Vol. 93 No. 27 July 12, 2023
Sinister 7 Ultra raced through the Pass NICK ALLEN Pass Herald Reporter On July 8 and 9, the Sinister 7 Ultra race took over the Crowsnest Pass with hundreds of runners lining up for the challenge. Sinister 7 Ultra featured 100-mile, 50-mile and 50-kilometre courses taking runners through rugged and remote terrain in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains. With over 6,600m of elevation gain across the 100mile course, many runners found themselves tapping out due to the challenging terrain. The 100-mile course was open to solo runners or teams of up to seven. Racers had 30 hours to complete the gruelling event, with the course split into seven stages, each featuring a geographic and historic highlight of the area. The race’s name is inspired by the treacherous Seven Sisters Mountain that looms over much of the course. In the 100-mile race, the top three times were Scott Cooper with a time of 19:16:44.2, Alex Petrosky at 20:52:00.3 and Reinier Paauwe coming in at 23:08:18.0. The team 100-mile race had a top three of ‘Nissen Patent Law 10% Recruiting Soul Crushers’ running a time of 14:47:54.6, ‘No Country for Old Men’ crossing the finish in 14:48:44.6 and ‘Michael Scott’s Dunder Mifflin Scranton’ with a time of 14:51:36.0 For the 50 mile race the top three were Tristan Chart at 8:57:47.2, Tyler Williams shortly after with a time of 9:00:53.0 and Conor Furey crossing the finish at 9:27:04.7. For the 50-kilometre race, the top three times were Brandon Miller with 4:15:15.2, Blake Bevans with 5:03:45.9 and Emilie Mann in 5:22:22.8. All finishers, affectionately known as “Sinners”, received a medal for their efforts. Solo finishers who crossed the line under the cut-off of 30 hours get a belt buckle and a custom labelled bottle of wine as well. More information is available on their website, sinistersports.ca.
Sinister 7 photos continued on Page 9
Nick Allen Photos
Top Left: Tristan Chart crosses the finish line at 8:57:47.2 for the 50-mile race. Top Right: Tristan Chart with family. Bottom Left: Tyler Williams compares times with Chart after taking second in the 50-mile with a time of 9:00:53.0. Middle Left: Tyler Williams receives his medal. Bottom Right: Racers leave the starting line for the 50-mile race.
8 - CROWSNEST PASS HERALD - Wednesday, July 12, 2023
Keeping our eyes on the rise JOHN BARLOW, MP Foothills
On behalf of the Sun Dawg festival committee Such a fabulous night June 17th at Bellecrest days Thank you to the Bellecrest society for inviting Sun Dawg to be part of Bellecrest Days. A great event space at the Bellevue memorial park. Thank you to all our volunteers. Thank you to the Bellecrest folks who after their long day stayed and helped with our event. Thank you, Darryl Ferguson for emceeing. Thank you to the Blairmore Lions, the food trucks and Cherry on top who had an extremely busy day stayed to continue serving food for our event. Thank you, Don Budgen for doing a beer run. Thank you, Howard Vandenhoef for filming the bands. Thank you, Bill Kovach for donating ice. Thank you, Bellevue Legion for ice. Thank you to the Lions, Cherry on Top and the food trucks for helping us with change when we asked. Thank you to the folks who volunteered to join our committee. Thank you, Shane Painter, for your talent and skill at sound, a long day for him an incredible job. Thank you to my friend Carmen for your donation and inspiring words to make this festival even better. Thank you to the Pass Herald and Nick Allen for your support. Thank you to Copy Magic for selling tickets. Thank you to the four amazing bands who really made the event the success it was, your talent and performance made it fun, and entertaining. Most of all thank you to everyone who bought a ticket your support is encouraging; you made our first festival a smashing success. Sun Dawg has been born - now watch it grow See you next year!
