ROB BROWN

Taimen 18

oan leaned forward to avoid spilling

her tea and getting crumbs from the

chocolate coated biscuit all over her

lap. In the seat next to her, Tugsiin Sugar, reclined like a couch potato watching Sunday sports, watched her and grinned.

She turned her head to Canat, who was simi- larly reclined in the seat behind her,

“What kind of plane is this?” she asked.

“Ir is an Antonov-24, Built in the Soviet Union, and once the pride of the Bolshevik transportation system,” he answered in his sur- gically precise English.

"Is chis our in-flight meal?” Joan wondered.

“Indeed it is, [ am afraid. It is certainly not much sustenance, truly.”

Joan carefully put the plate the biscuit came on atop the teacup and held it there so the tea wouldn’t spill.

“How do you get these seats in the upright po--

sition?” she asked, wondering why all the other

passengers, including Tugsiin and Canal were’

content to recline.

“I'm afraid there is no upright position for pas- senger seats on the Antonav-24, Miss Taylor. Let us hope that the pilot has such a position on his chair,” replied the Kazakh.

Joan leaned back, When Lewis first suggested she take a trip with the Eagle hunter, she had no idea it was going to be such a long one. There was the six-hour journey back to Ulaanbaatar where she and Tugsiin met Canat, the Kazakh eagle hunter, guide and translator. It was then .she learned the three of them would be making the four hour trip to Olgiy on the Antonov-24, which looked anything but skyworthy.

Olgiy, is the capital city of the Kazakh pro-*

vince of Bayan-Olgiy, and Bayan-Olgiy, as

Canat said when Joan asked about it, was to,

Outer Mongolia what Outer Mongolia was to the rest of the world.

“It is separated from China by the Altay Mountains and from the rest of Mongolia by the Hovd River. When the Kazakh found:this cold, isolated place in 1600, they-must have known their way of life was safe from those seeking to destroy il,”

Joan was amazed at the breadth of Canat’s

‘education. He had degrees from the University of Irkutsk. Besides his native Kazakh, he spoke

«Russian, Mongolian and English fluently. Hav- ing him along shone light in to what would have

temained the dark corners of this trip and con- siderably brightened up what she had seen al-

? ready,

. Joan was relieved to hit the ground (for that was what the plane did) at Olgiy, She deplaned to a cold and desolate run field edged on one

Side by some kind of market.

* Canat took her by the arm.

“Credit cards are useful for scraping ice from windshields in winter, nothing else. We need to change some of your currency,” he said.

As Canat made arrangements to exchange some of Joan’s cash, she and Tugsiin browsed the stalls containing everything from leather coats to lettuce at the sprawling open air market that was obviously shopping central in Olgiy. While looking at the wares-in a jewelry stall she noticed a luxurious BMW _ sedan-she couldn’t help but notice it amid the Bactrian Camels and bicycles.

She put down the trinket she’d been examining walked a little closer. In the back seat sat a heavy set man wearing sunglasses and a suit that might have been made by Armani. Next to him was a woman, possibly Mongolian, possibly Chinese, with a bionde wig. Canat was in the front, next to the driver, actively engaged in a iransaction.

“So who was your friend in the sharp suit?” Joan asked Canat when they met 20 minutes later.

“He is not as big a felon as the heads of cor- porate banks,” he said sheepishly.

“But he is indeed a felon. Unfortunately he is the bank of Ogtiy.”

It took four hours to reach Canat’s home in the village of Tsaran Kushut on vague roads that Canat navigated quickly and confidently, even

.when Joan couldn't see them. It was cold. They lencountered snow flurries twice.

Joan's thoughts kept coming back to Lewis the way persistent thoughts nag at an insomniac. She tried not to admit she had fallen for him so that she wouldn’t have to ponder the problems that would cause. :

At first she had been disappointed when Billy changed his mind at the last minute and deci- ded to stay behind and fish with Lewis. Now she realized it was probably for the best. 3

To be. continued...

TERRACE STANDARD

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, September 17, 2003 - B?

£38-7283

Smooth skating

Terrace’s Heather Hanna is taking her figure skating to a whole new level.

By SARAH A.

ZIMMERMAN WHEN Heather Hanna hits the ice she moves as if she was born to be there,

She’s graceful and completely at ease — just as any experienced figure skater ought to be,

Hanna,-a 15-year-old Grade 11 student, has reached a level no figure skater in Terrace has achieved in more than five years - she’s skaling at the novice competitive level.

That's just two levels below the senior division, the same level most people see skater competing at on television.

“I’m excited about it,” she says enthusiastically, admitting that it feels pretty “cool” to be the first skater to achieve that , level here in so long.

Hanna has one goal this year — to make it to sectionals in Octo- ber, which will give her a shot at skating competitively at the pro- vincial level.

It’s going to mean a lot of hard work — something her coach, Cathy Mills says Hanna is not short on

“She’s a really dedicated kid — she has goals that she wants to achieve so she’s out there training to reach them,” Mills says. ©

“She’s always looking for ways to improve her skating.”

That includes working on a move that has eluded her for some time — the double axel.

“I can see it in my head it’s just not there,” she says. “People say, ‘Heather, youre so close,’ but I don’t feel like it is.”

