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The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, October 9, 1996 - BS

TERRACE! STANDARD.

DAVE TAYLOR

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“ROB serie

_ Myron’ s exhibition

here is no better time of year to be
outside than that time in fall when
the first frost has flecked the
landscape with brilliance and the
first dusting of snow is scattered over the high-
est crags. The pink salmon are exhausted by
then. The big coho are moving into the rivers in

‘eamest, geese are overhead, eagles, gulls,

grebes work the river,
1i’s a time when the paths to the streams are
well worm, when, in many places, the tall

‘Withering grasses at streamside are flattened by

bears. It’s a time when things begin to wind
down; a time when the impressions left in soft

. : shores next to the steams are fading,
_ We stop at Temlaham on the backroad that
runs from Kitwanga to Kispiox. Karen takes the

lunch out of the trunk while I examine the place

‘on the far bank where a small creek enters the

Skeena, Without the binoculars, the activity

’-looks like a large writhing organism, which it is,

in a way.
Once I focus on it, I discover it is compased

~ of the white-tipped fins of salmon milling in

front of the creek, the white heads of eagles

. jockeying about against a dark green backdrop

of cedar and hemlock, and the white wings of
gulls all swirling around the swirling mixture of
currenis.

There was a time, not long ago, when only ill-

‘fess would have kept me out of the river on day

like this, in the midst of steelhead season, but’
lately the rods and waders stay in the trunk for
long stretches of time. There are other satisfying
things to do, Today we will have a look at

‘Myron Kozak’s exhibition, split between K'san

and the Sportsman’s Lodge, buy some vegeta-
bles at the Market Garden and see where else
the road takes us.

The Kispiox-Kitwanga backroad has long
been a favourite of ours. Every turn reveals an-
other dramatic view. Coming off a steep hill to
Temlaham there is a panorama that takes in a
large flat below South Hazelton. Before the
bend and hill into the Kispiox Valley, there are
a series of mountain scapes featuring Roche
deBoule, and the expanse thit takes in K'san
and the Bulkley/Skeena confluence.

The Kispiox is a fine combination of wilder-
ness and civilization, especially in the lower
valley. It’s a small river to hold such big fish.
It's in fine shape, but there scem to be only a
few fishers prowling around today. At the
Sportsman’s Lodge they tell us the fishing has

' been fine, but the pressure is light because the

river has been out until recently and the guides
are in between parties.

The walls are full of Myron’s pictures, beauti-
fully and subtly matted and framed by someone
who knows how to augment a good piece of

work. Here the pictures are of fish and fishers
and rivers, There is one of Finlay standing in
dark waters distinguishable by his hat, bungie
cord wading belt and fishing bag.

There are also vibrant pictures of fish

‘mounted next to the flies that seduced them, as

well as striking shots of the Bulkley and
Skeena, IT knew Myron was a good photog-
rapher, but now IT get an inkling of just how
good he really was. To have a small showing,
here, next to the Kispiox, where Myron worked
4s a photographer and a fisheries technician, is a
good idea.

On the way to K’san we stop at Bob Clay's
where, as usual, a bevy of anglers have set up

. Camp amid horses, black labs and turkeys. We

talk with Kathy and Bob over strong coffee and
watch from their front window as anglers probe
the Upper Potato Patch with their wet flies,

K’san is resplendent; so are Myron’s photos.
This time they are of how the light illuminates
the land and people. The pictures are all for sale
with the proceeds going to the Myron Kozak
memorial fund, created in Myron’s memory to
assist aspiring photographers.

Karen and I find our vision {s mare acute after
viewing Myron’s work; we can’t help iooking at
the land in a structural sense — thinking of its
composition.

As we make our way home past West’s farm
on Highway 16, there is a quick shower. The

. Bun retums, low in the sky now, and lights up

the road and the transmission lines, turning
them to golden threads that dip and bend before
fading into the distance. If Myron were here
he'd have captured it,

THE FIRST EVER South Hirsch Mountain Bike Race was held September 29th. That's
Adam Spensley, the new champion, with his slightly warped bike,

TERRACE’S BOXING
Club is back in full swing.
And it looks to be a pretty
busy season with the North-
em BC Winter Games just
around the comer,

Club coordinator and
coach Rusty Doane says that
it will be an exciting year,
despite most of his more
seasoned fighters taking
time off for school,

“This is a real novice
group but they are. very
enthusiastic,’’ says Doane.

