The Jasper Local February 15, 2021

ALTERNATIVE +

LOCAL + INDEPENDENT

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2021 // ISSUE 182

Holy dip! // Nothing like a polar plunge to invigorate the senses!

Ron Worobec’s post-run cool down routine is the next best thing to a hot spring, so he says.

Although things can get “problematic” when the thermometer goes sub -25C, the water underneath the ice is always the same temperature: cool. // JACK MOBBS

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The Jasper Local // ISSUE 182 // MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2021

EDITORIAL //

Local Vocal Who opposes the province’s decision to allow open-pit coal mining in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains? Basically everyone.

So suggests Edmonton-based writer and political watcher, Dave Cournoyer (daveberta.ca). Cournoyer lists ranchers, farmers, environmental organizations and recreational groups among those who have spoken out against the UCP’s plans to sell off Alberta headwaters to foreign mining interests. More telling, however, are the cities, towns, First Nations, Tribes and counties who have all penned letters to Premier Jason Kenney, urging him to reinstate the 1976 Coal Development Policy that was rescinded last year (update: he reinstated it, but not before granting a large number of leases and related exploration activities on Category 2 lands).

Considering the alignment of so many communities across Alberta, it was with heightened interest that residents noted Jasper councillor Jenna McGrath’s February 2 motion, to register council’s opposition to coal exploration on the Eastern Slopes, was defeated.

That the motion was struck down disappointed some of us who had hoped that our local officials would take a position on such a critical environmental issue. However, a combination of the motion’s imprecise wording and the argument that the matter is not within Jasper’s purview ultimately compelled council to refrain from wading in—even though they seemed to agree that Jasperites are opposed to this kind of resource extraction.

Well, not all Jasperites. Robin Campbell is our former MLA who ultimately occupied cabinet positions in successive PC governments. Campbell is a fourthgeneration coal miner and the president of the Coal Association of Canada. He was also one of Jasper’s most sought-after fishing guides for 37 years.

How Campbell can promote an industry that makes its living altering landscapes which contain sensitive headwaters and fish habitat, while at the same time knowing intimately that Alberta’s spectacular environments are only unspoiled because they are protected, is puzzling to me. I said as much in a recent email to Mr. Campbell, but just like when I asked him for an interview in May, right after the Coal Policy was nixed, my request for comment was ignored.

Although local officials were persuaded that municipal council isn’t an appropriate forum for debating Alberta’s resource development and Mr. Campbell seems happy to pretend his two worlds exist exclusively from one another, I would contend that when it comes to matters that involve our province’s headwaters, we should be approaching them holistically.

For no matter what watershed we live in, as Albertans, we are all connected. B COVEY // thejasperlocal@gmail.com

ACC’s decision will polarize people

Re: Local backcountry skiers blindsided

by ACC’s push to close Tonquin Valley (February 1, 2021 Jasper Local)

Dear Editor: We live in a province of extremes, one minute we hear the government opening the doors to surface mining again, and in the other minute we hear the ACC supporting a low probability of success and high impact measure to limit further skier access to the Tonquin. What Alberta needs these days is moderation and common sense, something our polarized province seems to have lost over the years.

Thinking caribou populations will magically come back (after decades of steady decline) with this useless measure

is as misguided as thinking the coal industry will magically come back to Alberta. We need to stop looking at the past and start thinking about the future, with a balanced, common sense approach. Banning skiers in the Tonquin will serve only to further polarize people (by aggravating otherwise environmentally-conscious people) and do nothing to save the caribou, whose population has been in steady decline for decades despite the entire book of conservation policy thrown at them (in Banff and elsewhere). What a senseless initiative the ACC is supporting.

- Vittorio Spoldi, Calgary

The Jasper Local //

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// LOCAL HEALTH

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2021 // ISSUE 182 // The Jasper Local // PAGE A3

Dr. Declan Unsworth is concerned with the timing of Alberta’s reopening strategy. // JASPER LOCAL FILE

Local doctor urging caution among lifted restrictions Dr. Declan Unsworth is cautioning Jasperites who may think the coronavirus pandemic is almost over, not to celebrate too early.

“We’re not totally out of the woods yet,” Unsworth said.

Unsworth is warning Jasperites and other Albertans that vigilance is still necessary to ensure the community doesn’t see another spike in cases.

