The Jasper Local August 15, 2019

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thejasperlocal.com

LOCAL + independent

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Thursday, august 15, 2019 // ISSUE 151

GRANITE PLANET // SAM WALL HIGH ABOVE ANGEL GLACIER ON MOUNT SORROW, ADJACENT TO MOUNT EDITH CAVELL. // TRISTAN NISSEN

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page A2 // the jasper local // issue 151 // Thursday, august 15, 2019

editorial //

Local Vocal “Would you like a bag today?”

The plastic bag ban is here and while you might not have noticed it because you’re such a good citizen (well la dee da) it seems like not everybody is getting the message.

Walk downtown at any time of day and you’ll notice dozens of folks toting around their wares in these detestable dolphin-cloggers.

What’s going on here? Why aren’t folks reforming their habits? Don’t they know plastic bags in Jasper are practically illegal?

Could it be that retailers aren’t taking the bag ban seriously? Might some stores have stockpiled their supplies in anticipation of a convenient loophole in the local bylaw which allows them to hand out bags, unfettered, until their cache is empty?

I’ll admit it’s difficult to get worked up over a few plastic bags here and there when you consider the Great Pacific garbage patch, a swirling mass of marine debris that researchers claim covers some ignores the problem of single use 1.6 million square kilometres. You think all that crap plastics? got there from a bunch of grocery bags blowing I sure don’t. I say we support those offshore? Not likely. local retailers getting on board with the If I’m going down that path, I suppose I could bag ban. I say don’t hesitate to remind convince myself that all of Jasper banning plastic friends and family members to bring a bags isn’t going to make a lick of difference to the reusable bag before heading downtown. astronomical problem of marine pollution.

And I say let’s spread the word! When But I’m just not that cynical. I know in my heart that, automobile passengers were told to regardless of the difference in scale, my tiny actions start wearing seatbelts in the 1960s, are indeed connected to the bigger picture. It’s the officals had to bang the drum for years same reason I tell my daughter to turn off the tap (long after it became law) before people while she’s brushing her teeth, even though I know started to buckle up regularly. the Athabasca watershed has a lot bigger problems These days, we need a similar change than her wasting H20. It’s just the right thing to do. in social norms. Particularly in Jasper,

at home, it’s going to take a collective effort. Hotels could help spread the word. Approved accommodations could provide bags for their guests.

Park literature could contain a blurb about the bag ban. Wherever we can meet the public, we should be letting them know we want to be leaders in this department.

If we do it right, by the time more toothy bylaws come into effect, our habits will hopefully have changed.

At this point, the arguments against the plastic bag ban are nothing more than old habits dying hard.

So despite the temptation to call a plastic bag ban where our audience isn’t just residents, So Bring Your Own Bag, but keep the frivolous—particularly one lacking any teeth, as ours but thousands of visitors that may or baggage at home. currently stands—we should support the legislation. may not practice plastic-free shopping bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com Moreover, I think all of us should be taking a bigger role in promoting the Bring Your Own Bag message. The Jasper Local // Jasper’s independent alternative newspaper 780.852.9474 • thejasperlocal.com • po box 2046, jasper ab, t0e 1e0 In fact, we should be aiming our collective focus even wider.

Published on the 1st and 15th of each month I’ve heard the arguments against the ban: Plastic bags are handy. Plastic bags are cheap. Using paper bags instead means we cut down more trees, while canvass bags use more energy to create.

Here’s how I’d respond to those platitudes: “Oh please.” Our grandparents did without single use plastics; there’s no reason we can’t manage similarly.

I’d also say we’ve got to start somewhere. Finally, Do we really want to be on the side of history that

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// local childcare

thursday, august 15, 2019 // issue 151 // the jasper local// page A3

Minister non-committal as daycare fee structure hangs in the balance The manager of Jasper’s childcare services wants parents of children in daycare to be ready for possible changes to the centre’s fee structure.

Lisa Daniel sent out an email last week reminding parents that the Alberta government’s Early Learning and Child Care grant is due to conclude on March 31, 2020. If the funding is not renewed, Daniel said, the Wildflowers Childcare Centre will return to its regular fee schedule.

