Silence reigns supreme at Sovereign
The sun was peeking from behind clouds last weekend as the Ski Sheriff and Constant Companion Carmen joined other members of the Central Okanagan Outdoors Club at Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre.
A fresh frosting of snow covered the trees and bushes lining the trails so it was a magical outing. Add to that the incredible silence.
The only sound was the gentle slid of skis in the groomed track and an occasional good morning as other skiers passed.
It was lightly snowing for our earlier outing in the North Okanagan’s cross-country hotspot on Nov. 19, again a magical experience as snowflakes slowly drifted down and softened the track. A serendipitous Canadian experience.
This is the sixth column on updates, improvements and changes at cross-country and downhill ski areas in the Okanagan Valley.
It has already been a remarkable year for Sovereign with more than 600 skiers enjoying the first day of the season on Nov. 4. Thanks to early-season snow, more than 20 kilometres of trails were groomed and ready.
This weekend is the 2017 Haywood NorAm Sprints, the first event in this year’s NorAm series. This event is also a stop on the USSA Super Tour so Sovereign is expecting good competition from its American neighbors. There will be race courses for midget through senior categories on both days. More information is posted at: https://www.sovereignlake.com/event/2 017-haywood-noram-sprints/
And ViaSport BC has provided the club with a $6,000 event hosting grant. “This grant helps to offset our timing and other race specific expenses,” says general manager Troy Hudson.
The off-season was busy with significant upgrades and repairs: culvert replacements on Sovereign and 1/2 Sovereign trails, widening the entrance to the programs meeting area and classic sprint course, repairs on Carl Wylie Trail, repairs to the men's bathroom downstairs and the upstairs washroom, the planning and final layout for the new (green) Gold Mountain Trail, which will connect Sovereign to Silver Star Mountain Resort when completed next summer, a redesign of the daylodge and replacement of the Sovereign weather station.
At the AGM on Oct. 18, eight SNLC members put their names forward for the board of directors.
“The strong response is a testament to the vitality, enthusiasm and volunteerism of the members of our club,” say 2017 elections committee members Hugh Hamilton, Randy Savoie and Kim Taylor.
“Since we had eight director positions available, no election was required this year.”
The eight nominees became members of the board by acclamation: Sharon Clarke, Sandra Ecclestone and Pat Pearce (returning), Sylvia Herchen, Mark Nichiporuk, Guy Morazain, Greg Sadesky and past SLNC board member Bruce Sandilands (all new).
The eight will join Brent Ree and Brian Wills who are starting the second year of their two-year terms.
Sovereign has ambitions of hosting more events such as a national championships and a desire of bringing back the World Cup. It offered several coaching courses and certification programs this fall so it will have a pool of race officials to draw from.
Sovereign also has the largest XC Masters program of its kind in Canada, says Hudson.
“It’s a group of enthusiastic and fun-loving SLNC members who enjoy skiing together at one of the best Nordic ski facilities in the world. You can also improve your fitness and skills while having fun: three weekly sessions are available for $50.”
More about the Masters program is posted on the website at: sovereignlake.com/programs/adult/masters-xc/ or contact Gerry Breneman at: grbrenem@telus.net/
New this year is the Masters HP (High Performance) program, a more structure opportunity to improve faster, says Hudson. “This program consists of three sessions per week and a winter training plan focusing on providing participants the tools to take part in regional loppet racing, World Masters loppets and World Masters Championships.”
Eric de Nys, an experienced national team coach, will lead this group through preparation of better training plans and in skill development. An additional Masters session will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesdays this season. For more info, contact Pat Pearce at: ppearce@gmail.com.
*** You just never know who you are going to bump into when you take a break in the Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre daylodge.
While the Sheriff was waiting for the rest to finish a loop of the World Cup Trail, he met Jerry Higginson who lives in Port McNeill. The Sheriff is familiar with the north end of Vancouver Island as a result of several multi-day kayaking expeditions to God’s Pocket Marine Provincial Park north of Port Hardy and Broughton Archipelago Marine Provincial Park east of Telegraph Cove.
