Since 1923
Arrow Lakes News 7
GO ELECTRIC
PAGE 6
PAGE 7
PAGE 5
50 0 1 6
GYMKHANA SEASON ENDS
78195
NAKUSP SOCCER VICTORY?
1
Vol. 89 Issue 39 • Wednesday, September 26, 2012 • www.arrowlakesnews.com • 250-265-3823 • $1.25
•
PM40036531
Kuskanax Lodge becomes CMH K2 Rotor Lodge NEW CANADIAN MOUNTAIN HOLIDAYS AND K2 KOOTENAY VENTURE IS TAKING OFF IN NAKUSP, B.C. By Claire Paradis Arrow Lakes News
CMH and ski company K2 are launching a new partnership in the Kootenays at the former Kuskanax Lodge in Nakusp. PHOTO COURTESY OF CMH AND K2
What’s treed and white and skied all over? Our local mountains, which will be seeing new skiers in Nakusp, thanks to a fresh partnership between K2 Skis and heli-ski outfit Canadian Mountain Holidays. Although the changeover is very fresh, with new banners on the CMH website going up in the past few weeks, and a new sign coming soon for the lodge in Nakusp, the plans have been in the works for months. K2 and CMH have been working on the plans since the end of the last ski season, said Cheryl White, lodge manager, with Nakusp in particular in mind. “They specifically picked us because we are so different,” said White. The lodge formerly known as the Kuskanax will soon be fitted with a sign displaying its new name: CMH K2 Rotor Lodge. Having a lodge situated in a town
is different from the typically moreremote CMH setting, a difference that fit with the people K2 is reaching out to, said White. The new partnership means big changes for the Nakusp-based ski lodge, which will now be offering trips with professional skiers as well as a chance for guests to test the latest K2 skis. “It’s really exciting for people who ski with CMH,” said White. “The athletes will be coming for most weeks. Out of eleven weeks, seven to eight weeks athletes will come out and ski with guests.” Included on the roster this year will be pros Collin Collins, Andy Mahre, Reggie and Zach Crist, Pep Fujas who will be offering a ski photo and film workshop week, as well as a womenonly week with Kim Reichhelm. Following the K2 athlete trips are CMH K2 Demo Days that provide heliskiers the opportunity to test a variety of unreleased 2013-2014 K2 powder
skis. K2 designers will offer demos and receive feedback to take back to K2 headquarters and fine-tune the final product. In return for testing the prototypes in powder conditions, guests will earn a free pair of 2013-14 K2 Skis in Fall 2013 when the collection is released, something both guests and K2 people are excited about. “Partnering with CMH presents K2 with not only with a world-class winter playground to test powder skis in the most ideal waist deep conditions and endless terrain, but also allows our athletes and us to connect with a broad range of skiers,” said K2’s Global Marketing Manager, Mike Gutt. “Specifically during the Demo Days, the skier’s feedback is applied to the development of the our powder and softer snow oriented skis. It’s “Serious Fun,” the guests can focus on having “fun” and K2 focuses on the “serious” side of getting consumer feedback.”
See story page 4
Graphite exploration taking place near Whatshan By Claire Paradis Arrow Lakes News
A Vancouver-based mineral exploration company is aerially surveying a 100 square-kilometre area near Whatshan Lake in hopes of finding a significant graphite deposit. Noram Ventures Inc. contracted the services of SkyTEM to scan the area using a sophisticated technology called time-domain electromagnetics. Residents in the area may have seen SkyTEM’s helicopter dragging a large wooden hexagon flying low over the area. The aerial equipment carries a receiver that picks up information from a generator that creates a pulse in the earth, Noram president Dave Rees told the Arrow Lakes News. Highly conductive materials, like the graphite the company is looking for, produce an “anomalous effect” which is detected by the equipment.
“We discovered graphite on the surface,” said Rees over the phone from Vancouver, explaining the reason behind the aerial exploration. Increased interest in graphite has been sparked thanks to its use in batteries, particularly flake graphite which is required for electric car batteries. Graphite is mined in open pit mines. “It’s actually quarried like gravel,” Rees told the Arrow Lakes News. The rock is then crushed, and graphite flakes are separated out by being floated on pine oil. “It’s very environmentally friendly as far as mining goes,” he said, and pointed out the oil is reused over and over again. If a mine opens, and that is still a big ‘if’ at this point, the Noram president said there would likely be job opportunities for people looking for work at the mine. When asked if there was enough graphite in the area to warrant building a mine, Rees replied: “That’s what we’re
trying to determine.” “The mining business is a huge gamble,” he commented. “Mother Nature hides her secrets well ... you can spend hundreds of thousands of dollars and not find anything.” The helicopter-powered search will narrow the area for future exploration. If the results of the aerial survey look promising, samples will then be collected and examined. “After we get data from this we’ll be following up on the ground,” said Rees, which would mean a ground crew comprised of a couple of geologists will collect samples, hopefully before the snow comes. At the moment, the helicopter has been grounded due to a tangle between the tree and the low-flying detector. Thankfully no one was hurt, said Rees. The airborne operation is scheduled for a couple more days once the chopper is back in the air.
Magnetic resonance imaging equipment borne by a helicopter is being used to search for graphite deposits near Whatshan Lake. SKYTEM PHOTO
Make your banking make a difference. online & telephone banking
mobile web
eStatements
eTransfers
Where you bank and how you bank makes a difference. Protect the environment by going paperless with free online, mobile and telephone banking, online applications, eTransfers and eStatements. Make a change and make a difference today.
better. together.
kscu.com