The Jasper Local August 1, 2021 by The Jasper Local

ALTERNATIVE +

LOCAL + INDEPENDENT

SUNDAY, AUGUST 1, 2021 // ISSUE 193

WILDFLOWER WONDER // Intrepid explorers enjoy a cornucopia of sights and smells on Jasper National Park’s Cavell Meadows trail. // NICOLE COVEY

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The Jasper Local // ISSUE 193 // SUNDAY, AUGUST 1, 2021

EDITORIAL //

Local Vocal I know it’s a pilot project but Paid Parking in Jasper isn’t exactly off to a soaring start. We all laughed when the MOJ had to delay the initiative due to damaged signage, but since it began in earnest, I don’t hear a lot of chuckling. It was bound to be a tough transition for locals— we’d never had to pay for the convenience of grabbing a quick coffee. We’d never had to register our friends to come for a visit. We’d never used our smartphones as a digital wallet. These things take some getting used to. But if the nature of a trial balloon will always include some bumps along the way, Paid Parking so far has been like driving the Geraldine Lakes Fire Road in a Honda Civic (shout out to Megan Leblanc). It didn’t have to be this way. Some might recall that when town administrators first proposed Paid Parking in Jasper, it was suggested we start small. Try it in the outlying parking lots, get some baseline data and don’t tick off too many people, it was gently recommended. Nope. Council didn’t like that. It was all or nothing. They didn’t want to see the project fail because they’d moved forward in half measures. As such, despite the warnings of the complexities of on-street parking and the number of affected stakeholders, council rammed Paid Parking through. They wanted the turn-over of high-demand spots. They wanted the downtown covered. They wanted the revenue. That’s understandable, but now we’re dealing with the unintended consequences of that impatience. Visitors are missing the memos, downtown workers are parking on nearby residential streets and many “high-demand” zones are proving otherwise. Enforcement looks like a chore. I was in a local bakery last week when a Jasper bylaw officer called the room to attention to announce that anyone parked outside was liable to get a ticket if they hadn’t paid for parking. Because I hadn’t yet set up my phone with a payment system, embarrassingly, that group included me! I’m not the only one embarrassed by this clunky roll out. Shop owners are having to apologize to their patrons for the situation and residents in the “permit zones” are having to explain to their wouldbe visitors that they can’t come by without handing over their license plate numbers. I get it, Jasper needs to create some alternative revenue sources. Figuring out a way to (politely) ask visitors to pony up for some of the infrastructure

costs that two million of them are incurring every year is on every councillor’s to-do list. And I’m not even saying the scheme totally stinks (you can find plenty of folks on Facebook who will, however). What I am saying is that there’s a mounting danger that the baby will get thrown out with the bathwater. If residents are fed up enough with this iteration of Paid Parking, there’s a high likelihood that they won’t even consider version 2.0. That will be unfortunate, because the problems Paid Parking is attempting to address will remain. What are the solutions in the meantime? For one thing, better communication from our municipal leaders. Taking ownership of the initiative’s issues, for another. Finally, showing residents and visitors that local government is listening and is opening to tweaking, tinkering with and, if necessary, terminating the entire project. Only then will those of us onboard have confidence in the project’s pilots to steer this scheme straight. BOB COVEY // thejasperlocal@gmail.com

The Jasper Local //

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// LOCAL HEALTHCARE

SUNDAY, AUGUST 1, 2021 // ISSUE 193 // The Jasper Local // PAGE A3

CRISIS LOOMING//Local RNs Rachel Gaudry, Ashley Briggs and Payton Damer are union representatives with Local 75. They say nurses are dealing with burnout after 18 months of COVID-19. // BOB COVEY

Local nurses insulted by wage cut proposal Jasper nurses are in solidarity with Alberta healthcare workers who say they are insulted after the provincial government proposed significant rollbacks to their wages and contracts in the midst of an ongoing pandemic.

“We feel like we’re under attack,” a group of local nurses, including RNs Ashley Briggs and Rachel Gaudry, wrote to The Jasper Local recently. “We are devastated that after 16 months of an exhausting and demoralizing pandemic, we now have to worry about job security and the future of our healthcare system.” As the union and Alberta Health Services prepare for collective bargaining in mid August, the UCP government’s opening position is to roll back salaries by three per cent, eliminate hard-won lump-sum payments and adjust staffing provisions so that nurses will no longer be in charge of nursing units. Those roll backs are the tip of the iceberg, says RN and union representative Carli Bakker, who works out of the Hinton Healthcare Centre.

