B4 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, November 26, 2003 ‘SKEENA ANGLI ROB BROWN Bundling Up here is a sweet solitude in winter fishing. The land is simpler, its under- _lying geometry more obvious; every harder to do and feels like more of an accom- plishment when it’s done. Standing warm and cozy in the midst of a fri- gid landscape gives a person a smug, satisfying sound is magnified; everything is. feeling that’s warming in its own right, Standing? in a chilled climate when any part of your body is cold is a special kind of discomfort that wrings every drop of enjoyment from any out- door activity. The gateway to the enjoyment of winter fish- , ing (and in some cases surviving il) is dressing - properly. Most winter sports contain enough ac- ‘tivity to keep the blood flowing, but fishing —_ ‘unless it’s still fishing with bail, a branch of the - sport that can be pursued close to a blazing fire '— requires standing for long periods of time in']. ‘water that’s as cold as water gets without turn- | ing to ice. The head and neck region of our bodies are ra- hood, a kind of balaclava that covers my ears and can be tightened with a draw string to cover chest like my scarf did. I’m not sure what this piece of apparel is called. 1 bought mine at the : Co-op, but I’ve seen similar things in outdoor ’ ’ catalogs. ; In the event of rain or thaw, or snow falling from overburdened branches, you can pull the hood of your raincoat over the fleece hood, which brings us to the next subject. A raincoat is essential for winter fishing on the north coast; this is the rain forest after all, where, in winter especially, a fisherman is surrounded by water in many forms. Fortunately, raincoats have never been better. l tike the SST made by Patagonia; it breathes, has a smart design, and takes a beating well. There are other good coats, none of them inex- pensive, but a light weight raincoat is essential. Under the raincoat you need layers - lots of them, On a cold, windy day a few weeks ago | felt like a mobile Goodwill store when I was‘ forced to don two sweaters and a fleece vest aver top of my T-shirt and shirt to reach an ac- ceptable level of comfort. Layers may have to be shed sometime during a day in the woods. You will need some piace to put them, hence the need for a backpack, which can be used to carry an extra pair of mitts, your lunch, candles, a butane lighter (cool), and extra fuel for your pocket warmers. That’s right, pocket warmers: handy, indis- By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN TAE KWON-DO isn’t just a hobby for Trina West- Johnson — it’s a way of life, Unlike most teenaged girls, West-Johnson spends most of her free time working her way up through the ranks of Tae Kwon-Do, And earlier this month she achieved a goal she’s been working toward for three and a half years - at- taining her black belt. “This is the first goal I've accomplished in Tae Kwon-Do,” says West- Johnson, 17. “I’ve got nine more to go now.” Now that she’s earned her black belt, there are nine more levels of black belt to work toward. West-Johnson’s black TERRACE STANDARD x belt is just the second earned at the Northern Tae TRINA WEST-JOHNSON proudly sports the coveted black belt. SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN PHOTO Kwon-Do Academy in Ter- race, under the instruction of David Burke. The achievement is -. something to be proud of, says Burke, While female fighters dents. se “What's unusual for a young lady of her age is to be so dedicated,” Burke says, “In three and a half years she’s only taken one two-week break.” younger students, Her en- ergy, says Burke, is infec- tious and the children look up to her. “She’s got one of the greatest senses of humour — She always has fun but tournaments and tests. West-Johnson earned her black belt al a rigorous testing sessions here Oct. 9, Wile most tests for a black belt take an hour and half allowing for “By the time I did my sparring I was completely dead,” she recalls. “But I had a lot of adrenaline going through my body.” Drawing on endurance which has consistently ' t i diant: about 40 per cent of our body heat ¢s-! capes from that area if we allow it to. Your mo- ther was right when she told you to wear a hat. For fishing, a peak will help save your eyes from cataracts later in life, so any decent ball cap wili do. For my neck I’ve always favoured a wool scarf, but lately [’ve discovered a fleece ‘most of my face’ when I-need-to, and can-be - pulled down so that it covers my neck and upper pensable, rectangular metal boxes with a skin of felt and a lining of spun glass that protects the user from the slender, glowing charcoal briqu- tettes that burn intensely al their core. These ; dandy devices have been around so long I'd as- sumed they were extinct until I met Hugh Stor- ey on the river a month ago and discovered to my delight that not only was he was still using -them, but he’d recently purchased a bunch from a store in Saskatchewan. The next day I drove to Misty River Tackle and found some hanging - on their wall, Like everything else, the Pocket Hand Warmer is made in China, in this case for a company called Coghlan’s. They cost about seven bucks, I light them when [ leave in the morning. They warm my vest pockets (and my kidneys) all day , ‘and are still glowing when I pull into my drive-' way al night, Keeping your legs warm is simple: wear wool pants over long johns. Keeping your toes warm is more complex. After years of experimentation 1 have settled on Bama Sockettes, an insulated bootie that wicks away moisture and keeps in ‘heat, Patagonia expedition weight socks, nylon + socks and chemical hand warmers over my toes. To accommodate all this stuff may require wad- ing boots a size bigger than those you wear normally, The old style of wader with rubber boots attached is the best hedge against cold toes, provided the boots are large enough to ac- commodate wool socks and the bootie I men- lioned before. Then there are the hands, I've tried rubber gloves and all kinds of mitts and have finally concluded that wool mitts can't be beat when used in conjunction with the hand warmers. The trick is to take at least three pairs in