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Vol. 64, Issue 3
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Clearing the way on a snowy day ARNE PETRYSHEN
A big snowfall like the one Sunday night means the city plow trucks, loaders and graders were busy at work around Cranbrook. Joe McGowan noted that the city operates its snowplow equipment 24-7. With the equipment the city has, the crews can usually have most areas of the city cleared within a few days of a snowfall. That of course depends on the amount of snow and the rate it falls. “Regardless of whether its snowing or not, we have a person on the machinery,” McGowan said. “We adopt a priority system, so as the snow comes down we remove snow in keeping with the city’s snow removal policy and that essentially is the main arteries and those streets and roads that are used for emergency purposes, then moved down to collector streets within the community, then third priority is residential streets where there is a flat grade.”
See CITY PLOWS, Page 3
Avalanche danger rating high after recent snowfall TRE VOR CR AWLEY
While the recent snowfall may lure the public out into the backcountry, Avalanche Canada is warning that the danger rating is high in the Kootenay/Boundary region. A special public avalanche warning was initially issued on Dec. 26 but extended to Jan. 4, but the recent snowstorm is ensuring that conditions remain dangerous. “Right now with the current storm pattern, we’ve got avalanches closing down highways, up in the mountains, the snow’s blowing sideways, there’s natural avalanches running left, right and centre,” said Joe Lammers, a public avalanche forecaster with Avalanche Canada. In terms of the backcountry conditions, Lammers said up to 40 centimetres of new snow has fallen in the last 24 hours, with more in the forecast. “With more snow on the way and a lot of wind, that’s creating what we call a really potent storm slab condition, and that’s a really potent surface instability that is relatively short-lived,” Lammers said.
See AVALANCHE, Page 4
COURTESY MARK HALL
Two East Kootenay athletes— Noah Beek (left) of Cranbrook and Karlee Hall of Jaffray — have won Gold in the first International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA) North American Youth Mixed Climbing Competition.
Local climbers win gold in new international competition Noah Beek, Karlee Hall off to Switzerland for the World Youth Ice Climbing Championship TREVOR CRAWLEY Townsman Staff
Two local climbers are hoping to make it to the next level on the competitive side of the sport. And they’ve already begun to prove themselves in their first-ever competition. Noah Beek and Karlee Hall have returned to Cranbrook as youth champions following their efforts at the inaugural UIAA Youth Mixed Climbing In-
ternational competition in Colorado. Though it was the debut event in North America, the two decided to make the trek at the urging of Gord McArthur, who has been competing on the UIAA world cup circuit for many years. “We were also introduced to this comp by Gord and he felt we were good enough to go compete at this so we decided that this would take us to the
next level, essentially,” said Hall. Competition climbing is a little different from climbing out in the East Kootenay backcountry. In competitions, athletes are working their way up a manmade structure with routes set up by the organizers. “Usually on a route, I take my time to figure it out; I usually take a bunch of rests and whatnot, but this was different,” said Beek. “If you fall, you’re out.”
Beek has been climbing for the last two years, while Hall has been at it for only one. Both met McArthur through climbing, who introduced them to mixed climbing—using ice-climbing tools to climb in a non-winter environment. For the last three months, both Beek and Hall have been dry-tooling to train for mixed climbing competitions.
See HALL, Page 3