“Our job is hard, I think we’re fairly compensated for it, but we’re not going to take a step back from that,” Bakker said. More concerning is that the disrespect towards nurses shown by the UCP government is scaring potential healthcare workers away, Bakker said. Rural hospitals already have a challenging time recruiting and retaining nurses. “Nurses will leave,” she said. “Patient care will be compromised because we won’t have anybody to care for them. Cam Westhead is the 2nd vice president of the United Nurses of Alberta. He has been an operating room nurse for the past 17 years. He said it’s unfair of the government to advance the narrative that nurses are taking advantage of overtime pay. Besides the fact that the amount of overtime nurses pick up is authorized by their employer, Westhead said if hospitals were adequately staffed, overtime wouldn’t be an issue. “The amount of overtime and staying for 16 hour shifts is because of bare minimum staffing,” Bakker agreed. While Jasper and Hinton

haven’t seen the bed shortages that have made news across the province, the situation here is still critical. The ongoing pandemic continues to take its toll (on July 28, Jasper had the second highest rate of COVID infection per capita in Alberta) and the remote nature of The Seton Healthcare Centre means it is vulnerable to changes that deplete the province’s healthcare resources. Bakker, who comes from a long line of nurses and who loves the job when she’s got the proper supports, says that burnout is real. “You leave the building feeling that you didn’t do your best,” she said. “You know you didn’t have the time to properly care for your patients. It boils down to a lack of training and a lack of staff.” Briggs and Gaudry said members of the public should contact their MLA to show their support for Alberta nurses. “We are unable to provide safe and competent care when we are understaffed and overworked,” they said. BOB COVEY // thejasperlocal@gmail.com

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The Jasper Local // ISSUE 193 // SUNDAY, AUGUST 1, 2021

LOCAL DEVELOPMENT

Variances approved for large-scale apartment complex Parks Canada has approved variances for a 144-unit apartment complex at the south entrance of Jasper, 801 Connaught Drive. After their July 17 meeting, Jasper’s Planning and Development Advisory Committee (PDAC) recommended, and the park superintendent subsequently approved, the granting of three variances: a significant roof height variance; a 21 per cent reduction in required parking (125 stalls from 159); and a variance to allow for 15 per cent smaller units than prescribed in Jasper’s Multi-Unit Dwelling district (R3b). At 17.4 metres (five-storeys) high, the proposed apartment complex would tower above any building currently in Jasper. The 76.38 metres-square “micro” dwellings

would be Jasper’s smallest apartment units. of Jasper to establish additional off-site parking.” PDAC chairperson John Gamblin said he is not allowed to discuss the details The details of that work were unclear, of the (public) meeting with the media, however, typically, to mitigate parking however, a letter from the Jasper Field Unit shortfalls, developers are required to buy Superintendent to a resident opposed to into Jasper’s Parking Authority. The value of each parking stall was $7,699 in 2017 ($7,699 x 34 stalls = $261,766). “Whatever is built can not be undone. Who has said we even need that many apartments?” the variance requests shed some light on the decision. “The height variations were considered due to the proposed increased density and unusual site configuration,” Alan Fehr wrote. “The parking stall reduction was approved with the condition that the proponent work with the Municipality

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Helen Schwarz is one of the residents opposed to the variances. Schwarz lives directly across the street from where the complex would be built. She is distressed that the building will be unsightly, overcrowded, increase parking issues on adjacent streets and impact neighbourhood aesthetics. “Whatever is built can not be undone,” Schwarz said. “Who has said we even need that many apartments?” The Jasper Community Housing Corporation and Parks Canada, that’s who. In its advertisements for proposals to develop the 1.01 hectare lot, Parks Canada indicated the land must be used for a minimum of 41, and a maximum of 122 rental units. In 2019, the asking price for the land release was $5.5 million. In his letter to the Schwarzs, Superintendent Fehr pointed to the Jasper Community Housing Corporation’s (JCHC) 2017 recommendations to incorporate “micro” units in proposed developments at 801 Connaught (Parcel GB). He also quoted JNP’s Town of Jasper Land Use Policy which states variances will only be considered to achieve the high density requested by the JCHC. His letter said that variances must be considered against a criteria under Section 5.7(c) of the policy. The criteria is that the