Doane points out Lee
Maximchuk, who is busy
pummelling a heavy bag in
the corner, The 17-year-old
has the look of a veteran
fighter. His steely eyes stare
down the bag as if it were
an arch-rival,

**Of all the kids here, he’s
got the most heart,’’ Doane
says of Maximchuk, one of
the few experienced fighters
at the club, “He's got a
really awkward style, but it
works for him in the ring,
He did quite well against the
Western Canadian
Champion.”

Another of the more expe-
enced fighters is Brian
Gervais, who isn’t competi-
ng this season, The 18-year-
old was thinking about tum-
ing professional this ycar,
but decided to attend college
instead,

“T will be getting back
into tt in a couple of years,
but I wanted to. finish col-
lege and save some money
first,” Gervais says. ‘'The
level of competition out
there right now Is 0 high

that you have to train full
time. I] have to be able to
support myself.”*

But Gervais is still active
in his sport, He’s helping
out with the club, coaching
the younger boxers and
lending a hand,

“I did some coaching in
FG, but it’s great to come
back here and see some of
the guys who've been
boxing here for three or four
years,’’ he says. ‘‘Like me,
they grew up here. The
same goes for Rusty, he’s
like family,”’

The club opened its doors
in mid-September and cur-
rently has about 30 active
members. Most of the
boxers are male, but the
number of female competi-
tors is on the rise.

**More and more girls are
showing an interest,’ says
Dwayne Ridler, one of the
club’s coaches. ‘Tt’s a
tough sport to stay in, but
hopefully some of these
novices will stick with it."’

Some of those novices
will be heading down to
Kitimat in November to
compete in what, for many,
will be thelr first fight,

*‘Lots of these kids have
never even seen a ting be-
fore,”’? Gervais points out.
“So you can’t throw them
in a ring too quick. But
some of them will definitely
be ready in a couple of
months,”’

The boxing club trains
every Sunday, Tuesday and
_ Thursday in the basement of
4506 Lakelse Avenue,

SPORTS 638-7283

een takes first title

ADAM SPENSLEY may have left some of his
skin on the track, but he still won the race,

The 16-year-old took a tumble in the last five
minutes of the first annual South Hirsch
Mountain Bike Race, near Kitimat on Sunday
September 29th. But he battled back to take top
spot, beating out fellow Terrace teenager
Jonathan Lambert by a mere four seconds.

*T was right up on him, and we were going
pretty quick,’’ Spensley says. ‘‘But my glasses
were totally fogged from the climb, I could
hardly see.’”

Riding blind, Spensley flew off the narrow
trail and crashed into a tree, The accident
twisted the stem of his bike.

Suddenly Spensley found himself in third
place with only two kilometres left in the race.
But he was not about to give up.

T really got caught up in the mush of the
whole thing,’’ he says.

Spensley pushed himself to an amazing come-
back, squeezing past 17-year-old John Sambo
and, 15-year-old Lambert to finish the 24 km
race in 1:13.58,

That left Lambert and Sambo to battle it out
for second place. But it was all over in a matter
of seconds, as Lambert crossed the line at
1:14,02, edging Sambo by only two seconds.

The exciting finish was a perfect way to end
the premiere event — which organizers hope to
make into a circuit race for the BC Cycling As-
sociation,

A total of 45 riders from around the northwest
turned out for the big race, and competitors
give the course an overall thumbs-up.

‘Tt was a little less technical than J’m used
to,”’ says Spensley. ‘But it was pretty fast.’?

Four of the top five riders were from Terrace,
which Spensley says is a good place to ride —

_ifyou know the right spots,

The weather ls probably the worst thing,’*
he says.

Spensiey is definitely serious about racing -
both mountain biking, and road racing.

“I’ve been into it pretty hard core for about
two years now,”’ he says. ‘“‘And I’m staying
with it for sure.’”

The Caledonia Grade 12 student works as a
bike technician at McBike to help’ support: his
passion. He's saving up to buy a new mountain
bike, now that his old one is a little twisted.

And that’s no small order in a sport where a
decent bike will cost in the thousands of dollars.
But good equipment is essential to be competi-
tive.

‘T’ve been having problems with my bike all
through training,"’ Spensfey says. ‘‘I can't wait
to get my new one. It is way, way lighter.”

Spensley hopes to race all next year.

For complete race results, check out the Sport
Scope.

Fighters shape up for season

YOUTH BOXING in Terrace is gearing up for an exciting year. The club, open to
both male and female fighters, has produced some Olympic calibra boxers,