Christie
Original Article

Winter doldrums shed on Sunshine Coast

By Jack Christie Photo Louise Christie

Whistler Olympic Park offers a Nordic preview

Access: Whistler Olympic/Paralympic Park lies 10 kilometres (6 miles) above Highway 99 on a paved access road 6.5 kilometres (4 miles)  south of Whistler and 115 kilometres (69 miles) north of Vancouver. For full details on the park, including Web-cam images, visit www.whistlerolympicpark.com/ or check out the Callghan Valley chapter in my all-season, all-activities guide, The Whistler Book. Information on neighbouring Callaghan Country is at www.callaghancountry.com/. Cross Country Connection (www.crosscountryconnection.ca/ ) offers equipment rentals, guided tours, and lessons at both Whistler Olympic/Paralympic Park and Lost Lake Park in Whistler. Details on West Coast Nordic Club activities at WOPP are posted at www.members.shaw.ca/coastnordic/.

On a pre-Christmas day when ferocious Arctic outflow winds whipped clouds of snow from Powder Mountain’s summit, barely a breath of air blew through Whistler Olympic/Paralympic Park, nestled in the evergreen Callaghan Valley below. A peace that surpassed all understanding prevailed along the cross-country ski trails and snowshoeing routes that spiral out from the park’s newly completed day lodge. Parents on skis pulled infants in sleds while older siblings outfitted in brightly coloured fleece practised their snowplow techniques. As they sped past, the kids looked as if candy apples were plastered on their ruddy cheeks.

Despite the calm scenery, Colin Bell, the park’s events and range coordinator, was busy getting ready for an onslaught of International Ski Federation–sanctioned contests in 2009. Four World Cup ski jumping, biathlon, and cross-country ski events are slated there before the end of January. First up, though, was a Continental Cup Nordic-combined race held mid-December, which involved both cross-country skiing and jumping.

In Bell’s opinion, the unique layout of the new park will benefit Nordic-combined contestants the most. “This is the first Winter Olympics where all four Nordic disciplines will be held in one place,” he said. “At past games there would always be at least one stand-alone venue, typically ski jumping. Nordic-combined competitors always had to travel from one site to another, which put added strain on coaches and wax technicians. Whistler is unique.”

Biathlon is the sport closest to Bell’s heart. The 29-year-old grew up in Prince Edward Island before moving to Alberta in his teens to pursue his passion for cross-country skiing and shooting. “As a kid, I found biathlons were more mentally stimulating than simple mind-numbing, three-hour ski races,” he said. Bell demonstrated how biathletes ski with a modified 22-calibre rifle harnessed on their backs. At intervals during a ski race, competitors must pause and take aim through a nonmagnified sight at targets in a specially designed range adjacent to the trails.

This winter, under Bell’s guidance, the park has partnered with the West Coast Nordic Club based in North Vancouver. The aim is to boost participation by introducing Nordic sports, including biathlon, to youngsters-albeit toting air rifles instead of real ones.

Long known as an icebox, the Callaghan Valley-a feature destination in my guide, The Whistler Book- was chosen as the 2010 Winter Games’ Nordic site for its deep, fluffy snow and-thanks to a buffering forest-light winds, an absolute necessity for ski jumping. With 28 different medal events scheduled there, the park will be the busiest Olympic venue by far. And with a mitt-full of pre-Olympic World Cup contests coming up, Bell said that 2009 will be the best chance to see athletes in action at close range. “The admission price is right: absolutely free.”

The feeling among many of those enjoying the warmth of the new day lodge was that Whistler Olympic/Paralympic Park may well prove to be the most significant legacy of the 2010 Winter Olympics. Not only does the site provide a much-needed companion cross-country ski destination to Whistler’s Lost Lake Park, come summer the trails will do double duty for mountain bikers as well. Local skier Julia Smart said that while she thought the Lost Lake trails were “adequate”, she enjoyed the wider variety on offer in the Callaghan. “Skate skiers, in particular, will enjoy the feeling of not being cramped between the lakeshore and the forest,” she said.

Don’t be intimidated by the fact that the park was built with elite-level athletes in mind. When it comes to recreation, the park’s 50 kilometres (30 miles) of cross-country skiing-groomed for both track and classic skate styles-plus 25 kilometres (15 miles) of snowshoe trails offer a variety of challenges suited to all ability levels. Exploring them on skis, snowshoes, or simply on foot in warm snow boots offers a tranquil winter outing. Got a dog? The Pooched Trail is designed especially for those who enjoy sharing time in the outdoors with their pets.

For those in search of a more challenging experience, a park day pass also gives access to trails in neighbouring, privately operated Callaghan Country’s wilderness adventure area. “Their trails are very different,” said Bell, “more extreme, while ours are more recreational and within easy reach of bathrooms. The options here range from Callaghan Country’s backcountry lodge to our Olympic venue. It’s unlike anywhere else in the world.”

While the mountain peaks that surround the new Nordic centre will command your attention on the uphill approach, views of Whistler Mountain’s west face and, further south, the iconic Black Tusk-a volcanic remnant that thrusts skyward in Garibaldi Provincial Park-reward visitors on the descent. Short of the panoramic views of Vancouver from the lookout along Cypress Bowl Road on the North Shore, this is the most scenic drive on offer near the Olympic venues. And surely the most peaceful.

Text CR Jack Christie
Photo CR Louise Christie
Original Article: http://www.straight.com/article-177022/whistler-olympic-park-offers-nordic-preview?

« Previous Page — Next Page »