proposed development “would not unduly interfere with the amenities of the area or the use, enjoyment, safety aesthetics, or value of neighbouring properties.” But the enjoyment, safety, aesthetics and value of neighbouring properties is exactly what it will interfere with, Schwarz feels. “I just can’t believe it, it makes me absolutely sick,” she said. Schwarz is worried a large rental complex will have many of the same problems that plague other large apartment dwellings in Jasper, including unsightly, cluttered parking lots and potential disturbances to the peace—not to mention to local sightlines. “It will block one of the best views,” she said. Murdock Bowen is one of the stakeholders in the development. Reached by telephone, Bowen said the high-density housing is what the community has said it wants. “It’s in demand,” Bowen said. He added that due to the slope of the land, the facade will look much smaller than 17 metres high. Finally, he waved off parking concerns. “Parking anywhere in Jasper is a nightmare,” he said. Meanwhile, that’s the language Connaught Drive residents are using to describe their feelings about the proposal. “Why didn’t they get the public’s opinion on this?” Schwarz asked. “I know why, because they wouldn’t want to hear the fuss.” BOB COVEY // thejasperlocal@gmail.com

SUNDAY, AUGUST 1, 2021 // ISSUE 193 // The Jasper Local // PAGE B2

LOCAL TRAILS

The champ’s cramps: World record hill climb cut short A world record hill climb by the world champion of distance mountain biking was derailed by a world class stomach ache on July 29. On July 28 Jasper’s Cory Wallace was attempting a mountain of a feat (two mountains in fact): smash the 24 hour world climbing record set by Olympic marathon mountain biker and Red Bull athlete, Portugal’s Tiago Ferreira. Last July, Ferreira cycled the equivalent of two Mount Everests— and then some—to set the high mark for vertical riding at 17,753 metres in 24 hours.

“I knew I would have to descend fast to beat the record,” Wallace said. At just before dusk on July 28, Wallace was on pace to do just that. His legs were firing, his body felt good and his support crew was amazing—Wallace had a pit crew ready with food and drink, and

Inspired by the Portuguese’s creative BEAST MODE // PHOTOS BY PETER WOJNAR, KONA BICYCLES suffering and fresh off a win at throughout the trial, the “gnarliest gravel race in America,” Wallace local supporters ferried staked out a 1.64 kilometre, 244 vertical metre track coconut water, V8 Juice three-quarters of the way up Pyramid Mountain. To and ice, among other eclipse Ferreira’s feat, Wallace would have to lap his supplies, up the 11 km line 79 times. fire road to where the “I chose that spot because it’s far from the highway, world record was being it’s in the wilderness, and because the grade was just tested. about perfect for going for the record,” Wallace said. “First Everest done!” pit crewman Chris Peel While on the precipice of being too steep to climb reported as the sun began to set. “Cory is feeling great for 120 uphill kilometres, the track’s 15 per cent after pushing through some minor stomach issues.” grade allowed Wallace to fly down it.

A few hours later, however, the minor stomach issues turned major. Wallace had put in more than 50 laps, but suddenly he couldn’t keep down food or water. Eventually, his lap times slowed down and he fell off the WR pace. Around 4 a.m., he pulled the pin. “I thought we had it,” a disappointed Wallace said at the base of Pyramid Mountain later that morning. “It got to the point where all I could do was lean over the [handle] bars and try to get sick.” Solving the body’s nutritional needs is a key component of any marathoner’s race regiment, and while Wallace has experimented with energy gels, supplements and protein-carb drinks, on this day he couldn’t find the right fuel formula. Despite not being able to keep his calories down, however, thanks to the community support, his spirits were up. “I’d like to try it again,” he said. “Everything was there except for the stomach.” BOB COVEY // thejasperlocal@gmail.com

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The Jasper Local // ISSUE 193 // SUNDAY, AUGUST 1, 2021

STORY AND PHOTOS BY DAVID HARRAP

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When a butterfly lands on your hat things are looking good. The sky was brilliant, Yahoo weather was crowing the forecast is beautiful, everything was set for a great climb of an unnamed mountain in the Siffleur Wilderness. It was early September as I jumped and gambolled from rock to rock, making my way up the easy creek. I ate a huge dinner at Camp 2 then lay in the sun watching a golden ball slide behind a range of mountains, like a coin dropping into a money box. No mosquitoes. Super view. Great forecast—the butterfly had nailed it.