“I want people to start thinking about this now,” Daniel said.

“We don’t have a solid answer. That’s a concern.”

Under the former NDP government, in 2017, Alberta instituted a $25/day childcare pilot program in 22 ELCC centres, including Jasper’s, to support children and families. The following year it was expanded to 122 centres across the province. But as the project approaches the end of its three-year pilot, the United Conservative Party is noncommittal about the future of $25/day childcare.

“The bottom line is nothing has changed, we will continue the project through the three years of the pilot… and at the end of the pilot we will review all of the data and make an informed decision,” Alberta’s Minister of Children’s Services, Rebecca Schulz, said in an interview August 13.

Daniel has interpreted her communication with the government to mean the ELCC grant will not be continued.

“We have unsuccessfully attempted to obtain any further clarity from the government at this time,” she wrote to parents on August 1.

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When it was first instituted, the $730,000 subsidy to Jasper’s Wildflowers Childcare Centre was felt immediately, Daniel said, as more local parents could afford to enrol their children in daycare. In other cases, families who were already enrolled suddenly had more money to save—up to $660 per month, in some cases.

“It’s meant a different quality of life for a lot of people,” she said.

But it also meant more work for the centre. Increased enrolment (from 60 children to 78) meant additional staff had to be hired and the the amount of paperwork, reporting and training also multiplied.

“It was a bit overwhelming the first year,” Daniel admitted.

Overall, however, the positives have outweighed the negatives, she said.

Although the lower costs have led to longer waitlists for families wanting to enrol their kids, it has also meant parents have been able to

enter the workforce.

“I feel like this has been a great program for our town,” Daniel said.

The UCP campaigned on a promise to get Albertans back to work, but Schulz implied that the ELCC grant was counterintuitive to that vision, suggesting that the NDP’s planned expansion of the program would be a burden on taxpayers.

“We had a platform focused on jobs,” Schulz said. “The NDP made a billion dollar campaign promise to expand this pilot with no way to pay for it.”

One thing the Minister and Jasper’s daycare manager both said was that the government needs feedback in order to make a determination on the future of the ELCC grant.

“We really want to hear from parents, childcare operators and frontline workers to hear what’s working well and whether this is the best way to meet the diverse needs of families,” Schulz said. b covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

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page B1 // the jasper local // issue 151 // thursday, august 15, 2019

local mountaineering //

With discovery of bivy site, fallen climber's story comes full circle Richard Gebert died in 2013: Six years later, the same Jasperites who were last to see him find his gear than a week, racking up climbing objectives in the Brazeau and Maligne areas.

In four decades of alpine climbing, Gebert had dozens of formidable Rock-

“Knowing how my dad climbs I’m almost positive he would have been on his way down from the climb but there really is no way of knowing,” Richie Gebert wrote in September, 2013.

Nissen remembers being shocked at the news that the man he and Wall had talked to just days before was dead.

“I thought it was weird,” Nissen recalled. “Being 14 at “We can finally let go of the time I didn’t have a good grasp of that the what ifs, the could kind of thing.” haves and the should

Six years ago, while walking out of Jasper National Park’s Tonquin Valley, Jasperites Tristan Nissen and Sam Wall met a mountaineer who was heading in.

The boys, 14 and 15-years-old at the time, stopped briefly to chat.

“I noticed his ice axe and asked him what he was planning to climb,” Wall said.

The man, who was older than the boys’ own fathers, said he was keen on getting up Redoubt Peak, an obscure and rarely-climbed mountain that borders British Columbia and makes up the northern-most turret of the Ramparts, overlooking Amethyst Lake. The boys, who had spent many hours boating on and hiking around Amethyst Lake, on account of Wall’s father’s outfitting business, knew about the peak—much to the mountaineer’s surprise. After a few minutes of trail talk, the parties bid farewell and went their separate ways.

Three days later, news broke that the mountaineer had perished. On August 15, 2013, JNP rescue officials discovered the body of Richard Gebert. Gebert, from Carmel, Maine, was found in a prominent gully on Redoubt Peak’s west face, 500 metres below the summit. He had apparently taken a significant fall

haves.”