With vaccines rolling out slowly and new variants of the disease being found within the province, Unsworth said it’s only a matter of time before cases ramp up again.

“Projections are showing Alberta could have up to 1,000 cases a day by midMarch,” he said.

Unsworth was sounding the alarm the same day that the provincial government opened up restaurants for in-person dining and loosened restrictions on school and team sport activities. He suggested the province’s February 8 “Step One” benchmark contained easements on restrictions that could potentially prolong the pandemic.

“I understand why the

government feels like it needs to do this but I think it’s risky,” he said.

Both the “British” B.1.1.7 coronavirus variant as well as the “South African” B.1.351 variant have been shown to be more transmissible than the original virus. With the regular variant, people who contract the disease are most infectious in the pre-symptomatic period.

“I expect the same with the new variants,” he said.

In November, the Public Health Agency of Canada recommended triple-layer masks to mitigate the spread of infectious particles. More recently, the Centre for Disease Control suggested wearing two masks are better than one in protecting against COVID-19.

Unsworth says in light of what local healthcare providers have learned about the quick spread of COVID-19, it makes sense for individuals to take increased precautions.

“When we see something which is that much easier to spread, the 15 minutes timelines, the simple cloth masks and two metre distancing may not be enough,” he said.

Dr. Unsworth is is concerned that workplaces which serve members of the public may be at risk.

“I worry about people working in the public in indoor areas, dealing with unmasked patrons for extended periods of time,” he said.

Although contact tracing data was notoriously deficient in Alberta during the caseload spike in December, Unsworth said local doctors noticed the community spread was most rapid in instances where members of the public transmitted the virus to workplaces. That makes it potentially problematic, in his opinion, to open up businesses, particularly when we’ve gained some ground during two months of restrictions.

“We’ve done well in tamping down the numbers, but I want to make sure we don’t take our eye off the ball when we’re this close to the end,” he said. “If we do a good job of knocking this down, the sooner we’ll be able to open up and go back to normal living.”

B COVEY // thejasperlocal@gmail.com

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The Jasper Local // ISSUE 182 // MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2021

LOCAL WILDLIFE

Close encounter of the clawed, prowling kind At 11 p.m. on February 4 Jeremy Salisbury was letting his dog out before heading to bed.

Salisbury lives in the Caribou Creek Housing CoOperative units, near Cabin Creek, on the west side of Jasper. His townhouse backs onto the Pyramid Bench.

Salisbury has no illusions that his home marks a border between the townsite and habitat for wild animals.

“We know where we live,” Salisbury said. “We’ve seen bears, coyotes, foxes and elk back there.”

wall that sits just behind his townhouse.

“I stepped out to let Charlie out, looked over and there was the cougar, staring back at me,” Salisbury said.

Charlie is a Brussels Griffon. He weighs less than five pounds. Salisbury dashed down his back stairs to retrieve his pet.

“I ran down the stairs, grabbed Charlie, and ran back inside,” he said.

The cougar, meanwhile, took off. Salisbury reported the sighting to Parks Canada dispatchers, who relayed the call to Jasper National Park resource conservation staff. The next morning, a small team was looking for cougar clues.

“A full warning is now being set up and a scene investigation is underway to determine why this individual is remaining in the area,” Parks Canada told residents in the area, via an email.

#NotAllCougars // © MARK BRADLEY, Parks Canada

The warning remains in effect. Steve Malcolm, wildlife management specialist, said it’s not uncommon to have predator presence along the Pyramid Bench sections behind the community.

“All residents that share the community outer perimeters have an increased responsibility to manage all attractants as they are the first line of defence against human/wildlife conflicts,” Malcolm wrote.

FACE TO FACE // The red circle marks where Jeremy Salisbury spotted a cougar on February 4.// SUBMITTED

But he’d never seen a cougar behind the Co-Ops. When he and his wife heard, through the local grapevine, that a cougar had killed a deer not far away and that Parks Canada was monitoring the situation, they decided the backyard would be off limits to their seven-year-old daughter for a few days.

“We knew it was around,” Salisbury said.

What he didn’t suspect was that when his dog, Charlie, went outside to do its business, the cougar would be just 20 feet away, lying down on the snow-covered retaining

If residents encounter a cougar, Parks Canada advises the following: Do not approach the animal.

Immediately pick up small children.

