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Vol. 89 Issue 45 • Wednesday, November 7, 2012 • www.arrowlakesnews.com • 250-265-3823 • $1.25
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Rivers are for fish, wildlife and people, not IPPs WHATSHAN, PINGSTON, FOSTHALL, ST. LEON, INCOMAPPLEUX, KUSKANAX, CARIBOU CREEK, SNOW CREEK, WILSON CREEK: ALL ARE CREEKS OR RIVERS IN THE AREA THAT CAN BE PADDLED, AND MANY OF THEM ARE ALSO BEING CONSIDERED FOR IPPS. By Claire Paradis Arrow Lakes News
The ocean refuses no river, the Columbia River refuse no creek, and the creeks refuse no visitor. “The river is for everyone to share,” said paddling enthusiast Carl Jacks, who is no stranger to the rivers and creeks that flow through the Kootenay crags and canyons. Although currently located in Vernon at least part time, the paddling fiend gets out exploring the falls, pools and rapids as often as he can between shifts at work here in Nakusp. “I’m a diehard Kootenay guy,” said Jacks, who grew up in the south Slocan area. His love for outdoor adventures has led to explorations of many local mountains and valleys on foot, bike as well as kayak.
In fact, many of those adventures start with extensive scouting before a boat ever hits the water. Scouting the next stretch of a paddling excursion can take a serious amount of time, and a one-hour paddle can mean a three or four hour long trip. “It’s a slow go process,” Jacks noted. “On runs that are access restricted, sometimes we’ll end upwards of a day scouting and camp out overnight. We’ll show up the next morning with ropes and harness ready to go. That’s usually when canyons are involved. Some we’ve spent three or four years scouting just due to access and time constraints.” Paddling has trickled into a need to learn about climbing and rope work in order to get a good look at the water and to get the boats in and out of steep access areas. Jacks and his paddling friends have become hobby level climbers, thanks to exploring kayaking potentials in local canyons. Getting in and out of creeks may be time consuming but for the most part, it’s safe. “We’ve yet to come to the situation where we’ve left a boat in a canyon,” said Jacks, although there have been close calls. On Labour Day during an adventure up Cooper Creek north of Kaslo, Jacks came close to abandoning a kayak. “That was a long day,” the paddler recalled. “We had a situation where a buddy swam and left his boat. We found it shortly thereafter.” In order to get the boat out, the friends had pushed it down the canyon until they could get it out of the water.
Carl Jacks takes on the Petuli Pool on Upper Whatshan, one of the local waterways enjoyed by local paddlers. PHOTO COURTESY OF SEAN BOZ “Ridiculously we left a bike at the take out, and we had to bike back up in the dark to get the car,” said the kayaker. On that same trip, one friend, Chris (Ryman of Endless Adventure), had his own endless-seeming adventure hiking his way out through tough terrain for hours. “We were a little naive on that trip,” Jacks chuckled remembering, “It was silent in the car on the way home.”
Putting the time in scouting is key for making a paddling escapade as safe as possible. Safety is a high priority for Jacks now, more than it has been at other points in his past. “I’ve toned down over the years,” he admitted, compared to when he was beginning and willing to take on challenges that were
See CREEKING page
Nakusp Atom Falcons begin their season with zeal By Teresa Zanier
Special to the Arrow Lakes News
Saturday, November 3, the Nakusp arena came alive. The smell of rink burgers on the grill, familiar faces in the stands and Val Scott in the announcers booth as she has been for years. All of this just simply familiar sights and smells during hockey season in Nakusp. The volunteers running the music between whistles kept the crowd and kids into the game and their spirits up with tunes from AC/DC to pump up the frenzy in the air. The 50/50 draws have been sometimes worth a small car payment and even better with some local residents winning thanks to
the selling efforts of the players parents volunteering to get out there and raise funds for Nakusp Minor Hockey. The Nakusp Atom Falcons played against Spokane for their first game and even though the kids lost the game, the action on the ice was intoxicating judging by the cheers from stands. The Atoms played Spokane, Nelson and Trail with goals by Devon Coates, Wyatt Petterson and Isaac Flamand: some future NHL stars. Our Atoms team is small with only two lines and our goalie, Noah Fizzard, and it can be intimidating watching the visiting teams skate out onto the ice when they easily consist of three lines or more, but the kids skate on. It doesn’t even phase them; they just want to play. Against Trail this past weekend, a
thought came to my mind, something I learned when I was the age of the Atoms kids myself: “Anything boys can do, girls can do better.” Number 29 off of the Trail team, a young red-headed girl, scored four goals in one game Way to go, she was awesome! The coaching staff of our Atoms Falcons teach the kids, there is no “I” in team, and at this young age Mike Smith, Mitch Hascarl, Robert Coates Jr. and Dean Zanier, have made it clear to the kids that they play together, as a team. Some of the drills they practice twice a week would make most of us crumble in exhaustion but they all work hard and look up to their peers in awe as the coaches use positive reinforcement to keep the spirit on the bench and ice at a high.
After four games in the last two weekends, team Trainer Dean Zanier smiles when he says: “The kids are playing excellent hockey and improving every game. Come on out and cheer them on!” And the people of Nakusp do. It is heart warming to see parents of past Nakusp Midget Falcons out to each and every game cheering the kids on, coaches and players from all levels in the stands showing their support and enthusiasm of up-and-coming hockey stars. The Atoms’ next home game is November 17 against the Kootenay Boundary team at 1:45 p.m. Come on out, bring your noise makers, bring your cheers and your smiles. This is hockey season Nakusp: welcome and thank you from Nakusp Minor Hockey 2012/2013.
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