-Mary Gebert

ies peaks under his belt, most of them solo endeavours. His posts on bivouac. com indicated that he really wanted to get on top of Redoubt, which AFTER SAM WALL AND TRISTAN NISSEN DISCOVERED would be the last of THE BIVY SITE OF THE LATE RICHARD GEBERT THEY the Amethyst Lake CONTACTED HIS FAMILY TO RETURN THE CLIMBER’S Rockwall trio on his BELONGINGS. THE FAMILY WAS THRILLED. // SUPPLIED list. However, officials while rappelling. didn’t know if he Gebert was an experienced mountaineer had summited and a subsequent letter and that the route was well within his to The Jasper Local by Gebert’s son, skill set. Rescue leaders noted Gebert Richie Gebert, suggested it would likely had been in the Jasper area for more never be known.

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Six years later, Nissen and Wall have a bit more perspective on the unforgiving nature of the mountains, and they also have their own impressive tick list of local summits. This past August, they booked six days off to add to it, base camping back at Amethyst Lake with designs on Oubliette Mountain’s east ridge, the most prominent buttress on the Ramparts and regarded as one of the best ridge climbs in Western Canada.

But then came the rain. Half way up the route, Nissen and Wall bailed, opting for the security of the cabin and cribbage board rather than the mountain’s slippery quartzite. For two days they hunkered down, knowing their plans were all wet.

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thursday, august 15, 2019 // issue 151 // the jasper local// page B2

Local mountaineering //

Registry reveals a classic cast of Rockies climbers Continued from page B1

in 2010 Jasper’s Dana Ruddy, along with Eamonn Walsh and Raf Slawinski, stood atop the mountain before traversing the entire Amethyst Lake Rockwall (including Dungeon Peak and Oubliette).

But it was Gebert who was on Nissen and Wall’s mind as they scrambled up loose scree and around a snow patch, the two climbers diverting on either side of it to avoid tumbling rocks on

Finally, on the night of Sunday, August 4, they saw stars. The forecast wasn’t great, but it would allow them to get up something—albeit considerably less committing than Oubliette, they decided.

“From an alpine point of view the northwest ridge of Redoubt made more sense,” Wall said. “It’s basically a big scramble with a few pitches of easy climbing.”

As such, they set out before dawn, rowing one of Wall’s dad’s boats across the lake to their starting point. As they left, Gilbert Wall reminded them that the mountain where Gebert died was prone to rock fall.

“You know no one’s found his bivy,” Gilbert said.

Wall and Nissen constructed a make-shift memorial Richard Gebert to fallen mountaineer Richard Gebert. // supplied was the last known climber on Redoubt Peak, but the parties that came before one another. Suddenly, Nissen spotted him were few and far between. Its first something. recorded attempt was also met with “Holy shit I found the bivy,” he said. tragedy: F. H. Slark and F. Rutishauser Sure enough, half way up the mounmade it to the summit in 1927, but tain, there was Gebert’s improvised perished on the descent (their register camp site, including his sleeping was found by the second party to sum- pad, wallet, identification, vintage mit, the following year). It was nearly MP3 player, ice axe and crampons. three decades before another party There was even a fully in-tact sandreached the peak. In 1965, legendary wich (for which $20 was not enough American climbers Fred Beckey and money for Wall to take a bite out of).

Jerry Fuller ascended the mountain The boys paid their respects, fashvia the more dangerous east face and ioned a make-shift memorial with

Gebert’s crampons and a couple pieces of rock and stuffed the wallet in their bag. They took the axe, too, with the hopes of sending both items back to the fallen climber’s family when they returned.

“The bivy was totally untouched,” Wall said. “It was kind of weird.”

“That was cool, to know that he made it,” Nissen said.

“That’s what he was doing in the valley, he was trying to get that last peak of the Ramparts,” Wall said.

When they returned to Jasper, Wall and Nissen tried to get in touch with Gebert’s family, to deliver the news that they found the bivy and to return the climber’s possessions.

When they finally connected, Gebert’s widow was thrilled.