and later it allowed me to witness that most ghastly of sights: a large ring around the moon. That meant one thing: weather coming in. Lots of rain or . . . no, let’s not go there. At least it was warm. At breakfast a single band of tangerine light came through a gap in the cliffs above camp, casting an eerie feeling over the mountains. All day stratus rolled in. By late afternoon the sky had turned to chicken gravy. It made my knees knock. I had come over a narrow pass then dropped down to a plateau where I would

There are hundreds of unnamed mountains in the Canadian Rockies, many over 3,000 m, but a lot of climbers turn their noses up at them for, in their minds, they lack the cachet of named ones. Climbers are name droppers, boasting of their latest conquest: Just did Mount King Edward. Damn tricky climb! Hard to wow your audience when it’s an unnamed peak near Surprise Valley. It had taken me two days to reach Camp 2. Liam would be disgusted at my sluggish progress, but I wasn’t hiking down the spine of the Rockies racing winter to Mexico. Heck, we were still in summer up here, so what was an extra day or two? When I came out of the tent that night the magic of moonlight had turned the channels across the gravel flats below my camp into ribbons of silver. Looking good. Looking damn good!

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Plumbing problems got me out again. There was the moon shining down with its big yellow face—giving me a wink, I thought. Hello! Then suddenly I noticed a small cloud to the West. An omen? One lousy cloud, like that lousy crack in the dam? The weather was changing. I’d seen it before. Bedtime and a brilliant sky: morning and pouring rain. I was in an out of the tent like a jack-in-the-box,

camp for the summit bid. I set up the tent and fixed the kitchen by a big rock. The huge towers north of the plateau turned forlorn and ghostly. Spots of rain. Wind picking up. I felt the loneliness. I went in the tent and ate supper. Pouring rain. Thunder. Cold air rushing in. Then tremendous hail that seemed would puncture the tent. It was ancient, like me. I couldn’t sleep. I read. I listened to the storm. It was a lot colder now. I dozed off. When I woke it was dark. At least the rain had stopped but the roof of the tent was sagging. I banged

“A l t

SIGNS IN SUN AND MOON... And on the earth frozen creeks

(PART 2)

it—and came that awful sound. Snow sloughing off. I stuck my head out the fly. The cone of light from my headlamp showed a white world of nothingness. I could barely see my ice axe that I had driven in to secure a guy.

was white—and still. Not a breath of wind, not the flutter of a flag. Nothing. I was in the mountain Doldrums. Like living in a vacuum. I felt like screaming. In the vacuum of space no one can hear you scream: in the Siffleur Wilderness no one would hear me, either. I needed wind to clear the fog, to make me feel I was back on the planet again. Towards evening the tent walls rustled. Was that the wind? YES! Hallelujah! Little Cat Z had finally come with his Voom to clear out the fog, maybe even clean up the snow. But that little wind turned into a big wind—into a roaring blizzard. My thermometer read minus 15 C. Creeks frozen. I was freezing. All my clothes on, my feet inside a stuff sack inside my sleeping bag. I put toilet paper in my ears to stop the blizzard: the ostrich sticking its arse in the air to remove the danger. The night was interminable, one tick at a time. Waiting for the light. I have to make a run for it, can’t risk another night. I’m cold, almost out of grub, and who knows how long this storm will last. I pack up. The tent poles are frozen, I can’t fold them. They stick up from my pack like safety flag poles on the back of pick-up trucks. It’s blowing and snowing hard as I set off. I step into a thigh-deep drift . . . then fall chest-deep into more drifts. (These slopes were bare coming in.) I crawl on all fours, using my ice axe and hiking stick to spread my weight to get out of the drifts. I can’t see a bloody thing. I can’t find the pass . . . During the time I was in the Siffleur Wilderness Calgary got 40 cm of snow. It was their worst September storm in 100 years.

All day stratus rolled in. By late afternoon the sky had turned to chicken gravy. It made my knees knock.”

The snow had stopped by morning. No wind. There was a mist and a sun behind it that brightened my world but scarcely warmed the tent. I was cold. I only had my summer bag, good to minus 7 C. Can’t climb the mountain, so I spent the day napping, reading, waiting. Another night, full moon night but I couldn’t see it. Another day of white white white . . . My world

The butterfly was a mere sideshow: the ring around the moon was the real deal. ________________________________ DAVID HARRAP

// thejasperlocal@gmail.com

Jasper’s David Harrap is the author of the soonto-be-published book Over The Mountains, Under The Stars. If you haven’t been up that unnamed peak near Surprise Valley, get your ostrich arse out of the air!