Parks Canada staff investigating the scene. // BOB COVEY

Face the cougar, and retreat slowly - do not run or play dead.

Dispatch at 780-852-6155.

Try to appear bigger by holding your arms or an object above your head.

Salisbury, meanwhile, will be checking the surroundings before Charlie does his business.

Be aggressive. Shout, wave a stick or throw rocks to deter an attack.

“It wasn’t aggressive or anything. I think we scared each other,” he said.

Report a sighting immediately to Parks Canada

BOB COVEY // thejasperlocal@gmail.com

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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2021 // ISSUE 182 // The Jasper Local // PAGE B2

LOCAL COMMUNITY

JLFS digging into community work After 10 years, dozens of markets, thousands of pounds of vegetables and tractor-loads of hard work, the Jasper Local Food Society is enjoying the fruits of its labours.

However, even the most productive soil needs to be regularly replenished.

“We’re hoping we can recruit some new board members,” president Marissa Kidd said recently.

At a recent meeting, JLFS members tallied up a list of their successes over the seasons. From apple festivals to seed saving sessions; school outreach to work bees; and Indigenous plant walks to food recovery programs, it’s safe to say that the twin trunks of the JLFS’s community garden and farmers’ market programs have grown various blossoming branches.

“Many of our programs have become fixtures of the community at this point,” said Kidd.

Kidd is serving her last term. Her tenure has seen the JLFS’s focus shift to reflect a

changing world. Jasper has traditionally seen itself as limited when it comes to food production, Kidd said. She wants that perspective to change.

“Sometimes Jasper feels like a lookdon’t-touch, living museum,” she said.

“We envision a community that doesn’t see itself as so separate from nature.”

Through a decade of spirited work, the JLFS has taken big steps when it comes to increasing food security in a small, isolated mountain town. Kidd is excited to see what the next decade will bring.

“So much of our food is still grown in California and Mexico and trucked here,” she said. “If we’re going to have people living here, we should be living here sustainably.”

The JLFS’s Annual General Meeting takes place on Tuesday, February 23 at 7 p.m. on Zoom. Besides the election of new board members, the meeting will feature growing experts from B.C.’s Robson Valley and include a chance to win great prizes from regional farms.

Check the Jasper Local Food Society’s page on Facebook for the meeting link.

Jasper’s Michaela Havlickova salutes the sky with a “Mpemba effect” experiment, the phenomenon wherein hot water evaporates more quickly than cold water.// WILDMAN SKRABAL

Friends of Jasper rolling out new flatpacking fundraiser Jasper’s winter trails could soon get a lot more accessible.

The Friends of Jasper National Park and the Jasper Trail Alliance are embarking on a new project to flat-pack trails close to the townsite.

On February 10, the Friends announced a fundraising campaign to purchase a SnowDog, a tracked, all-terrain utility task machine that will allow its operators to create a smooth and supportive trail base, allowing all users to enjoy the trails without having to spin their tires or sink into deep snow.

Local trail users are hyped.

“Jasper is already an outdoor paradise in the winter and this will take our small town in the Rockies to the next level,” commented pro mountain biker and Jasper trail ambassador, Cory Wallace.

The machine costs $22,000. The Friends have committed to match donations with their own $22,000 of operational funds.

The SnowDog idea started when The Bench Bike Shop owner, Randall Riddell, approached Parks Canada two winters ago. He relayed trail users’ feedback that when Jasper’s winter trails were groomed, as they were when the Frosty’s Fat Bike Race came to town, they were more inviting. He suggested acquiring a SnowDog machine would be

good for the community.

“When the trails are actually groomed, people are more likely to use them,” he said.

The cause was somewhat personal, too, Riddell said. Jasper’s long winters can be tough on people, including himself.

“Anything that can make it easier to get outside is really good for me and I think for other people too.”

To show his shop’s commitment, The Bench kickstarted the fundraising. On February 12, donations had already passed $5,000.

Check out the Friends of Jasper on Facebook or give.friendsofjasper.com for more information.

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The Jasper Local // ISSUE 182 // MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2021

STORY BY: DOUG OLTHOF // IMAGES BY: LADA D PHOTOGRAPHY

Walking into the Maligne Canyon

that dynamism has been on full display.

on a frigid winter day feels like

Entering the canyon from the downstream side, a narrow hallway of rock leads to a tiered icefall known as “The Angel.” Here, despite temperatures in the minus thirties, liquid water flows overtop of the thick layer of ice that encases the canyon walls.

