, SKEENA ROB BROWN Stones ccording to Finlay, the worn and weathered track that leaves the Her- man Creek Forestry Road a quarter of a mile in, then snakes its way west A that lies in the shadow of the train bridge cross- ing the Lakelse River. a few timbers decaying under a canopy of sec- ondary growth, the clearing — are still there, substantiating Finlay’s claim. Over the years, more than a quarter of a cen- tury’s worth now, I've used Giggey's road often, used it — and enjoyed it — in all seasons. In the snow filled winters of the eighties it was an ex- cellent cross country ski trai] with enough hills to keep your heart pounding from excitement and exertion, but not enough to make the trip to the river arduous. One cold day in the first or second winter of the aforementioned decade, [ can’t remember which (and it really doesn’t matter anyway) | wrapped a bungee cord around my fly rod and slung it over my shoulder so as to free my hands for the ski poles. Thankfully there was no wind that day, for even without it the air was so cold it stung my face the way that after-shave did when I was young and concerned about removing the hair from my face. The Skeena was as solid as a brick. It should have. occurred.to me as I passed. over it that its tributaries would be frozen too, but it didn’t. The were the only sounds accompanying me as | passed the branch road to Upper Coldwater. I should have missed the rush of the river at that point, especially prominent, as it always is, ina leafless, snowbound landscape, but I didn’t. At the Lower Coldwater Junction Pool, I saw the river for the first time. Save for a dark crack down its middle, it was frozen stiff. I pushed the bindings and kicked the skis petulantly, then made my way to the rock outcrop upstream to ‘eat my lunch. As I ate I looked down to where dark green bubbles:-formed at the head of the rif- fle and rolled downstream under the translucent ice like transparent balloons. As I poured coffee from my thermos I detec- ted some motion at the edge of my visual peri- phery. An otter slid out of the crack onto the ice. Moments later another, so dark brown it was al- most black, did the same. I watched for a long time as the pair played on the ice slipping off the floes into the brown water and reemerging to slide on the ice, unconcerned about my pre- sence. 1 would have watched longer if the cold hadn’t got the better of me. Another time, in summer this time, I tock Claire Giggey’s road to the Junction Pool to find it full of adolescent bathers as playful as the ot- ters were. [ envied them, covered, as I was, in sweat from a long walk in waders on a hot alter- noon. They frolicked for the better part of an hour then left abruptly. Moments later, as if they’d been waiting pa- tiently to do so, mayflies began to hatch, abundantly. Green duns were everywhere, and the fishing got better that I had a right to expect it to be. The forest began to reclaim the road. [ was ready to cede it, but someone started to cut en- ough alder from the right-of-way to keep il open. The last leg was impassible but the Junction Pool was still available to those with four- wheeled drive and the willingness to take a risk. But then a rock appeared on the side of that leg -a large rock that had to have been excavated by a backhoe or possibly a Bobcat. A small pickup or an ATV had enough room to pass it. A full sized pick up didn’t. I didn't mind the walk from there, but ] won- dered why someone had gone to such effort to deny access to a few. Must be the Forest Mini- stry, [ thought, worried that someone might get stuck on the decaying roadbed. Then two more equally large boulders ap- peared, cutting off access for good. This was warrisome, but things got worse when another large rock appeared at the head of Giggey’s road, I had just enough room to squeeze by, When I returned home, [ phoned the Ministry of Forests. They had no idea who had rearranged the landscape. Further investigations have revealed nothing except the fact that somebody had taken it upon himself to do a litle landscaping on public land. This kind of unilateral action is illegal, It is also arrogant since whoever has made these modifi- cations assumes everyone else is in accord with them. oo ee a SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN through the woods, was built by Claire Giggey so that the Terrace pioneer could gain access to: the sawmil} he built beside the swirling pool | Some remnants — the remains of some steps, ‘ swish of skis against snow and my breathing zon ERIC BEVAN, Taylor Quinn and Colby Link were selected for the The team is headed up Terrace ‘bantam rep head coach, John northwest under-16 hockey team playing in this year's B.C. Cup. Amos. SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN PHOTO Southbound Three Terrace hockey players join the northwest zone team at the prestigious B.C. Cup. By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN WHEN playing hockey is not just a hobby but a career goal, playing in an elite tournament with dozens of scouts lining the stands: can -be- intimidating — especially when you're not even 16 years old yet. Three Terrace teens are doing just that this week as they lace up the skates for the north- west zone team as it heads south to this year’s prestigious B.C, Cup in Salmon Arm April 10- 13. “I don’t really play harder to impress the scouts, I just play the game | play,” says Eric Bevan, 15, one of the northwest team’s two goalies. The Best Ever tournament brings together the best under-16 hockey -players in the pro- vince battling it out for top spot. It’s also the tournament