The Jasper Local, July 15, 2021 by The Jasper Local

ALTERNATIVE +

LOCAL + INDEPENDENT

THURSDAY, JULY 15, 2021 // ISSUE 192

HAZY DAYS // Jasper’s Dominika Dobiasova near Surprise Point campground in the Tonquin Valley. Bugs? Nah. // LADA D PHOTOGRAPHY

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The Jasper Local // ISSUE 192 // THURSDAY, JULY 15, 2021

EDITORIAL //

Local Vocal Human beings seem to require tangible, landmark events to shake them out of their complacency. It takes a heart attack to finally get dad to cut out the red meat and change his sedentary lifestyle. The hotdoggin’ skier has to suffer a nasty concussion before he starts wearing a helmet. And addictions specialists know that many people struggling with substance abuse won’t seek treatment until they hit “rock bottom.” So why does the urgency of the climate crisis fail to register? Perhaps we’re too close to the problem to notice the trends? Perhaps, like the parents who don’t realize how much their child has grown until a seldom-seen friend points it out, we are oblivious to the slow creep of our climate emergency? Nice try. There are scary signs of global warming all around us. This month we’ve witnessed dead fish bloating in the summer sun. Again this summer we’ve got wildfire smoke so thick we can’t see the mountains. A forest of dead trees reminds us that winters are rarely cold enough to stave off a pine beetle epidemic, and of course in the high country we can plainly see Jasper’s rapidly-shrinking glaciers. We’ve written in the past about the importance of individual behaviour change and personal choices when it comes to addressing climate consequences: ditching single-use plastics, eating less meat and commuting via bicycle, for example. And we’ve also tried to shed light on system change, whether it’s fixing our broken recycling apparatuses, agitating for a transition from a resource-based economy to a clean-energy economy or raising awareness of the importance of watersheds. The truth is, we need both. A personal responsibility versus political action binary is unproductive. Focusing on individual efforts obscures the answerability of fossil fuel barons and policy makers inflaming the crisis, while disregarding personal choices as “drops in the bucket” undermines the effectiveness of creating a behavioural sea-change. A 2018 report titled Climate Change Needs Behaviour Change explained that personal action and collective, political action are selfreinforcing. Making the hard choices in our own lives to tread more lightly on the earth helps pave the way for policy changes. So in light of the increasing signs of a climate emergency, let’s not be paralyzed by a debate that pits individual versus collective actions. At this stage in the game, any kind of action matters and there are plenty of resources out there to inform what those actions can be. The important thing is to act. BOB COVEY // thejasperlocal@gmail.com

Parking rules will disrupt families Dear Editor,

We’ve lived in our home here in Jasper for 20 years. We are a large, social family who enjoys the company of friends and family. The five of us raced to get vaccinated so we could open our doors to our friends and family that we missed so much over the last 16 months. Unfortunately, when our doors opened we found out that we lived on a residential block that was slapped

with new Parking restrictions. Originally we were told that nobody except for the residents of our block were allowed to park on our street and that it would be policed 24/7. Then came an update that said we were now allowed to have two (non-resident) guests a day register to park in front of our house between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. (for free). While this is a bit better, the freedom to have who

we want, when we want, over to our house will no longer exist. I also find it frustrating that if somebody stops by for an hour or two they have to go through the registration process to park at my house.

Paid parking downtown and permit parking on residential blocks will be damaging to that small town feel that we love about Jasper. - Patti Urie, Jasper

The Jasper Local //

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// LOCAL CLIMATE

THURSDAY, JULY 15, 2021 // ISSUE 192 // The Jasper Local // PAGE A3

BELLY UP// Hundreds of dead Lake Whitefish like this one were discovered at Talbot Lake after the June 29-July 1 heatwave caused water temperatures to rise in shallow montane lakes. // MARGOT WALKER

Talbot Lake fish kill a sign of climate events to come Hundreds of Lake Whitefish in Jasper National Park’s Talbot Lake are dead after a prolonged warm weather event in late June.