anticipa- tion of the fact that they will inevitably get wet over the course of a day’s fishing. are no: longer considered terribly unique in the sport, Burke says West-Johnson’s dedication to the sport puts her above many other stu- Despite her age, West- Johnson is one of Burke’s assistant instructors, often leading warm-ups and drills for the she never crosses the pro- tocol lines,” he says, add- ing she’s in the gym just as often as he is — at least club’s three times a week plus breaks between discip- lines, West-Johnson had to complete hers in 45 min- utes, with no breaks longer than just one minute. earned her top rankings at inter-provincial tourna- ments, she completed the test and passed with flying colours, Terrace goalie rallying support for senior men’s team here By SARAH A, ZIMMERMAN IF BURNY Carlsen gets his way Terrace will have a competitive senior men’s hockey team next fall. The local hockey player, who is a goal- tender for the Kitimat Ice Demons, thinks there’s enough interest in Terrace to put to- gether a team. The Demons play in the Central Interior Hockey League along with teams from Smith- ers, Houston and Burns Lake. That's the same league Carlsen would like to see a Terrace team compete in. “I’m not contemplating -— I’m moving forward,” says a very confident Carlsen, “I’m trying to get the hype going with people ar- ound town.” There are five Terrace-based players who ‘suit up for the Demons right now, and Carlsen knows of other players here who would be in- terested in playing for a hometown squad. He estimates start up costs to be in the range of $30,000-$50,000 for first year of play. “Before you even think about travelling ex- penses, uniforms and gear is between $6,000 to $10,000,” Carlsen says. Some of that money can be recouped in ticket and merchandise sales but he’ll have to get some big sponsors to help get the team off its feet, Carlsen says. Another issue to be worked out is schedul- ing games here and away. Ice Demon games can draw up to 1,600 people per game in Kitimat — Carlsen thinks a Terrace squad could draw equal numbers of supporters. However, Sunday afternoon games tend not to draw as many spectators as the Saturday night games, he says. ; He’s hoping there may be room for negotia- tion with the CIHL league to alter the sched- ule to play more weekends in the season, but eliminate the Sunday afternoon games so the team wouldn’t take as a hard a hit in ticket sales and would save money on out of town hotel expenses. “That’s something I’m going to have to talk about to whoever is organizing the whole league,” he says. . Another stumbling block will be getling ice time. Right now the Terrace arena is booked solid seven days a week from 6 a.m. until midnight. Taking a prime Saturday night slot would mean bumping another user group — and that’s not something that can be guaranteed. But Carlsen’s hoping the new sportsplex will become a teality freeing up oodles of ice time - then there will be many more options for a CIHL team to get off the ground. Carlsen’s already making plans to create a flashy logo and come up with a name for the Terrace squad, Anyone interested in Carlsen’s vision for a senior team here can contact him at 638-0807 or 631-9005. - _ Skeena girls tops in zone By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN AFTER THREE years of placing second in zone play- downs, Terrace’s Skeena girls volleyball team nabbed first place. Going in to the single A zone playdowns Nov.. 15, the Wildcats were ranked number two ~ right behind arch ri- vals Charles Hays. ; “The thorn in our side was always Charles Hays Sec- ondary School,” says coach Frank Marrelli. “That was the team we knew we always had to beat.” Mceting Charles Hays in the game to determine who @ Get ‘em TERRACE’S bantam house hockey league hosted its annual tournament Nov, 14-16 with Terrace’s All Seasons taking top spot over Remax Kitimat by a score of 6-4. In a rare situation, the fight for third place ended in a tie forcing a shootout. Smithers Coast Mountain ended up winning 4-3 over Kitimat Sandpiper. Above, Terrace’s Mr. Mike's Grill team Remax Kitimat. SARAH A, ZIMMERMAN PHOTO goes up against Family fun nabs Spiel’s top spot WINNING the A event al any bonspiel is a greal feeling, but when you're just 11 it’s extra special. Kieran Griffith, his mom Sylvia, dad Mitch and friend Theresa Melan- son nabbed top spot al the Noy. 14-16 mixed bonspiel at the Terrace curling rink. "Tt was a lot of fun we had a good time,” says Mitch. Griffith. “We just have to wait now until our littlest guy can curl.” Rounding out the A event. were Maurice Bul-: lied, John Evans and Dan Fisher rinks, First spot in the B event went to the Cheryl Wyatt tink followed up by the Brian Fugiere, Peter Dzui- ba - Kitimat and Chad Sallenback rinks. The C event saw the Roy Arm- ‘agost rink take first place with the Dave Dennis, An- drew Simpson and Dino Diana rinks following. ~ would play in the zone final Skeena was facing an uphill ’. battle — as far as Marrelli knows, Hays had not lost a re- _ gular season game all year, , Skcena took.the first set 25-19, lost the second 25-19 but came out on top in the third winning 15-3. That earned the girls a spot agains! Prince Rupert Senior Sec- ondary for the zone tille. The Wildcats blazed through * the Rainmakers winning two sets back to back — 25.29 and 25-24, , It was the first time in seven years the Skeena girls have brought home the coveted zone championship ban- ner. Ashicy Poole was named All Star and the tourna- ment’s most valuable. player, “She was our middle player - one of two people in ) charge of our attacks,” says Marrelli, The other the atlack team is Kayla Yagelniski. Marrelli credits the experience of the senior members part of of the team for leading the rest of the players throughout ~ | the season. “They knew what was happening in terms of our: systems,” he says. “At the zones you could really tell how the Grade 10s really formed a strong starting unit when they needed to.” _ Rounding out the team were Sam Morrow, Anna Kris, singer, Robyn Cater, Caitlin Robertson, Yash Gill, Liz. Horner, Amanda Godlinski, Allison Kirkaldy, Jolene . Sam, Stephanie Neufeld and Alex Angus.