Bé - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, September 27, 2000 KEITH FREEMAN SKEENA ANGLER ROB BROWN ® Z a 5 Hitting it right was spring on the coast, but inland it was spring in name only, The Skeena was thick and cold, more elatin than water. In Fred's words, the water was liquid ice. If you dump or get swept off your feet in mast rivers it won't take long before the currents take you to shore. Big, muscular rivers like the Skeena are different. In the big rivers, a man can float for a long, Jong time: long enough to freeze from the inside out and die. Fred Philpott and his partner, Ron Kurlawitz, were pad- dling past Chimdemash. They weren't good enough to be where they were, but they hadn't spent enough time on the Tiver to know that. For a paddler, the intersections of cur- rents--fast to slow or slow to fast--are problematic; Fred and Ror hit one and dumped; turned over in that fast, fluid, seamless way that canoes tip over, and found themselves in peril. Barred from shore by strong currents, Ron, a good swimmer, swam back to the boat where Fred, whe had wrapped the painter araund his wrist in order to stay with the canoe, was losing strength rapidly. On a bar between Chimdemash and Usk, Ron managed to touch bottom, right himself, and get free of the river. Fred tried to get up too, but the weight of the cance pulled him off his feet and dragged him down river toward Usk and Kitselas Canyon. Somebody in the MacCrae home spotted Fred and phoned across the river. By the time Fred was drifting past the Usk ferry, the ferryman had the cable car at midstream and was dangling a rope within Fred's grasp. . Fred didn't see the rope when he looked up. He saw the moon, By the lime he'd passed Usk, Ron was running down the tracks in stocking feet while two men had pulled a boat from a shed on the far side of the river and pushed it into the Skeena. While one man rowed, the other pulled frantically on the cord to start the outboard motor. Fred was in the last stage of hypothermia when he reached the hos- pital. Saved, thanks to his strong heart, is what the doctors told him, There were other rites of river passage on the watery road to paddling excellence for Fred Philpott: an unseen tock that sent him through Matsen Creek Canyon on the Copper River backward; and the hydraulic in the Kalum Canyon that grabbed his canoe, pulled it under, twisted it and snapped it in two, while Fred crawled froma dark bub- ble filled place to the surface, and air, twenty feet above. And, of course, there were less stressful trips, on rivers near and far, all learning expeditions, all honing that pro- duced a fine paddler with sharp river riding skills, I have some river skills too, obtained a little less dra- matically, it's true, but still the kind of wiles that can only be gained after a considerable investment of time in and near water. So, at Fred's suggestion, the bargain was struck: he would teach me paddling fundamentals; | would show him the whys and wherefores of fishing summer steelhead on the floating line. ] must admit that my task was easier. Fred grew up on the Cowichan River, fished steelhead as a kid, then fished steelhead here in the seventies. He knows where the fish live. A pretty fair pitcher as a young man, Fred also appre- ciates how to harness physical energies then set them to thythm and tum them to one's advantage. On our first day on the river, I noticed his overhead casting was fluid and precise, I, on the other hand, had spent a lot of time on rivers, but in a forgiving craft. I was too cavalier, too sloppy. On September third it was my day to instruct. The classroom was the 18 Mile Basernent of the Copper. I sent Fred ahead, telling him to riffle 2 Grantham's Sedge through the chop, We hit it right that day, It was overcast, The river was low and blue. There was no wind. Dusty gray mayflies were popping out of (he river all over the place. The hatching mayflies reminded me that I should tie something up to resemble them and try them out on steel- head, something I'd been promising myself I'd do for years. ‘This thought put me in mind of the small caddis pupae imi- tations I had in my wallet. By the time I'd knotted one of these trout flies on, Fred had risen and missed a fish. I began at the top of the run again and hit a fish, released it, cast again and hil another. Elated, I made a few more casts and sunk the hook into the jaw of a third, While playing this fish to share J looked up to see a giant fish leap out of the tailout. Fred's rod was bent double. The fish took off. Fred brought it back a little way then it bumed off once more. I raced down river atop the bank where I looked down and got a clear view of the fish. It was ghostly gray, a steelhead, but buill like a big chinook. The great fish moved dawn stream unhurriedly, It paw- ered down through the rapids as we gave chase. A quaner of a mile later, Fred fought it to the edge of a gentle bay. The big fish appeared before us. J pulled out my tape. The hook pulled free. Fred smiled a broad smile, so broad that the light lit up the gold in his molars. "I