It turns out Jerry is quite the singer and musician. He motors out in his small boat and plays his trumpet across the water for guests on passing cruise ships. A few seconds after he finishes with O Canada, a thunderous applause echoes across the water.
It must seem surreal for these passengers to be slowly making their way along this pristine coastline and be greeted by a trumpet serenade.
Another of his fascinating stories involves the bald eagles who have a nest with chicks at the top of a nearby tree. One day as an experiment, he sat down outside and began to softly sing and play his guitar. Within a few minutes, the eagles began to take part, making sounds that the Sheriff has never before heard from eagles.
Don’t believe it? Jerry recorded this unusual, perhaps unique, serenade on his iPhone and plays it every time he recounts the story.
*** P.A.C.E. Sport Fitness has cancelled its Glow Glow Run on Dec. 13.
There was no explanation on its Facebook page, only: “We apologize for any inconvenience, however, we are going to postpone our event until the spring / March. Official date TBA and we will share more details in the new year.”
It is one of the most unusual cross-country running events in the Okanagan. Organized by Rene C. Unser of P.A.C.E. Sports Fitness in Kelowna, it is a 90-minute trail run with three leaders to accommodate different speeds.
She provides glowsticks to runners to light up the trails but participants are encouraged to show up with as much glowing creativity as they want.
Runners meet at Rose Valley Elementary School in West Kelowna, then hit the trails in Rose Valley Regional Park. P.A.C.E. (Positive Attitude Changes Everything) gives 100 per cent of the proceeds to the West Kelowna Trail Crew which builds and maintains trails in the regional park.
P.A.C.E. hosts a variety of charity runs throughout the year which are open to anyone to participate in.
*** Friends of the South Slopes Society is dismantling two bridges and building new bridges on Fairlane Trail, which is located on the Crawford Trails in Myra-Bellevue Provincial Park south of Kelowna. Allen’s Bridge crosses Hachey Creek and the second bridge crosses Peterson Brook (east of Fairlane Loop).
BC Parks provided funds to buy the materials for the new bridges. FOSS (through donations, membership fees and Adopt-aTrail sponsorship fees) is paying 50 cent of the contracted labour, the bridge abutments and the removal of the old bridges by Cabin Forestry Ltd. of Vernon.
The other half comes from the Canada 150 Grant received through the federal Western Economic Diversification Fund.
*** The Central Okanagan Naturalists’ Club will hold its monthly meeting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at Evangel Church, 3261 Gordon Dr. in Kelowna.
Guest speaker Lael Parrott will discuss The Okanagan Mountain to Kalamalka Lake Ecological Corridor — From modelling to implementation in the real world.
The Okanagan Mountain to Kalamalka Lake corridor traverses around the east side of the city of Kelowna through grassland and open woodland habitat and connects two large provincial parks.
The corridor is the last remaining low elevation route for the north-south movement of species on the east side of Okanagan Lake. The presentation will describe how the corridor was identified and thecollaborative process being used to protect it from further land use change.
For more information: http://complexity.ok.ubc.ca/2017/11/06/the-okanaganmountain-to-kalamalka-lakeecological-corridor/
Parrott is a professor in sustainability and director of the Okanagan Institute for Biodiversity, Resilience and Ecosystem Services (BRAES) at UBCO. She promotes a systems approach to environmental management and conservation at the landscape scale. She has extensive experience in leading multipartite groups to share this vision to find sustainable management solutions that reconcile ecological, societal and economic objectives.
The Central Okanagan Naturalists’ Club will host BCNature’s fall general meeting on Sept. 20-23, 2018. A number of people have already volunteered to assist in various ways but more volunteers will always be welcome.
The club is looking for people who can make keynote presentations on the Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings. Or people who could make shorter presentations on Friday morning. Or locations that would be suitable for a three- to fourhour outing Friday afternoon and Saturday morning.
Those who would like to volunteer or have suggestions should contact Rick at rdgee@shaw.ca.
J.P. Squire, aka the Ski Sheriff, is an Okanagan Weekend Edition reporter and an avid outdoors enthusiast. His column appears every Saturday. You can contact him with your outdoor news at jp.squire@telus.net.