In fact, the last time she had talked to her husband via satellite phone, Richard Gebert had mentioned his brief meeting with Wall and Nissen and referred to them as polite, friendly and extremely knowledgeable for their ages.

“I’m sure you can see the impression they left on him, since he used precious satellite minutes to tell me about them,” Mary Gebert said.

Jasperite Tristan Nissen stumbled upon the bivouac site where Richard Gebert spent his She said the news has last evening before summiting, and ultimately brought her family perishing on, Redoubt peak. // Sam Wall closure.

With weather moving in, if Wall and “There are no coincidences. We can Nissen wanted to get to the top, they finally let go of the what ifs, the had to move. Eventually, they were could haves and should haves,” she standing on top, reading the summit said. “These wonderful young men register. As they flipped through the were fated to be a part of this and to now become a part of our family 90-year-old book, after the entries story.” from Beckey and Ruddy, they were delighted to find Gebert’s name. He Bob Covey //bob@thejasperlocal.com had indeed made it to the top.

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page b3+B4 // the jasper local // issue 151 // thursday. august 15, 2019

FEATURE // story by bob covey // Photos by Mark Bradley

EACH MORNING IN THE SUMMER, BEFORE THE FIRST OF THE FISHERMAN WOULD SHOW UP TO THE BOAT RAMP AND LONG BEFORE THE DENIZENS OF LOCAL HOTELS AND CAMPGROUNDS BEGAN THEIR DAILY MIGRATION, MIKE WESBROOK WOULD HAVE MALIGNE LAKE ALL TO HIMSELF.

Wesbrook’s career has been one of ambassadorship and relationship building, processes which have been served well by his stoicism, integrity and self-sufficiency—highly regarded (and not uncommon) qualities in the visitor safety fraternity. But now, Wesbrook, whose career spanned the warden service’s transition from cowboy outfitters to ecosystem specialists, all the while tending the coals in the adjacent fire rings of law enforcement and public safety, has

mounted rider, string packhorse and a dog, the bush.

“Don’t go any further bear back there charg rider told a wide-eyed

For an hour, starting right around 6 a.m., the 32-year veteran of Canada’s national park service would row his boat through the glass-smooth waters of Home Bay, breathe in the misty air and reflect on whatever it was that needed reflecting on that day.

Maybe it was a personal debriefing of an emergency response after a storm blew in earlier that week and Wesbrook had to rescue a stranded flotilla of paddlers.

Perhaps it was reminding himself to note the behaviour patterns of a particular bird he spotted while walking through the subalpine forest the previous evening.

Or, more likely in the past year, Wesbrook’s thoughts would turn to his beloved Cynthia—or Cyd, as she was known—who passed away May 6, 2018.

“She was my partner in everything,” Wesbrook said.

For the past 23 years, Wesbrook, along with Cynthia, was stationed at the Maligne Lake Warden Station, a post that would ensure he would work closely with the visiting public. He would also become intimately familiar with the wildlife that made the Maligne Range their home and, thanks to the inevitable collision of mountain environments and unprepared backcountry users, have no shortage of exciting events to respond to.

“For some reason people without canoe experience like to paddle right down the middle of the lake,” he said.

hung up his badge. The Mayor of Maligne has retired.

“The years flew by,” Wesbrook said in between visits with family and a canoe trip in Algonquin Provincial Park. “I always felt it was a privilege to work there.”

It was a privilege that he didn’t take lightly. When Wesbrook came out west in 1987 he was keen to put his education in biophysical geography to good use, but he’d never considered a job as a warden until he was hiking in Banff and a horse-

After they went their one thought stuck out transplant: that guy’s Wesbrook signed up a the following week. Fo the summer after he w “campground cowboy with patrols at night.