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The Jasper Local // ISSUE 193 // SUNDAY, AUGUST 1, 2021

LOCAL DINING

SUNDAY, AUGUST 1, 2021 // ISSUE 193 // The Jasper Local // PAGE B6

LOCAL FUNDRAISING

Great Divide Trail speed hiker raising money for at-risk youth Every time that Canmore’s Andrew Cotterell told a fellow hiker that he was headed to Jasper National Park’s Skyline Trail, he was warned about the Signal Mountain fire road.

Boring, he was told. Monotonous, they said. Gruelling. Long. Interminable. Lame. But Cotterell, who is attempting to set the fastestever through-hike on the 1,130 km long Great Divide Trail, didn’t mind the nine-kilometre link. After hurdling endless deadfall along Mount Robson Provincial Park’s Moose River and thrashing through shin-splintering willows in Willmore Wilderness’ Jackpine Valley, Cotterell was enjoying the ease of traipsing up Signal’s recently-brushed, double-lane corridor. “I’ll relish these sections, for sure,” Cotterell said while keeping a brisk pace—something that was impossible to do earlier that day while making his way through the overgrown Miette Valley portion of the GDT. By the time he made it to Jasper from the GDT’s northern-most starting point, at Kakwa Lake in British Columbia, Cotterell had covered 360 kilometres in just five days. By 6 p.m., when The Jasper Local caught up to him on Signal Mountain, he had already hiked 66 kms that day, and had another nine to reach camp. “I thought it would be 25 km of easy downhill but that trail is overgrown with deadfall, muddy and nasty,” Cotterell said about the Miette section. He wasn’t complaining. Cotterell loves spending time outdoors, a passion that led him to setting his audacious goal in the first place. The main reason for his record-setting challenge, however, is to help get young people into the wilderness who otherwise can’t. “I thought it made sense,” the 32-year-old said. “I get so much from being outdoors. Giving other people the opportunity to do

that feels pretty good.” Cotterell’s journey will benefit Crossing the Divide (a co-incidental moniker, but unrelated to the GDT), a Calgary-based charity that takes at-risk youth into the backcountry of the Rocky Mountains for life-changing experiences. By the time Cotterell was setting up camp on Signal Mountain, his initiative had already raised $4,000. “That’s about two weeks worth of programming,” he said (14 days later, as he was preparing to hike the last 150 kms of the GDT, the fund had grown to $7,150). Cotterell, who sits on the board of Andrew Cotterell should finish his record-setting through hike directors for Crossing the Divide, said on the Great Divide Trail on August 1. // BOB COVEY many of the charity’s clients rarely get the chance to leave the busy city. most beautiful alpine meadows you’ve ever “For many of these kids it’s the first time they’re seen,” he said. experiencing the calm of nature,” he said. Those sites are far behind him now, as is Jasper Cotterell certainly found that calm while on the National Park—and Banff and Kananaskis, for that matter. On July 29 Cotterell hiked into GDT. He encountered exactly zero other hikers Coleman, Alberta, on schedule to arrive at the on the trail until he got to Jasper, a trend that end of the GDT in Waterton Lakes National Park was soon to reverse as he readied himself for exactly 21 days after he set out. If he succeeds, he the popular Skyline Trail. The trip hadn’t been will have shaved two days off the previous GDT entirely tranquil, however. Deep river fords, through-hike record, which was set in 2019. difficult route finding, rugged bushwhacking and plagues of mosquitoes brought out However, having already surpassed his Cottrell’s animal instincts. fundraising goal, and knowing more young people will be able to discover the types of places he’s “There was swearing, there was screaming, been hiking through for the last three weeks, there may have been some crying,” he laughed. Cottrell knows his trip is already a success. For all the tough sections of trail, however, “Some of these kids are going to the mountains for the scenic, serene parts were far more prolific. the first time,” he said. “Can you imagine?” Cotterell described the hanging glaciers of Moose Pass as “spectacular,” and couldn’t _____________________________________ say enough about the remote, seldom-visited TO DONATE TO COTTRELL’S CAUSE, VISIT: Kakwa. www.canadahelps.org/en/pages/great-divide-trail-attempt “It’s like the Rockwall plus the Iceline plus the BOB COVEY // thejasperlocal@gmail.com

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