Page B4 — Terrace Standard, Wednesday, January 10, 1990

It- was the.end of March but
all-around us-it was the middle
of- February, Where the river

had’ cut them, the snowbanks:

were.a glacial blue. Through the
rain, we waved to the pilot as he
lifted his machine, turned to an
invisible axis, then shot down
the valley through the narrow
corridor. between old trees and
low clouds. :
_ “Gear lay ‘where we'd. hastily
thrown: it before scrambling
from under the rotors. We puil-
ed it together, ‘stumbling in the
snowy depressions hidden by.
the flat light, Radioless and five
wilderness days from anyone,
we made camp with care, then
fished to burn off: the frantic
feeling ‘accompanying a new
adventure.

_ Steak and vegetables, cooked
-on a fire of hemlock bark and
chased with Grande Marnier

river adventur

was dinner on day one.

gear into our rafts, tethered -

them to our wading. belts, and.: -
pushed off, Forced by the low.

water to line in all but the
deepest runs, we stumbled over
the uneven river bed; in the
skinny riffles our boats hung

‘atop boulders and refuse to

budge; in the faster rapids, they
tried to pull us into the river.
We continued down, lining,
floating, and float-fishing, pull-
ed on by the: promise of the
bright, fast fish that hover over

the rocky bottoms of.. quick:

tailouts.
Then we found them,
Stan sent a cast over the river,

‘The rod bent in a smooth are,

there was the soft whir of the
old reel, and the float settled in-
to its drift. We watched its
passage. Stan sent out another

‘At first light, we loaded the- Th

rho Skeena |
Angler |

Rob 2 Brown

cast, and the float disappeared;
yanked under by: the first of |

many fish caught in the
downpour beside camp two, —

. Day three was close and grey.

. too. The river was up because of

the rain; there was no longer’
any need ‘to line the rafts. We:

moved. quickly.

. The clouds-were moving up
the mountainsides. The woods
looked more like early March. I
listened for the songs of birds
but heard none.

The canyon had been visible

‘from the ‘helicopter. When [

caught up to them, Stan and
Mike were standing close to its
mouth. Mike looked up at the

bluff then at the cataract, then. -
‘he walked back to his raft and:
- secured the gear we'd entrusted -

10 him. With crisp movements
he angled the boat, there was a

momentary pause, then ‘he was -

up and in the raft, then he was
gane,

- Stan pulled down the brim of
his hat with a resolute tug. As I ‘

watched, he: ‘retraced. Mike's.
: We covered many) miles: in:
" short. time and wondered : what:

"8

_ path; Just as quickly he too was:
, gone, a

I broke down’ niy: rods, The

‘oar of the water.at. the canyon

mouth was deafening,. the trip
into "the canyon was quick,
There was no step, no vicious
currents, just rugged canyon
wails guarding the kind of clear,
deep,.. pool where ‘summer
chinook: like to lie, -

‘Shafts of sunlight: filtered

through the trees and-shone on-.

to the gorge, We found a hollow ~
near.a large cedar. Birds sang. It.
Was the ‘first’ time’ we'd. heard |

them on the trip. Finally, it was
April,"

~ Light shining through the tent -

woke me, I poked my head out
the doorflap to find winter. The
yellow strips on the rafts were
, barely.visible through the snow,
and the clouds had returned,

‘low cloud..

‘and spring: sedges. cee et

Bh eet _
.

‘The river was steep ‘and fast.) °°

vistas were conceated behind the

“Black cottonwoods began: to:

. show between the spruce, cedar”

and hemlock. The river stowed.’
‘We setup our last:camp a’
short distance from. theestuary,;
Mike: and Stan. trekked . ‘back.’ ,
upstream in search of new fish...
while I. walked to: the: sea-on .-
trails made deep over time: by...
bears looking for fall. ‘salmon.

The tide was in flood when: 1
reached the beach. Gulls were
bobbing up and down anda:
prawn boat moved slowly from

“ pot to pot. It felt good to reach’

the salt water. I listened to the
lapping of the waves with the

. tush of the river still ringing in
my ears.

~ SPORTS

JEFF NAGEL 638-7283

EWS

TERRACE STANDARD

Local

wordsmen to meet masters

Atom
hockey
results

TERRACE — ‘Terrace and
Kitimat atom rep hockey teams
clashed again at the Todd
Killoran Memorial atom tour-
nament held over the holidays.

The two teams — who last
faced each other more than a
month ago in Kitimat — met in
the final of the atom rep divi-
sion for a rematch.

The final was a defensive duel
between the two teams, with
strong goaltending from Ter-
race’s Jason Nosek and
defenceman David Bretherick.
The battle raged through two
periods, with each team picking
up a pair of goals, before
Kitimat's offence finally over-
powered the Terrace defence to
score three goals and secure the
5-2 victory. Terrace goalie
Jason Nosek was named Most
Sportsmanlike Player and Ter-
race’s Mr. Digger award went to
Victor Basanti, Terrace’s David
Kozier put both Terrace goals
past the Kitimat goalie.

