. SKEENA ANGLER ROB BROWS The Keeper HE ZYMOETZ River was proba- bly renamed Copper for mincral deposits lying in its valley; it could just as easily been given that name for the metallic sheen it assumes in high water. The river didn’t turn that colour often, or hold it for long, accarding to Gene Llewellyn, A Terrace native, Gene grew up in the midst of a large family packed into a small cabin perched a slone’s throw from the banks of the Kitsumkalum River. Seventy years later he lives in a small trailer, a mile from bis beloved Cop- per River, Inspired by the oratory of Dr. Norman Bethune, Gene signed on with the Republicans to fight in the Spanish Civil War. After a bullet wound brought him home, Gene swapped dodg- ing shrapnel for dodging logs. Terrace was a boom town, logs were being driven down the Kalum river, new roads opened old valleys. Loggers worked long, hard, dangerous hours, callected fat cheques, and often lived fast lives lubricated with liquor. “Things got so bad I’d open my cyes in the morning and my hands would be shaking so hard I couldn’t pour a drink. I’d knock the bottle over onto a plate and lap the booze up like a dog.’? He shakes his head. “Bad stuff. Like swallowing hack saw blades. Dr, Lee told me if I had one more blackout I’d die, That was almost thirty years ago. I quit smoking and drinking. Haven't done either one since."’ Gene is small, wiry, His skin, the colour of a wom ax handle, is taut. Both his wrists carry wide copper bands. We sit at his kitchen table, steaming cups of instant coffce sit on oil cloth. On the wall behind us hang a framed couple — beaming bride and serious groom — and a pholo of Khutzcymatcen Grizzlies mating. ‘“My wedding pictures,”’ he says, bis cycs sparkling. I ask Gene to tell me about the river he patrols daily from April through January of each year. “There were pools, mins, real beaulies,’’ he says. ‘‘They didn’t open up the valley until 1960, Before that we fished the lower end, to eleven mile, at the canyon. We took lots of fish. Some of them were real big; Blackie Maconnell took a twenty-cight pound buck from the pool above Baxter’s onc November.” Task him about the pools and rans. ‘*There was good water everywhere. Once the road was through to the Fossil Beds, nobody bothered much with the water below the Clore. We just drove up to the Rum Hole and fished back through pool after pool. By that time it’d be dark and our arms would be sore from play- ing steclhead,”’ His voice rises for emphasis. ‘“The water.was good; blue and clean. It had to rain real heavy before it went out — real heavy. And, then the river cleared real fast.”’ “Where did all that good water go?’’ **There are too many roads too close to the river, too many clear cuts. The pipe line and the transmission towers didn’t help...too many i floods. The one in *78, ihe one that took out Gordic Doll’s cabin, that’s the one thal turned the river inside out,”’ My career on the Zymoetz and Gene’s overlap — some fiftcen years ~- but Gene’s loss is greater. Here, from the primordial expanses of the Telkwa Pass through two hissing, roaring canyons to the broad, demanding reaches of the lower river, was steelhead water as good as any on carth. This was a river where multiple fish days were the rule, spectacular catches of large summer mins not uncommon, The window of opportunity is all but closed now. A light rain will fill the river with silt, and it will stay turbid for long periods. “In the summer the Skeena was gray and the Copper was blue. Then we Jost the summer months, bul the river was always blue in Sep- tember, Then thal went, but she cleaned up and stayed as clear as gin all winter. Now, you can’t even depend on that,”’ The forest cover of the Zymoctz continucs to be tom apart; the fifty year floods are now two or three year floods, while lesser torrents are an- nual. The river will not heal in Gene's lifetime. ‘*We traded some equipment for a helicopter ride, one time,’’ he says, basking in the recol- lection. ‘‘The pilot put us high up in the system, maybe forty miles, We walked out. Every pool we fished had fish. We caught so many on the first day, we had to lay down and rest in the aftcrmoon. It was like that every day until we reached the road,’’ Good fishing days are infrequent, but Gene’s gray Bronco can be seen on the Copper River Road daily. Fucled by reminiscences of fine days and assisted by expertise honed over many years of angling, the Keeper of the Copper and Clore, as he is known to the focal angling Grater- nity, still finds enough steelhead to make the trips worthwhile. THE FINAL male bastion of school sports has fallen. Until this past September, school wrestling was called “boys wrestling.” But Skecna Jr. Secondary teacher Dave O’Bricn, assistant coach Chuck Craig and their new girls wrestling team have changed’ thal. ~ “In my opinion, it’s very sexist to have a guys team and no girls team,’’ Craig said, watching the squad go through drills in one of their three weekly practices, “To be honest, I thought they night be a bit more timid in a full contact sport - but look al them, they’re right into it”’ The new sport has attracted three Caledonia and 10 Skeena students. “When we first siarled, I said that I would be happy if we had six of these girls at the end of the season,’’ O’Brien said, ‘‘But the inlerest they have makes it look like we might keep 10-12 for the whole season - we seem to be down to a core of people who will probably stay.”’ Rosa Mikaloff, a grade 10 Skeena student, was attracted to the sport firstly because it was new. "This is the first time it’s ever happencd in Terrace so it’s dif- ferent than what everyone clse does,”’ she said, Mikaloiff said she also enjoys the aggression required by the sport. . “You can come out of a day of classes and pet rid of all your stress,”’ she said. ‘You get to show your strength aad learn to defend yoursel£ because you rely only on yourself with wrestling,”’ Craig, a seven-year vet of the sport and in. his first’ coaching position, said the girls pick up skills much faster than any of the males he wrestled with. “They catch on to the techni- The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, December 7, 1994 - BS Girls grapple new sport GOING HEAD TO HEAD are local wrestlers Rosa Mikaloft (lett) and Kathleen Marsh, twa ‘af the athletes on Terrace’s newest schoo! sport - girls wrestling. ques so quickly. It makes my guys teams look very slow.’” After felping Joe Murphy coach the boys team last year, O'Brien said he sees a lot of dif- ferences between the male and fe- male wrestlers. **Girls listen more and are in- terested in the details that make good wrestilers,”’ said O'Brien. “They want to learn the basics before they learn to flip their op- ponent,”’ The girls and boys teams travelled to their first meet of the season in Hazelton. They host their first home meet from next Wednesday, Dec. 14, 3:30 - 7:00 p.m. in the Skecna gym. No contact the rule GIRLS WRESTLING coach Dave O’Brien tries to treat female and male wrestlers the same, expecting dedication and hard work from all, But his coaching techniques arc restricted by one small fact - O'Brien and co-coach Chuck Craig are both male and wrestling is a full contact sport. In a Ictter to the parents of the athletes on his newly formed girls wrestling team, O’ Brien outlined how coaching would take place, "There will be no male-female contact at anytime, athlete-athlete or coach-athlete,’”? he wrote, RCMP Constable Kim Hall has agreed to help with demonstrations and a female teacher at Skecna will also be working with the girls. ‘With our very strict hands off policy, my in- straction will be severely restricted wilbout the ald ofan adult female,” O’Brien continued in his letter. While this policy makes it more difficult to ‘coach the girls, O'Brien | 7 said they are managing well, ‘‘It’s definitely easier when you can physically show the person how to go through the motion but this is the way it has to be,’’ he said. Bluebacks crack top-50 ranks a, STRONG seascn‘In long course pools earned Dylan Evans a: spot:in thé natlonal rankings: for swimmers 10 years and under, He's seen above ready to take the plunge . at the recent Calgary Speed meet. Photo by SETH DOWNS NOT THIS TIME. When the national short course ratings came out earlicr this ycar, Blueback Kevin Andolfaito, 14, found he'd missed the rankings ~ dist by just 8/100ths of a second. But it was a different story in the long course season. Based on performances in a 50m pool between Jan. 1 and Aug. 31, Andolfatto broke into the country’s elite list with a ven- geance. A 100m Breast time of 1:13.66 was the 12th fastest recorded in Canada in his 13-14 years age group and he added a 27th plac- ing in the 200m Breast (200m Breast), Coach Mike Carlyle said the earlicr near-miss had given Andolfatto the motivation to crack the lists before he aged up, moving up to the 15-17 years division. Now he would be conceniraling on improving his endurance back- ground and Carlyle hoped ‘he would be able to achjicve a top- 10 result in this current short course scason. Carlyle was also pleased to see teammates Dylan Evans, Seth Dewns and Marina Checkley make the rankings. Evans, 10, finished 19th in the 10 years and under 400m Free posting a time of 5:46.18. Checkicy, 12, posted a 1053.99, in the 800m Free for 44th overall while Downs, 14, was 45th in the 200m Free in a time of 2:09.78. ‘It’s good to see new names making it,’ Carlyle said, noting Garth Coxford and Chris Kerman’s absence reflected their having aged up. The successes af Andolfatto, Downs and Checkley showed the approach taken last scason had worked well, he added. Carlyle explained the plan had been (to achieve steady progress through the ‘AA’ and ‘AAA’ short course provincial championships, focusing on the ‘AAA’ long course events as the time to make the rankings. ‘That progression worked real- “Ly well,” he said. The Blucbacks also had a big hand in two other ramkings suc- cesscs as members of the Points North relay teams. A solid 2:03.57 in the girls 11- 12 years 4x50 Free was the 11th fastest in Canada and they also recorded a 29th in the 4x50 Mecd- ley relay. The overall Points North squad, made up of swimmers from all the northwestern clubs, fintshed 79th oul of 175 clubs across the country. Carlyle said the Blucbacks are hoping to increase their top-50 numbers over this short course scason, Pool filling up fast | A SECOND POOL sociely? ~ No, not yet, but the Blueback swim club is beginning to experience the problems which prompted ice users to call for a new facility, = -. With membership now having hit 70, coach Mike Carlyle says there are only one or two spats open now for 7-10 year olds and the club will have to start a waiting list for Development I swimmers. Recalling the heavy publicily campaign undertaken by the Bluebacks last year, Carlyle said the club had backed off that this time because it became clear early interest was close to outstripping available pool time. But there's also an upside to that high level of interest. He points out the club Is stronger for having a better spread of kids across all ages, Noling there’s mote interaction between the swimmers, Carlyle adds, “We like to see that social thing going on,” And if the club can continue 10 bulld like this, ‘*We’ll be stronger at. the provincials in a couple of years time.”