The die-off was first reported by a commercial fish guide on June 29, according to Parks Canada. Jasperite Margot Walker brought her paddleboard to Talbot Lake on July 1 and noticed a few dead fish near the boat ramp. After launching her watercraft, Walker observed more than 100 of the whitefish floating belly up in the sun. “I had heard about [the dieoff] but wasn’t prepared to see it,” Walker said. However, Parks Canada is suggesting that Canadians should prepare to see more similar die-offs in the future. “Experts expect to see more of these events in response to a changing climate,” said communications officer Steve Young. Fish die-offs are caused by low levels of dissolved oxygen in a waterbody. The amount of oxygen a waterbody can hold is related to the temperature

of the water. Generally, the colder the water, the more oxygen it can hold. This situation is further complicated by growth in warm temperatures of other aquatic organisms such as algae, aquatic plants, and bacteria that also use oxygen, according to Parks Canada. At the height of the heat wave, JNP aquatics specialists recorded surface water temperature at 28 degrees Celsius at Talbot Lake. The majority of the Lake Whitefish died between June 29 and July 1, according to Parks Canada. The Lake Whitefish mortality primarily impacted larger, older age-class fish which require higher levels of oxygen. “We expect the younger age-classes of the species to persist and maintain the lake’s population into the future,” Young said. Waterbodies in JNP are generally resistant to drastic water temperature changes. Glacier-fed surface water and underwater springs maintain cold temperatures in many lakes and ponds, even in the face of heat events. Large, deep lakes

may also maintain cold refuges for aquatic species at lower depths. However, Jasper’s shallow montane lakes in the east part of the park remain vulnerable to warm temperature events. This isn’t the first time a fish die-off has taken place at Talbot Lake, according to Parks Canada. The most recent occurred at Talbot Lake in August of 2009. Approximately 70 large Lake Whitefish died at that time. Another dieoff event occurred in the summer of 2000, involving approximately 50 Lake Whitefish. While an angling restriction at Talbot Lake was considered, it would have been difficult to implement before temperatures returned to seasonal norms only a couple of days after the heatwave. Parks Canada personnel and commercial outfitters advised clients to avoid angling at Talbot Lake, Young said. “A fish die-off in response to prolonged warm weather is considered a natural event,” Young said. BOB COVEY // thejasperlocal@gmail.com

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The Jasper Local // ISSUE 192 // THURSDAY, JULY 15, 2021

LOCAL TRANSPORTATION

Private/public shuttle alliance aims to curb congestion A new shuttle service designed to alleviate congestion in Jasper’s downtown core and offer convenient transportation to and from Jasper’s campgrounds and high-use areas is up and running as of today (July 15).

Jasper Municipal Council approved the use of its COVID relief reserve to fund a pilot project at its July 6 regular council meeting. SunDog Transportation and Tour Company’s Paul Hardy proposed the three-way partnership between his business, the MOJ and Tourism Jasper a month ago. He said the July 14 reopening of Whistlers Campground, this summer’s preponderance of regional visitors driving their own vehicle (as opposed to international guests arriving on a charter bus or train) and the recent proliferation of on-street patios made the proposal for a transportation solution urgent. “I think most people agree that the patios are nice and it’s added to the ambiance,” Hardy said. “But there’s been a significant infrastructure cost.” The advent of paid parking also factored into Hardy’s decision to bring his proposal to council. Although he said he would have like a bit more runway before launching the service, Hardy said recent conversations with colleagues and fellow business owners convinced him that Jasper needed an affordable, efficient way for visitors to move from campgrounds to the Commercial Business District and other popular day-use areas. “This is a timely issue that needs a timely response,” Hardy said. Council agreed. At the July 6 meeting, council approved a maximum of up to $24,000 from the COVID Relief Reserve to support a public transportation service pilot project. To quell any concerns Jasperites might have about the municipal

government financing the scheme, councillor Paul Butler requested clarity from administration about the pilot’s funding structure. CAO Bill Given said the proposal has been created to be selfsupporting, and potentially even garner a profit. But in light of the unpredictability of user demand, the town is backstopping the pilot in the event the service “fails spectacularly.” In other words, the money will only be spent if the project does not break even. “This is not cash that the municipality would put up front to the operator,” Given replied. “This is money council would be approving administration to have available to support the service on receipt and review of the financial statements of the operation.” JASPER CONNECTOR // Paul Hardy of SunDog Tours proposed, and has now launched, a new shuttle service in Jasper. The service is a Butler was happy with the unique partnership with local government. // BOB COVEY explaination and made the motion that council approve a enterprise not got involved, the municipality would maximum of $24,000 from the COVID Reserve have had to take a hard look at creating a similar to support a transportation pilot project for service itself. the summer of 2021. The motion was carried “We’re a tourism community, anything that unanimously, and although Mayor Richard enhances the visitor experience and improves the Ireland voiced his concern that Parks Canada’s infrastructure situation is going to be good for Request For Proposals process could stif le locals and visitors,” Hardy said. entrepreneurship, he too was supportive of the motion and pleased that SunDog won the bid. SunDog’s 40-seat passenger shuttles will offer eight pick up/drop off times daily from Whistlers and “I for one will continue to question, hopefully at Wapiti campgrounds and downtown, from 8:30 the next intergovernmental meeting that we have, a.m. to 8:45 p.m., with extensions to Jasper Park the necessity for an RFP,” he said. “If somebody Lodge and Lake Annette as demand presents. comes up with a really good idea I think it can be evaluated independently…without going out to the The cost to passengers will be $5, round-trip, world at large to say ‘well look at this good idea, payable via mobile. could you do it better?’” Hardy, for his part, believes that had private BOB COVEY // thejasperlocal@gmail.com