But ask Mills:andishe'l tgjl you just how close Hanna is to nailing the double axel - she just has to put her mind to it and have confidence in herself.

“She moves across the ice with ease,” Mills says. “She skates with beautiful flow and she makes difficult moves look easy.”

Working towards landing the

Seniors up medals again

By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN DOZENS of seniors from Terrace and

throughout the northwest came back this year's B.C. Senior Games with

medals than ever before — increasing their haul "for at least the third year running. In 2002 ihe Zone 10 team returned

with 51 medals, last year they came

with 66 and this year the crew earned a whopping 68 medals. The increase bumped this zone from finishing eighth of

1] regions to seventh position.

While many seasoned veterans made the trip to Chilliwack for the games many

first timers also participated with success.

At 55-years-old this was the first year

Donna Graf was eligible to compete

mom, Maxine Smallwood is a vet having been to every games since their inception in 1988. Graf nabbed five gold medals in

various track and field events.

Cops ride for cancer

WHEN local cyclists Sherrie Hamer and RCMP Constable Kir- sten Latvala roll into Terrace tonight they'll already have ridden 577 kilometres — and they still have another 147 kilometres to £0.

They’re part of a 20- person team of police officers and civilian RCMP employees bik- ing from Prince George to Prince Rupert to raise money for cancer re- search. The ride is called Cops for Cancer.

“My mom was diag- nosed with cancer last year,” explains Hamer. “That's one of the rea- sons I joined.”

The duo should be coming across the new bridge around 6 p.m. to- night and will carry on to Prince Rupert tomor- row, oe

“Heather Hanna does a sit spin on the ice at the Terrace arena, SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN PHOTO

double axel means spending oodles of time on the ice — she al- ready laces up the skates five days a week, two hours per day. She doesn’t mind the commit-

coach Sale and her partner David Peltier. “Tt was really cool — 1 got to see them train too,” Hanna says. The .training sessions took

“She moves across the ice with ease...she skates with beautiful flow and makes difficult

moves look easy.”

ment and she is really drawn to the athleticism required in the sport.

“You get a good work out and it keeps you fit,” she says.

That admiration for physical strength shines through in who her

role models are. =including Olym:_.«_.. Getting a ghot.at training. under... “different coaches helps drive les-

pic gold medalist Jamie Sale. «

And this summer Hanna got a chance to meet Sale in person.

“I was so scared, I was so neryous,” she says smiling widely.

Meeting the top-notch skater came as she spent three weeks training under Jan and Cynthia Ulmark - the same people who

from more

high jumping!" back

one gold.

same race. great

—‘he

“I have never met so many enthusias- tic people in my life," says Graf of the , 2,700 seniors who took part in the games. |

“T was just about in tears watching the women’s high jump — women 80 years old

It was also special for Graf to partici-' . pate alongside her mom — who herself re- eled in. six silver medals, one bronze and-

The women's 1,500 metre race saw all age categories run simultaneously which — means Graf and Smallwood were in the. .

“At the end one of the other girls was- hugging-her mom and I was hugging my mom,” Graf recalls, “It’s just such an awesome atmosphere to be there.”

It was also the first year of competition for Manuel da Silva, 70, who came proudly clutching a gold medal.

Continued Page B14

place in Edmonton, Alberta at the Royal Glenora Club and culmina- ted in competing in the Wild Rose competition.

Hanna also joined seven other skaters from the club in Regina for a two-week training camp.

sons home and recognize where her skating level is at outside of the region.

Travelling also helps her pre- pare for the level she'll need to perform at to be competitive as she takes on the novice division this season.

| Heather Hanna

But then again there are two reasons why Hanna says she loves figure skating so much, and if she doesn’t lose sight of either one, her determination should pay off for her.

“[ just think it’s so much fun and I like ta compete.”

Score board

Horseshoes

‘Mihi

SHERRIE HAMER and Cnst. Kirsten Latvala are riding through Terrace tonight nearing the end of a 724 kilo- metre ride to raise money for cancer research.

Joe D. Wideman 30 ft B 35-44.9 % Bronze Otto Lindstrom 30 ft C 25-34.9% Bronze Rose j, Thomas C 25-34.9% women Gold Cribbage Roberta Perry B Flight. Gold ‘Playoff. - . Gold Louise Radiord ~ B Flight Gold Playoff Gold Age 55-59 Track and Fleld Donna Graft 1,500m women. ~ Gold 200m women Gold ‘400m women Gold -§,000m women Gold “600m. women Gold ines Lopez “200m women Silver “400m women Bronze 800m women Silver Discus women Bronze Pentathaion women Gold . ~~ Shot women Silver Hang Lorenz 25m backstroke men Sliver 265m breaststroke men Bronze 400m freesiyle men Bronze 800m freestyle men Silver Age 65-69 Joe Mandur 100m breaststroke men Gold 100m freestyle men Gold 100m 1M men Gold 400m freestyle men Gald 50m backstroke men Silver 50m freastyla man Gold r Pat Kirkaldy Discus women Silver oe Shot women Silver

Seniors Games

Chilliwack Sept. 3-6, 2003

-Continued Page B14