The buildup of ice at the base of the icefall constricts the f low of water, resulting in a pronounced cone from which a steady stream squirts forth like a fountain.

stepping into another world.

As the canyon’s walls rear up above you, pale blue ice pours back down, a cascade of water quite literally frozen in time. This beguiling paradox lends the place an otherworldly allure: gargantuan ice structures, unquestionably solid, nevertheless seem to flow over the canyon’s edges and along its narrow base.

But this seeming contradiction is no mirage.

The ice in the Maligne Canyon, much like that of the glaciers, is a dynamic and everchanging thing. Recently, as the mild winter has given way to a sudden and deep cold snap,

Venturing further up the canyon, what two weeks ago was a solid foundation of translucent ice is now a semi-permeable mélange of ice and water, passable in some places, but deep enough to swallow your boot in others. Massive curtains of blue ice dangle ominously from overhung walls to the right.

Then, as you pass through a slight constriction, The Queen makes her appearance.

Anchored on a car-sized boulder at its base, The Queen stands tall as the proudest, most imposing ice feature in the Maligne Canyon. Her 25-metre column of complexly-featured ice plummets from the rim, while a bulge two-thirds of the way up her expanse produces sections that tip past the vertical plane.

For decades, The Queen has been a favourite training ground for ice climbers preparing their bodies and minds for the classic ice climbs that line the Icefields Parkway. For climbers keen to test their mettle on test pieces like “Curtain Call,” “Polar Circus” and “Ice 9,” there can be few more ideal venues for training laps than this Maligne marvel. // N. Covey

But even the mighty Queen is

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Long Live The Queen: The Dynamic Beauty of the Maligne Canyon in Winter

not immune to the ever-shifting forces that shape the canyon’s walls. Sometime during the wee hours of February 7—as the temperature plummeted and the ice grew more brittle—two massive curtains that had formed like wings on either side of The Queen slipped loose of their moorings on the overhung rock walls above and came crashing down onto the canyon

“For decades, The Queen has been a favourite training ground for ice climbers preparing their bodies and minds for the classic ice climbs that line the Icefields Parkway.”

reminder of the canyon’s dangerous dynamism soon comes into view. A collapsed ice shelf reveals a gaping cavern extending into the dark and frigid depths of the canyon f loor. When the first sustained cold weather arrives in the fall, the water that runs through the canyon begins to freeze. Soon, however, the f low of water coursing through underground karst features from Medicine Lake dissipates.

As a result, gaps form between the surface ice and the canyon f loor. In high water years, this can mean that ice walkers in the canyon are, in fact, suspended several meters above the ground by a temporarily fixed layer of temporarily solid water.

In recent years, Maligne Canyon ice walks have become one of the most popular winter tourism activities in Jasper. On any given day, you can expect to find several groups of helmetclad visitors scuttling along the canyon’s depths like so many penguins. Suitably awed by the gorge’s grand walls, they struggle to maintain their micro-spiked traction while their guides shepherd them past the canyon’s pitfalls. Ice climbing, too, has enjoyed a recent resurgence in popularity.

More and more Jasper climbers are seizing on the Maligne Canyon’s rare combination of superb, steep ice and easy accessibility.

f loor. Their remnants now lay like gnarled tombstones at The Queen’s foot, reminders of the awesome power that hangs above.

Continuing up further still, another

As thousands of visitors to Jasper know, a short walk from the parking lot can reveal the dramatic beauty of the Maligne Canyon in winter. But those fortunate enough to make repeated visits into the depths of this magnificent feature will be witness to something still more profound: the power and majesty of these solid formations that exist in a continual state of f low.

DOUG OLTHOF

// thejasperlocal@gmail.com

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The Jasper Local // ISSUE 182 // MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2021

LOCAL WILDLIFE

Rams ramming; porcupines, peeking; elk, adating; and coyotes, contemplating. There are just some of the wildlife behaviours Jasper photographers can capture if they display that rare human behavior: being patient. Follow @simoneheinrichphotography on Instagram for more examples of patience paying off. // SIMONE HEINRICH

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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2021 // ISSUE 182 // The Jasper Local // PAGE B6

LOCAL HISTORY

Tom Peterson, who was born in Jasper in 1930, amassed a vast knowledge of fur-trading, aboriginal peoples of the area, and the changing relationships between the upper Athabasca River region and the people who lived there.

the 1954 film “River of No Return,” starring Marilyn Monroe and Robert Mitchum.