which draws dozens of scouls looking for to lure players to junior level hock- ey teams. Bevan's two Terrace teammates, forward Taylor Quinn, 15, and defenceman Colby Link, 14, agree they've got a job to do and once they hit the ice the scouts disappear and it’s all about the game, The boys were named to the elite team after 57 players from around the northwest tried their best to get noticed by a seven-per- son selection commiltee at this year’s try-outs. Loggers spiel a fam EY By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN OF THE 30 teams that took part in this year’s 48th annual Loggers cur- ling bonspiel, one rink made it a truly family event. That team saw three generations of Griffith men play together for the first time. Archie Griffith came all the way from Rocky Mountain House, Alberta so he could play in his se- venth loggers spiel, but this year was extra special, Not only would he play with his son, Mitch, he played with his grandson — 10-year-old Kieran. It was an extra special THE G-FORCE: Mitch, det (right), SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN PHOTO The three Terrace boys join players from Vanderhoof, Fort St. James, Fraser Lake, Ha- zelton, Smithers, Terrace and Prince Rupert. oi Head: coach John.Amos. is impressed with ‘this year’s squad. ° “This is my third year in the under-16 pro- gram and this is probably the deepest team in terms of talent and skill,” he says. “They're all very, very good skaters — we did the practice weekend and there’s not a weak skater amongst them.” Size is also definitely on the team’s side, The three Terrace boys each stand over six feet tall and when comparing rosters lo some of the other teams, they are most definitely one of the biggest teams there. “Qur plan this year is to go out and get some respect from the Vancouver teams,” says Quinn, a well-spoken six-foot-one-inch tall for- ward. “We have a lot of talent on our team.” But the team will be taking on heavily stacked squads from the Vancouver area who not only have a far larger pool of players to choose from, they also have boys playing at the AAA ievel, which doesn’t happen in the northwest. “The Vancouver teams have a definite ad- vantage,” Amos says. “All our guys come from AA and single A teams.” Another disadvantage the northwest team ; = _ rchie and ily affair Kieran Griffith with family friend, Dan Gau- faces is a lack of year-round ice-time for prac- tising. While Vancouver area arenas are open all year, the ice-in Terrace disappeared, just as; quickly as the minor*hockey season ended. “Basically it comes down to ice time,” Amos says. “Our kids are relying on off-ice training to stay in shape.” While making it to the gold-medal game is always the goal for any team, the Terrace boys see the tournament as a welcome challenge regardless of the outcome. “It’s pretty exciting just playing people from around B.C,” says six-foot-one-inch tall Colby Link, “Hike playing a fast-paced game of hockey.” ty : Quinn, one of the Terrace Inland Kenworth bantam rep team’s top scorers this year, is sure to take on a leadership role with the northwest team. He sees the team already gelling despile the geographical spread of the players. Quick on his feet, confident and sure with the puck, Quinn may well be a force to be reckoned with this week. “We had a practice weekend last week in Kitimat and I thought we all came together down there pretty well,” he says. “It's just great to play a higher calibre of hockey.” Shames closes early THERE could be some- thing Lo that supersti- tious number 13 after all. In its 13th year of operation Shames Mountain was hit with some bad luck early on. With record sales of early bird season passes last spring, officials, skiers and snowboarders were gearing up for an exciting season, But Mother Nature didn’t cooperate. The big dumps of snow which has given the re- sort bragging rights for weekend with the eldest several years running Griffith also celebrating his 78th birthday on the opening night of the tour- nament, March 28. “It’s a little bigger than most of the bonspiels around home,” says Archie of the Loggers. “And it’s nice to curl with Mitch and Kieran — I just hope | can keep going long en- ough to curl with Aidan.” Aldan is Kieran’s seve- n-year-old brather, "I don’t normatly get.to see my grandpa, so it was kind of a special occasion to curl with him,” says Kieran, who has been cur- ling for two years. The team was joined by family friend Dan Gaudet who travelled from Sher- wood Park, Alberta to play at the bonspiel. This: year’s event was marked by a large showing of out-of-town teams and slim ‘pickings ‘from Ter- Tacey says. club president David D. Hull. The A &vent was won by Duane Melanson over Tracy Hittle from Kitimat. Third place went to Mi- chael Dahms over Doug Jonson of Terrace. The B event saw Ron Townley of: Terrace take top spot over Clayton Kur- isu. Third place went to the Kevin. Jeffery rink over Prince Rupert’s Bernhardt Tink, we The €C Event saw the Griffiths beat out Bart Francis from Kitimat with David Hull's rink taking » third spot over Terrace’s Ernie Kuehne. , Pierre Prince Rupert nabbed first place in the D event bea- ting out second place fi- nishers Paul Bibby of Ter- race. ° Pranz Scholz’s rink from Kitimat claimed third — _ over Terrace’s Dino Diana. LaFrance of . did not come this year. The hill logged it's latest ever first day of operation on January 29. The resort was sche- duled to shut down on April 21. Skiers and boarders instead got their last kick at the can last Sunday, April 6 — [| Shames Mountain's final day of operation for the 2002-03 season.