THURSDAY, JULY 15, 2021 // ISSUE 192 // The Jasper Local // PAGE B2

LOCAL COMMUNITY

MALIGNE DOLLAR VIEW // Maligne Lake’s Spirit Island as captured by Simone Heinrich. Jasperites and visitors alike are hoping views like this will return soon if smoke from B.C. wildfires dissipates. Go to www.jasperalberta.com/notifyme and subscribe to receive emergency alerts by text or email. // SIMONE HEINRICH

Jasper’s “Dutchess of the Dump” bids adieu Jasper’s Daphne Syrja has had enough of your crap. That is to say, the long-time scale operator at the Jasper Transfer Station will soon be clocking out for the final time; Syrja retires on August 31. And while some might turn their nose up at a career spent working at the local landfill, Syrja, who was born and raised in Jasper, said there will definitely be parts about the job that she will miss. “I’m going to miss all the people I got to know over the years,” she said. “The drivers for the town and the [Jasper Park] Lodge were like another family to me.” The Dutchess of the Dump, as Syrja was affectionately known, was on friendly terms with most folks who came through the gates, but she has particularly fond feelings for a cadre of regulars who enjoyed grazing at the transfer station—Gerry, Wayne and Bob, from the Thrift Shop, for example, and Alden and “Yach,” who she could always count on to put a smile on her face. “There were all sorts of other colourful characters I met over the years,” she said.

The unofficial visits made her days go by quickly, but by far the best part of her job was the fact that she was able to perform it unsupervised. That her boss had a level of trust in her was satisfying, but for her it was simply the fact that she was able to work alone which kept her loyal to the post. “That has always been priceless to me,” Syrja said. “I wasn’t cut out to be an office girl. In a way, it has been the perfect job for me.” Syrja started her career with Parks Canada in 1987 working in campgrounds before taking her post at the transfer station. Twenty seven years later, she remains the only scale operator in the entire federal system. “I’m unique,” she laughed. After she locks the gates for the final time (don’t try to climb them, you’ll be in for a shock), Syrja will move to Stony Plain, AB, to spend time with her sister. She’ll miss the mountains and the views and the drivers and the locals, but at 60-years-young this year, Syrja is looking forward to a long and fruitful retirement. “I had a lot of laughs here,” she said.

BOB COVEY // thejasperlocal@gmail.com

FINAL COUNTDOWN // Jasper’s Daphne Syrja is retiring from Parks Canada after 27 years at the Transfer Station. // BOB COVEY

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The Jasper Local // ISSUE 192 // THURSDAY, JULY 15, 2021

STORY BY DAVID HARRAP // PHOTOS BY DAVID AND LIAM HARRAP

(

The Cray XC40 supercomputing system at the UK’s Met Office is one of the most powerful in the world dedicated to weather and climate forecasting. It’s capable of 14,000 trillion arithmetic operations per second. Weather data is now shared around the world and it’s little wonder that weather forecasts are more accurate than ever: today’s five-day forecasts are as accurate as three-day forecasts were 20 years ago. But the atmosphere is a chaotic system ruled by our Sun and will always have the last say.

weeks or more before Ben Backpacker and Hanna Hiking Boots came tripping up the trail with their titanium sporks and Chardonnay wine glasses, their dental floss and water filters. I had the jump on those spark-eyed cowboys always looking to catch you out. Alone. It felt good. Just me and my old pal Moccasin Joe. I saw his tracks every time I came. His going out: mine coming in. We were ships passing in the night. The creeks hadn’t come up yet; it had been a cool spring and the high country hadn’t let

Before George Banks stepped out of Number 17 Cherry Tree Lane on his way to the bank (Mary Poppins, eh!) he would have checked the barometer hanging in the hall. Was pressure dropping and the instrument forecasting RAIN? Rain or shine he always took an umbrella but today maybe he needed his Macintosh? “The mountain men had a keen sense It’s handy to know what of weather: they watched the sky, felt the weather’s going to do the changes in the wind, pondered for then you can dress and over sunsets and sunrises, looked at act accordingly. These days the moon and the sun for tell-tale every man and his dog evidence of what might be coming— knows what the weather is for it could mean their lives.” going to do; not that they’ve figured it themselves, for up-to-the-minute weather go of the snow. forecasts are on TV, radio and plastered across I passed glacier lilies every device. in bud, trees with their one more ring of growth, The mountain men had a keen sense of weather: forded a major creek with a clear view of the they watched the sky, felt the changes in the wind, bottom, saw grizzly tracks in the mud, and with pondered over sunsets and sunrises, looked at the daylight fading and the warmth dying with the moon and the sun for tell-tale evidence of what light I reached my camping spot. A long day but I might be coming—for it could mean their lives. was home.