The Terrace reps diced the
Enoch Atoms 11-1 and added a
5-L win over Hazelton to go on
to face Kitimat. They finished
second in the four-team divi-
sion.

House division action saw
Tilden edge Kinsmen 5-4 for
first-place in ‘C’ division. The
Wings beat B.C. Packers by the
same score to secure first in the
‘B’ division, while Alexander
was awarded first over Farwest
on the ‘© side, ;

Named in memory of Todd
Killoran — a Terrace youth who
drowned last summer while
fishing in the Skeena River ~

atom teams competing in 26
games,

the tournament featured 13.

BATTLING against the boards, Terrace atom rep.”
defenceman David Bretherick and a'Kitimat forward dig.»
for the puck ane the rep division’ final. of. the Todd.-:

“Killoren Memarial atom n minor hockey tournament. Thir-
“teen northwest teams. competed at the Christmas tour.
nament at the Terrace arena. -

TERRACE — A group. of Terrace and
Kitimat karate instructors are going to.
Japan this spring to try to earn black belts
in a martial art of swordsmanship. .
David Akutugawa, Norm *Goodlad, .
Roland Lagace, Dr. Chee Ling and Joe

" Zucchiatti will be the instructors travell-.
. ing in March to Kumamoto, Japan, for’

two weeks to be tested in Iado ado — the:
art of drawing swords.
Zucchiatti said Kumamoto is a highly.
militarized city on the island of Kyushu,
steeped in Japanese martial arts history. ::
The instructors in the local Chito-Ryu
style karate club have been studying Iado
for three years under a master named
Tashiro — who holds an 8th degree black
belt in karate, and 7th degree | black: belts

“in both kendo and Iado.

To qualify for black belts in the art, the
local instructors must earn the unanimous:
approval of a panel of seven instructors in
Kumamoto, all of whom hold 7th or
higher degree black belts in Iado.

Expecting victory

The next major tournament for the
local Chito-Ryu style karate club is the
B.C. Winter Games. Zucchiatti said he is ~
confident of the club will do well there.

“We've got the best instruction in
Canada and I expect we will come back’
with a fistfull of medals,"? Zucchiatti said.
“There's no doubt in my mind.”’

The club dominated competition at the
provincial championships in Prince
George in October. In kata — the prear-
ranged movements event — four Terrace
competitors placed in the top six, with
brothers King Fung and Siu Fung placing
first and second. King Fung is the current
provincial kata champion. The Ter-
race/Kitimat team also captured gold in
that tournament’s team kata event.

Ling top athlete

Kitimat's Rassame Ling was named-
Canada’s female Athlete of the Year in
karate. Among her achievements this year .
was her capture of the world champion- °
ship in women’s kata at the 1989 Soke
Cup in Vancouver in August. The:

21-year-old medical student beat: .

Quebec's Natalie Paret for the title, She is : :

| also Canadian women’s kata champion
7 and: on the national champion, Kata te team fo

TERRACE | - Local
snowmobilers are -one step
closer to getting trail-grooming
equipment to expand their use
of area trails. ©

City council this week endors-
ed the Skeena Valley
Snowmobile Association's. ap-
plication for a B.C. ° Lottery
grant to buy the equipment,

said last week the application
‘was made last month, and the

a club expects to have a Tesponse

within’ afew weeks, *:
'.. The. club wants to. purchase a

Club spokesman Ron Niesner |

~ bullding’ ‘of a network. of cross-

the used equipment is estimated
at $32,000, Niesner said, and
the grant, if approved, would
cover up to one third of the
total,
‘Much of the ‘remaining
money, required has already
been raised, he said. Beyond the
‘{nitial purchase of the :equip-
-Ment, “any ‘modifications - or
‘trailwork would be volunteer
labour my club members,
_ >: He said the equipment would
also be made available for other

‘purposes, such a8 “Search and
Le » resctie work.-:
1: Bombardier, Ski-Dozer, . trail...

groomer | and - a. truck” for.
transportation, The total cost of.

-, Untike., the. Kitimat. ‘cross:
‘country. ski ¢ involved ‘in'th

. snowmobilers
themselves bogged down ‘in -

country trails, Niesner said little
clearing ‘is expected. ‘'We've
already got the trails,’’ he'said.
"We just need the equipment to
maintain them.’"

He said the grooming and
packing equipment would also
allow the club to. access: high
alpine areas, where ascending
normally  firid

deep: powder, ‘‘And we can ac-
tually extend our season
because -it. makes a. nice. wide

packed. trail’ he

“He said most t of th the. trails the
club’s more. than 100: members: :

lise are in the Jack Lake area off oe ist uption of traplings,:

the Sterling Creek logging road.
The club also has two > cabins In:
the. area. .. 2

- Many of the tralls a are old loge oe
ging : roads, he said, . but’

members are careful to check ~

with forestry to make sure the oo
roads are'safe to use, : re
Nicsner said the club puts is ems fs
phasis on the protection of: ee
wildlife and other people’s pro... -_.

perty, “‘We-police ourselves,??

he said, “We have a code a .
ethics we go by. and we're-con-
cerned about the environment.

He said the club stays In con
tact with local trappers to avoi