guess we can say it was over twenty," he said. 1 nodded agreement. Over twenty all right, I thought, ten pounds over twenty. | TERRACE STANDARD | STANDARD SPORTS 638-7283 Hendry makes Olympic presence felt Former Caledonia grad lights up scoreboard for lady’s basketball team YOUR EYES aren’t fooling you. There was in- deed a familiar face at the opening ceremno- nies of the Olympic Games a few weeks ago in Sydney walking with Team Canada and on the court playing with our country’s women’s -basketball team. Michelle Hendry, 30, who was born and raised here in Terrace made the trip to Sydney and played with the Canadian team. Hendry left Terrace following high school but still has friends and family here, who’ve been watching her closely. “I’ve been watching every game sometimes twice,” said her dad Ken Hendry, who works at a local car dealership. Hendry — or “Meesh” as she’s known on the court = also played volleyball while here, but took up basketball seriously al Simon Fraser University and has trained overseas. In the four games preliminary games Cana- da had played as of the weekend, Hendry had managed 14 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists. The 6°2, 161 pound forward wrapped up play with the Olympic team in Sydney last week, recording a win and three losses as of Saturday and didn’t qualify for a medal. Disappointing perhaps, but nat out of lack of effort according to Mr. Hendry. Michelle Hendry was part of the B.C. women’s basketball team that captured the gold medal at the Canada games in Saskatoon in 1989. A lot of participants at the games have their own personalized web pages, including Hen- dry. On it she says that she pot into basketball in large part because of the cool moves she was able to perform at a young age. “Dunking eight foot hoops in grade seven was cool!” she said. Hendry graduated from Caledonia in 1988 befoe moving on to SFU and becoming a re- cognized young player in Canadian basketball circles. Despite her move away from the area, the connection with Terrace obviously remains strong. She lists her hometown at the olympic web site as Terrace. To take a look at the web site check www.ibm.com/fanmail. MICHELLE HENDRY (above left) has been down under for the past few weeks playing with Canada’s women's basketball team for the 27th Olympic Games in Sydney. Hen- BIRDIE SMASHER: Kevin Strangway slams a birdie during badminton club ac- tion last Thursday. The club js struggling so far this year with attendance, but organizer Diane Cey hopes that that will turnaround as people head indoors, dry, a native of Terrace scored 12 paints in Canada's 62-41 triumph over Senegal. Mini-noops here on Friday IT’S NOT too late to grab some tickets for the world’s smallest and funniest basketball team — coming to Ca- ledonia High School on Friday. The team, which has an average height of 4’2 has impressed fans and pros alike recording only 11 losses ‘in over 3,500 games. They also feature a Don’t Tease program to students at every school on their tour. The Canadian Half-Pints as they’re known, will take ‘on the. Terrace Hospice Socicty Celebrity Basketball Team at Caledonia High School on Fri. Sept. 29 at 6. and 8 p.m. Tickets are available at All Seasons Source for _ Sports 4555 Lakelse Ave and at the door for $10. The Terrace Hospice Socicty will benefit by taking $1.50 per attendee and 100 per cent of the ticket sales. Badminton club seeks participants DIANE CEY has been playing badminton in Ter- race for more than 25 years. She’s seen the sport's high point, when 50 or more players used to: flock . to gymnasiums at Thorn- . hill ar Skeena Junior Sec- ondary Schools: for club nights. And she’s seen scenes like last Thursday’s: six. players, like the final loyal soldiers in a’ multinous army turn up for the sec- ond badminton club meet- - ing at Thornhill Junior Secondary last Thursday, Mutinous army might be a stretch, but Cey says. the interest in badminton. recently here has dwin- dled. “It really is fun,” she said. “It certainly gets you off the couch.” ; Off the couch and some. Cey recalls reading ‘an-ar-- licle in a prominent fitness magazine that. compared the fitness value of bad. -minton ard tennis. » It found that badminton provided a belter all around workout. “Tvs even an olympic Sport,” she added. One of the problems the club has faced has been reduced hours alloted to them by the school board for use of the gymnasiums. | “We used to use ‘the ‘Byms from 7 p.m. to 5 p.in.” she said. ‘The clubs were also. held on Sundays as well as the current. Tuesdays and Thursdays, which allowed more players to turn out In ‘Tecenl years, can- cerns over the hours of ja- nitorial.staff-at the schools - and cost increases for rent- als have” prompted. the hours to be reduced to 8-10 P m, Tuesdays and Thurs-. days only. Players with a decent “fitness level over 16 are welcome. to. attend the club for $4 a session, ; The club- meets at the ‘Thornhill Junior Secondary gymnasium starting at 8 p.m. Tuesdays: and. Thurgs. days... For more. information club organizer Diane Cey “car be reached at 635- 3564.