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It was the second week of June and I was heading for a place we had discovered 24 years ago. Blue sky driving down. A great forecast. Hardly a vehicle on the Icefields Parkway. This was COVID times, the whole world holed up at home—waiting. I made my way up the trail, patches of snow in the trees that I waded through or went around. Tracks everywhere but animals nowhere. It would be three

The wind blew in the night and all the next day, but the sky stayed clear. One day a jet went over and its contrail thickened and hung in the sky forever. Then clouds rolled in and rolled out again, days and nights turned warm and when I walked on the snow first thing I sunk to my knees. The mountains were melting.

SIGNS IN SUN AND MOON...

And on the earth swollen creeks

(PART 1)

Then one afternoon I was lying in the warmth staring into the silence when I caught a glimpse of the sun moving behind a thin veil of cloud. There was a huge ring around the sun. I’d never seen one this big. The ring enclosed an ominous brown

a sheet of lead . . . warm . . . no wind . . . a mountain world holding its breath. I rushed to get the fire going. Cooked my bacon, sausage and egg. Only one cup of tea. Then packed up and headed for the valley—and the creek crossing. I’m not changing into my runners; I’ll go with my boots on. That’s how it will be: he died with his boots on! I came to the place where I’d crossed five days before, and without stopping started in. I couldn’t see the bottom, but if I was crossing in the right place there shouldn’t be any holes. The current was insane. Water weighs 62.4 pounds per cubic foot, and the pressure exerted by moving water increases with the square of it’s velocity. If water is moving twice as fast it’s exerting four times as much force; if it’s moving ten times as fast that’s 100 times the force. For a moment the current stops me. I stagger. The old legs aren’t what they were. The water is up to my thighs, but the fright of it all drives me on. I make it. Bloody hell! I scrambled up a crumbling bank. Drained the boots. Looked at the creek, and figured if the weather keeps up, tomorrow I would never make it across. Around 6:30 p.m., that evening a mighty thunderstorm with tennis-ball-size hail hits Calgary. At 6:37 p.m., Environment Canada issues a severe thunderstorm warning for the city . . .

cloud. Rain coming. Rings around the sun and moon don’t lie, and judging by the size of this ring it was going to pour. I glassed the mountains. The creeks had come up and were already the colour of British tea. I thought about pulling up the stumps and getting the hell out before I was stuck. The wind dropped, I fixed a pork chop for supper and turned in. Before it got dark a big clap of thunder and the rain started. I tried not to think of the creek crossing but the rain wouldn’t let me. I went outside to pee. Socked in. Dismal. Raining hard. Another time I’m up the sky had partly cleared. By morning, a wan sun and a sky turned to

That ring around the sun was spot on. ________________________________ DAVID HARRAP

// thejasperlocal@gmail.com

Jasper’s David Harrap is the author of the soonto-be-published book Over The Mountains, Under The Stars. As a mountain man he has a keen sense of weather. Only one cup of tea? Storm’s a-brewin’!

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The Jasper Local // ISSUE 192 // THURSDAY, JULY 15, 2021

LOCAL MOUNTAINEERING

Rising mountaineering star digs deep to touch Canada’s tallest peak Isobel Phoebus has been on top of the world.

depleted environment and staying positive when weather turned or energy reserves ran low were challenges that Phoebus—who only had one season of ski touring under her belt before flying into the Yukon’s St. Elias Mountain Range—was facing for the first time in her mountaineering career.

said. “I thought ‘this is wild, I can’t believe this is happening.’”