By this point, Tom had met and married the love of his life, Vi, a

Peterson made countless visits to the old logging tie camps in Jasper and other historic sites to document the stories of the land, forests and people who travelled through this area, and has helped others to do the same. He was sought out as an expert by Parks staff, Universities, historical authors and just about anyone interested in early explorer history in the Athabasca corridor.

One of Tom’s first jobs was working at a U.S. Army Recreation Camp in 1945, when the U.S. Army rented Becker’s Chalets, near the Athabasca River, to give soldiers returning home from war a brief holiday.

In the summers of 1946-1948, Tom worked for pioneer Jasper outfitter Fred Brewster at the Maligne Lake Chalet and Cabins. His duties included lighting the log stoves in the tent cabins in the morning, bringing hot water to the guests and

many books including A Hard Road to Travel; The History of Jasper; The Northern Rockies Eco-Guide; Tracks Across My Trail; Highland Soldiers; and Jasper – Robson: A Taste of Heaven. He was involved in countless presentations and

at the time and used to cash cheques for the Canadian soldiers—just one small example of his handson historical research that led to a lifetime of hiking in Jasper.

Tom played a big role in creating the Jasper House interpretative trail and platform, and the interpretative panels on Solomon Hill near Brule. After he and Vi moved to Hinton in 1995, Tom helped establish the Hinton Museum and supported both Hinton’s Historical Society and Coal Branch Archives at Hinton’s Library.

There isn’t a historical artifact, location or trail in the park that Peterson did not know Tom Peterson overlooking the Athabasca Glacier. Peterson’s vast knowledge of the people who about. At 78 years of used the Athabasca corridor was drawn upon by many researchers and authors. // SUMBITTED age, Tom scrambled up Roche Miette for the last young pastry chef whose baking “In 1990, Tom helped cut time. In his younger years, he chased became a favourite treat on any trip the ribbon of the Jasper marauding night-time bears away Tom and his companions took into Yellowhead Museum and from his tent at Jacques Lake, armed Jasper’s backcountry. Tom and Vi Archives in honour of his only with a flashlight, and he was had three boys and one girl, all raised mother’s contributions.” backpacking tough routes like the in Jasper, and as their children left Athabasca Pass Trail well into his 70s. home, Tom and Vi began renting out their rooms to help historical hiking tours throughout single girls working Tom and his beloved Vi have the Jasper and Hinton areas. in Jasper cope with passed away, but Tom’s passion and the housing shortage. knowledge on historical events in If you wanted to know about the But the Petersons the region live on, many of which we history of David Thompson, the Metis wouldn’t even know about without weren’t just landlords; leaving the Park in 1910 or where to together, from 1972 to his efforts. For that we are eternally find the trail the Overlanders used 1984, they provided grateful to Tom. in 1862, Tom was your man. He was a positive influence ___________________________ also knowledgeable about more recent on hundreds of young STUART TAYLOR // thejasperlocal@gmail.com people, many of whom events like the Canadian Army using Stuart Taylor is an amateur historian the hills surrounding Talbot Lake settled in Jasper and and former member of Hinton Town raised families of their to practice trench warfare prior to Council. Let him know what you think of embarking for the Korea in the early own. his historical features or suggest another 1950s. Tom was working at the bank subject for him to cover.

No doubt Tom’s passion for history was inspired by his mother Tom Peterson and his beloved wife, Vi. // SUBMITTED Constance, who used to store taking them out fishing. Tom guided much of Jasper’s historical many a famous guest including archives in her house, in Tom’s Canada’s Governor General, Howard old bedroom, until Constance, Alexander, who tipped him $5—big Tom and others helped found money at the time. the Jasper Historical Society in 1963. In 1990, Tom helped cut the ribbon of the Jasper After a temporary stint working Yellowhead Museum and for the Canadian Imperial Bank of Archives in honour of his Commerce in Jasper, Tom went to work in 1953 with general contractors mother’s contributions.

Crawley and Mohr. Their firm built houses and buildings around Jasper, including the cabin that was used in

Tom co-authored or contributed knowledge to

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