“The Northern Lights recalled. “We had a gr Wesbrook’s always be appreciate his surroun got to Jasper in 1989 find solace in nature, jobs were somewhat d Cyd, who was still wo had to do long-distanc

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ging along another came ambling out of

r, there’s a grizzly ging people,” the d Wesbrook.

separate ways, t to the Ontario s getting paid! as a park volunteer oot in the door, was working as a y,” helping wardens

s were fantastic,” he reat time.” een able to ndings, so when he it was easy for him to even if his seasonal disjointed and he and orking in Winnipeg, nce during those

HEADING TO SHORE: LONG TIME MALIGNE LAKE WARDEN HANGS UP HIS BADGE first summers. A few years later, after obtaining a full time position, and after demonstrating that he was a capable, selfreliant jack-of-all-trades, Wesbrook was offered the Maligne post.

“I told them I would stay for three years and I never left,” he said.

He loved the independence of being stationed at Maligne Lake.

He loved the variety of the work. He enjoyed being involved with public safety. And after

a flustered mama moose who’d had too many close encounters with tourists, Wesbrook (and Cynthia, it should be said, for she was often left caring for the family members of those who Wesbrook was helping) was a calming presence at Maligne Lake.

It was partly his unflappability and partly his penchant for data crunching that made Wesbrook invaluable when the warden service was called upon to help locate missing persons. Search and rescue involves many moving parts, and while Wesbrook was rarely on the sharp end of a missing person search, he was often tasked to help narrow the process down.

By analyzing information gleaned from personal profiles, interviews with “I told them I would family and friends, and stay for three years statistics from previous and I never left.” searches, Wesbrook could determine a probability factor that would inevitably help segment the search areas and ultimately get officials to the victims faster.

“It’s gratifying, especially when you help find a kid,” Wesbrook said.

two decades of living in close quarters with some of the planet’s biggest, most beautiful beasties, the wildlife stories Wesbrook accumulated would put goosebumps on the back of the neck of that horse-mounted rider in Banff.

Like the time he surprised a huge grizzly bear that had been guarding a sheep kill on the park’s north boundary.

Or the time he watched two wolverines scuffle for 30 minutes.

Or the time another grizzly ran for half a kilometre down the Opal Hills right up to him and his nephew.

“For most people, that’s not very cool,” he laughed.

For Wesbrook, however, it was pretty cool. And in talking to his co-workers, that’s exactly how he played those types of situations throughout his career: cool.

Whether he was boating out to Coronet Creek in a snowstorm to fish frozen canoeists out of the lake, or talking down

Spanning three decades, Wesbrook’s career has been gratifying—not only for the man himself, but for the people he’s shared it with: his dear Cynthia for one, but also his friends and fellow public servants, his “unofficial” co-workers at Maligne Lake Tours and the visitors he’s helped and interacted with along the way.

“Most visitors are just amazed by Maligne,” he said. “It really is a place of discovery.”

On July 21, setting out from the place where he, too, was perpetually amazed and where, through his career, he discovered so much about the park and himself, Wesbrook shouldered his backpack.

After a long look at the home where he and Cynthia woke every morning to the stirring sounds of loon calls on the water, and after crossing the yard where moose families would often take refuge from the wolves and the bears, Wesbrook took his first steps on the Skyline Trail as a member of the visiting public, rather than as a public servant.

For his last shift, he was hiking out. bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

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Local community //

page B5 // the jasper local //issue 151 // thursday, august 15, 2019

Funding boost helps secure festival headliner Less than a month before the Jasper Folk Music Festival kicks off on September 6, organizers have been dancing up a storm.

That’s because the group recently received a letter from the Alberta government’s Community Incentives Program. The letter informed the folk fest committee they were successful in their grant application.

Most importantly, the letter was accompanied by a cheque.

“I read the first line, ‘Congratulations…,’ then scanned quickly to the bottom,” executive board member Peggy McCormick said. “When I saw that we were awarded the full amount we had asked for, I started to shake.”

The cheque is worth $36,000—not exactly chump change for a festival with a $100,000 budget.

“It means we can pay our bills,” McCormick said.

More to the point, it means they can pay the bands.

“It’s a huge relief,” she said.

With the money secured, the Jasper Folk Festival can announce their final

headliner, Toronto’s Fast Romantics.

The six piece indie rockers join festival favourites Birds of Bellwoods and Daysormay, who thrilled an intimate gathering of Jasper house concert fans last November.