It was happening, alright. After the The 29-year-old grizzly bear ecologist, team was dropped off at base camp, they who has been working with the Foothills had a straight-on view of their route up Research Institute (fRI) out of Hinton, Logan’s East Ridge. Their plan to climb recently stepped foot on the highest peak from 2,000 metres to 4,800 metres in in Canada. 10 days went off relatively smoothly, with the odd weather hitch that allowed them to rest. Acclimatization, too, came naturally, as Phoebus and Mauthner made two trips to each camp—the first to haul their fuel, extra food and skis, and the second to ferry up the bulk of THE SHARP EDGE // Jasperite Isobel Phoebus and Kirk Mauthner (shown here) recently scaled Mount Logan. Prolonged exposure on the East Ridge’s traverse made for heady views. // ISOBEL PHOEBUS their camping equipment. It was mostly To reach the summit of Mount Logan, “I had always wanted to do a big straightforward travel—boot-packing Phoebus and her climbing partner, expedition but the timing hadn’t yet on snow, with the odd section of rock Golden, B.C.’s Kirk Mauthner, worked out,” she said. scrambling, Phoebus said—until the a mountain guide and rescue specialist, ridge began to sharpen. Until now. As she and Mauthner peered spent 24 days on the 5,959 metre giant— out the window of the two-passenger Mount Logan’s East Ridge is, like the six of which were spent inside an ice cave turbo charged Helio Courier aircraft at mountain’s other routes, subjected to the at 4,800 metres. the start of their trip, Phoebus said she sub-arctic weather that flies in off of the Whiteouts, minus 20-degree Celsius temperatures, avalanches and dangerous crevasses were the main objective hazards the duo had to consider. Hauling 100-pound loads (plus the skis they’d need to ski the famous King Trench), acclimatizing to an oxygen-

was overcome by emotion at the sight of a panorama of ice fields, a sea of glaciers and finally, the incomparable massif of Mount Logan—the largest (nonvolcanic) chunk of ice, rock and snow in the world. “It was like a whole new planet,” she

Pacific Ocean, only 120 km away. Unlike an ascent on the King Trench on the west side of the mountain, however, the East Ridge involves continuous exposure of up to 1,500 metres on either side of the route. Negotiating the knife-edged sections, some of which Phoebus led, was a heady experience that, when thinking back on the trip, still gives her a shot of adrenaline. “You’ve got over a kilometre on either side of you down to the glaciers,” Phoebus said. “With a big backpack, it was intimidating.” Although it was daunting, with good teamwork, Phoebus and Mauthner could continue along their route, placing one crampon in front of the other. Not so with their next challenge—a six day storm. Using the GPS coordinates provided by another team, Phoebus and Mauthner honed in on a large crevasse at 4,800 metres in which they could hunker down. Still, biting cold, accumulating snow and the fact that they didn’t know if they’d get a window to make a summit bid

was eating at them. “It was minus 15, minus 20, we were cooking with our mittens on…it was pretty uncomfortable,” Phoebus said. When the weather finally broke, the duo had two more camps to make—one at 5,220 metres, and the next at 5,680 metres. Phoebus, who had felt strong for the nearly three-weeks they’d spent on the mountain, was now starting to feel physically drained. The gear-haul to the highest camp sucked her energy and she was growing more tired and more cold with every passing hour. Despite her fatigue, knowing it was now or never, when Mauthner asked Phoebus if she was up for the summit push, she said she was. At 7 p.m. on June 10, they were the highest people in Canada. However, as the late Rockies icon Willi Pfisterer used to say, mountaineering is only 50 per cent uphill. Phoebus and Mauthner still had to get down. Fortunately, they could finally put their skis on. Unfortunately, Pheobus’ condition was getting worse. She was nauseated. Every 20 steps, she felt like she would be sick. To get them up and over the Prospector Col, the last significant climb before they descended in earnest, Mauthner loaded his sled and pack with as much of Phoebus’ gear as he could haul. Periodically, he’d check in with her—quizzing her on things like the day’s date and asking her to recite the alphabet backwards. As they dropped in elevation, gradually, Phoebus’ condition improved. “Thankfully we had pretty good snow conditions,” she said. “The snow was hard enough that we could glide across the crevasse fields.” Once they were out of immediate danger, the native of Nelson, B.C. had the opportunity to focus on her surroundings. The scale of the terrain, the remoteness of the mountain and the magnitude of their accomplishment (only 50 climbing permits per year are granted on the East Ridge per year and the average success rate of achieving the summit is 25 per cent) was starting to sink in. A month later, back in Jasper, she was still having trouble finding words to describe it. “This was all the culmination of a big winter for me,” she said. “Being up there on the ridge almost brought me to tears.” BOB COVEY // thejasperlocal@gmail.com

Phoebus only started ski touring recently but the 29-year-old is a capable climber and planner and can march for miles with a massive pack. // SUBMITTED

THURSDAY, JULY 15, 2021 // ISSUE 192 // The Jasper Local // PAGE B6

LOCAL COMMUNITY

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