Pat Rypien for the Crowsnest Pass Sun Dawg Committee
As Parliament wraps up for the summer and I head home to my family and my constituents in southern Alberta, there is a lot to reflect on from this busy session in the House of Commons. I worked hard to hold this Liberal government and the Liberal-NDP Costly Coalition to account, but this work doesn’t stop during the summer recess. Throughout the month of June, our Conservative team under the leadership of Pierre Poilievre pushed to hold this Liberal government accountable for its inflationary budget. As a direct result of inflationary spending, a further interest rate hike on June 21 brought Canada’s key interest rate up to 4.75% despite promising interest rates would be low for the foreseeable future. This has left Canadian families, farmers, ranchers and businesses struggling with unimaginable financial burdens and further damaging our economy. Heading into the summer months when so many Canadian’s have vacations planned and communities relying on tourism this increase in the cost of living could not come at a worse time. This is why my Conservative colleagues and I have worked so hard to push this Liberal government to balance the 2023 budget. The Liberals knew their spending would cause higher inflation and higher interest rates yet they went ahead with their reckless budget anyway. Now Canadian families are paying the consequences of this lack of fiscal restraint. To add on to this Liberal cost of living crisis, Justin Trudeau raised the carbon tax again on July 1. Amid record 40-year high inflation, all time high food bank usage, and food insecurity rather than offer relief the Liberal government introduced a second carbon tax, the Liberal fuel standard. This will make it even more difficult for families to put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads. Justin Trudeau’s second carbon tax will cost Albertans an extra $1,157 on average per year on top of carbon tax number one, this time with no rebate in sight. Families are struggling and this is the gift Canadians get from their government? Happy birthday Canada, here’s another carbon tax. We know the carbon tax impacts every aspect of our economy, from the small business owner supporting their community to the family driving their kids to sports, but some of the hardest hit by the carbon tax have been rural communities, farmers and ranchers. The Trudeau Liberals have done nothing to support Canadian farmers despite food insecurity being a top priority globally and right here in Canada. Instead they have actively worked against our producers, putting them at a disadvantage with their inflationary carbon taxes, implementing fertilizer caps and burdensome regulations and red tape hurting efficiency and profitability, and failing to fight for our producers abroad when dealing with agricultural trade. Farmers and ranchers are vital to our economy, and Canadian producers are some of the most environmentally friendly, efficient and innovative in the world. We should be championing this industry and all of its great people who keep food on our tables, not punish them with extra costs and needless taxes. The Liberal-NDP Costly Coalition should end both their carbon taxes and support our farmers and ranchers to help bring home more affordable food for Canadian families.
ADAPTABLE OUTDOORS Adaptive Recreation Programs
Outdoor adaptive recreation activities – Adaptive Fishing, Hiking, Paddling and Kayak Fishing Activities are for children, adults, and seniors living with physical and/or cognitive challenges Adaptive equipment, support and expertise are provided when required Weekly adaptive paddling programs running from July through to the end of August
Register as a client or to volunteer online at
Locations vary: M.D. of Pincher Creek, Pincher Creek, Castle Provincial Park area, Lethbridge area
adaptableoutdoors.ca For questions or assistance with registering, please contact us at: adaptableoutdoorsprograms@ outlook.com or 403-632-4749
Sponsored by the ARPA Funded in part by the Government of Alberta
This program is funded in part by the Canadian Parks and Recreation Association and the Government of Canada. This project has been made possible by the Government of Canada through the Community Sport for All Initiative. Ce projet a été rendu possible grâce au gouvernement du Canada par l’entremise de l’initiative Le sport communautaire pour tous.
Wednesday, July 12, 2023 - CROWSNEST PASS HERALD - 9
Sinister 7 Ultra race and market photos
Nick Allen Photos
Scenes from the 50-mile race, market in Gazebo Park and the volunteers that helped make the event happen.
16 - CROWSNEST PASS HERALD - Wednesday, July 12, 2023
John Kinnear Photos
Newly completed switchback pathway alongside the newly re-sloped access down to Allison Dam. Inset: A person walks down the newly made pathway in the Chinook Lake Provincial Recreation Area on June 1.