Ol’ Savannah, a Montreal-based folk band with Appalachian twang and The Give ‘Em Hell Boys, from Edmonton, will get festival goers’ elbows swinging. Mark Perry, Northern B.C.’s answer to Bruce Springsteen, will pluck at Canadiana heart strings.

Few Miles South is a band based much further away than that (they’re based in Georgia), but the country duo will bring their chops north for the festival. And there’s no shortage of home-grown talent, including the gifted Jessica Heine, and the adorably entertaining Kiki the Eco Elf. Current Jasper-based acts Gui Benoit, Athabasca Barnburner, Warrior Women, Hugh Manzee (winner of the 2019 Battle Royale) and Glen Gosney will round out the lineup.

“Music is definitely coming to the mountains,” McCormick said.

But as much as the grants play a critical role in bringing the festival back every fall, McCormick said the event

Music in the mountains // The Jasper folk music Festival reloads for 2019 Sept 6-8. The event recently secured a grant. // Chris Tobias

wouldn’t be possible without the support of the community. Local sponsorships and in-kind donations means organizers can ask for matching funds from CIP and other partners.

“These grants are amazing but without the support of the community none of this would happen,” she said.

And on that note: Volunteers are still needed! The festival organizers want

to remind potential volunteers that two four-hour shifts earn you a free weekend pass. Posts the committee is looking to fill include security, bar, first aid stations, kids area, merch booths, set up and tear down.

Check out www.jasperfolkmusicfestival.ca/volunteers to get involved.

Bob Covey //bob@thejasperlocal.com

A legacy of selfless commitment to community Gloria. A name derived from the latin word for Glory.

It’s fitting, for to have lived in Jasper for any amount of time in the past 50 years is to have basked in the glory of Gloria Kongsrud.

On July 22, Gloria (McKenzie) Konsgrud passed after a valiant, 34-year battle with cancer. Her contributions to Jasper, however, will continue to endure.

Whether it was on the school board, improvement district committee or town council, Kongsrud was a pillar on which the weight of the community rested firmly.

Her resume is a veritable history of some of Jasper’s most important community // Gloria Kongsrud accepts the Alberta accomplishments.

Centennial Medal in 2005 for people who have made significant contributions to She was instrumental in the their fellow citizens and communities.

Cabin Creek West housing dePresenting is former Yellowhead MP, Rob velopment; played a big part in Merrifield. // Supplied seeing our community’s Aquatic Centre come to fruition; helped oversee the attainment of local governance; and saw through the construction of the Alpine Summit Seniors Lodge.

In total, she served more than three de“All these years I cades as an elected official, making her thought Gloria was tenure the longest in Jasper’s history. riding on my coat-tails Quite often in the past, I would be when in fact it was me greeted by the sight of Gloria sitting who was riding on hers.” on her stoop, drinking hot coffee. Upon spying me, she would rise from her chair, whereupon we would engage in our fencepost chronicles.

When I arrived at the gate the other day, however, it was her widower, Garfield, who was there, his ever-present reading glasses threatening to fall off the end of his nose.

After a long talk, Garfield said something that stuck in my mind: “All these years I thought Gloria was riding on my coat-tails,” he said.

“When in fact it was me who was riding on hers.”

It was a revelatory moment. A pure moment.

If we were to be as honest as he was in that one, pure moment, I think we would have to admit the same.

Thank you, Gloria, for having coat-tails big enough for the ride. We are still basking in your Glory.

Joe Urie // info@thejasperlocal.com

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local wildlife //

thursday, august 15, 2019 // issue 151 // the jasper local// page B6

PEEP! // LITTLE CRITTERS DON’T OFTEN GET THEIR DUE WHEN COMPARED TO THE MIGHTY MOOSE, WARY WOLVES AND BURLY BEARS IN JASPER NATIONAL PARK, BUT PHOTOGRAPHER SIMONE HEINRICH KNOWS THAT GOOD THINGS COME IN SMALL PACKAGES, TOO. PICAS, MARMOTS AND CHIPMUNKS ARE JUST AS HUNGRY, AND JUST AS WILD, AS THE BIGGEST BEASTIES! // SIMONE HEINRICH

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