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Winter 2015

INSIDE: 2. Snowmobiler Nadine Overwater 4. Repair man Ken Jaeger 5. Artist Jo C Willems 6. A history of Revelstoke wintersPhoto by Alex Cooper/Revelstoke Times Review

2 | www.revelstoketimesreview.com

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There are three aspects to Nadine Overwater's life as a professional snowmo-biler — the guide, the coach and, now, the athlete.

As a guide, she works for Great Canadian Snowmobile Tours out of Glacier House Resort, showing tourists from all over Canada and Europe around her home mountains.

As a coach, she leads La Nina Sled Camps, a series of seven snowmobile clinics for beginners, intermediate and advanced riders.

And as an athlete, she landed her first movie segment with 509Films last year.All in, she logged at least 100 days on her snowmobile last winter and estab-

lished herself as one of the leading women in a sport dominated by men.

For Overwater, it all started on a farm near Rocky Mountain House, Alberta, where she got to play on all sorts of motorized vehicles growing up —

ATVs, dirt bikes and, of course, snowmobiles. In the winter, she would go zip-ping across fields on a snowmobile. "I was pretty lucky as a kid — we always had toys available," she told me in an interview on a rare winter day last week where she wasn't in the mountains. "I was pretty comfortable on the throttle."

She first ventured into the mountains in her late teens, doubling a sled with her boyfriend to go snowboarding.

It didn't take her long to go from snowmobiling to gain access for snowboard-ing, to snowmobiling for the sake of snowmobiling. One day, her future brother-in-law lent her his snowmobile so she could go riding in Golden. "He was trying to marry my sister so he was using me," she said. Still, "It was the first time I had my own machine in the mountains. It was perfect — what riding was meant to be."

In 2007, Overwater bought her first snowmobile. She graduated from univer-sity and moved to Revelstoke, where she got a job as the environmental monitor for fledgling Revelstoke Mountain Resort and pursued her passion of big moun-tain riding.

Her life took a big turn in 2010 when she was laid off at work. In need of work, she took her Level 1 avalanche course and started guiding.

"You get axed so you start looking for new opportunities," she said. "It was devastating at the time, but look what that got me into."

Overwater is thin but strong, with shoulder-length brown hair and a look of toughness that comes with making a living working jobs traditionally dom-

inated by men (in the summer she works in forestry) and raising a child.Five years after her career change, Overwater's career is taking off, both lit-

erally and figuratively. She’s doing seven sled camps this year, including a one-day clinic for beginners, five two-day camps for more experience riders, and a jump camp in April where she'll go around building jumps and helping girls get comfortable in the air.

In the fall, 509Films released an edit of the riding she did with them last win-ter. "I just fell into it somehow," she said.

She recorded her segments while out with her pro-snowmobiling friends — locals like Rob Alford, Derek Wood and Brodie Evans. "I'm always riding with these guys. I'm there, the filmers are there and it just so happens if I can squeeze in a shot," she said.

"It worked out really well.The segment begins with Overwater dropping a large cliff and then shredding

down a powdery slope, carving smooth turns in the snow.

Rise of La NiNa

Nadine Overwater sends it on New Year’s Eve on Joss Mountain. Photo contributed.

Nadine Overwater is making a name for herself in the snowmobiling world as a

guide, coach and film athlete. By Alex Cooper

www.revelstoketimesreview.com | 3

With the ever-changing seasons, Canadians have learned to adapt their wardrobes to the weather. While storing your winter and summer clothes can be a pain there is one accessory you can use all year round – Glerups. Rain or shine, humid or cold, Glerups house shoes are the perfect fit for every season. Glerups indoor shoes have easy slip-on access, are made from the warmest, 100% natural wool and feature an all-natural leather sole. Glerups create an extremely comfortable shoe by using select wool that is gently washed in soft water, made into socks and felted with steam to mimic the shape of your foot. The wool also acts as a self-cleaning fabric and provides breathability, allowing Glerups to remain fresh all year long. “The great thing about Glerups is that you can wear them during every season,” explains Tim Stacey of Tin Shack, the exclusive Canadian distributor for Blundstone and Glerups footwear. “The wool is breathable, so even in summer you can wear them to keep feet comfy without being too warm.” Glerups embody the perfect pairing of practicality and convenience in their indoor shoes. They are comfortable and cozy, yet lightweight and breathable to wear all year round. Glerups come in three styles for men, women and children. The ‘slipper’ model has all of the classic characteristics of a slip-on indoor shoe such as comfort, style and warmth. The shoe model provides perfect comfort for colder floor surfaces, and won’t slip off. For those looking for an all-around insulator, there’s the ‘boot’ style Glerups, offering full foot coverage all the way up to the ankle. Glerups also come in a variety of vibrant, earthy colours, making them a versatile choice that will suit anyone’s personal style.

The indoor shoe.

The indoor shoe.

With the ever-changing seasons, Canadians have learned to adapt their wardrobes to the weather. While storing your winter and summer clothes can be a pain there is one accessory you can use all year round – Glerups. Rain or shine, humid or cold, Glerups house shoes are the perfect fit for every season. Glerups indoor shoes have easy slip-on access, are made from the warmest, 100% natural wool and feature an all-natural leather sole. Glerups create an extremely comfortable shoe by using select wool that is gently washed in soft water, made into socks and felted with steam to mimic the shape of your foot. The wool also acts as a self-cleaning fabric and provides breathability, allowing Glerups to remain fresh all year long. “The great thing about Glerups is that you can wear them during every season,” explains Tim Stacey of Tin Shack, the exclusive Canadian distributor for Blundstone and Glerups footwear. “The wool is breathable, so even in summer you can wear them to keep feet comfy without being too warm.” Glerups embody the perfect pairing of practicality and convenience in their indoor shoes. They are comfortable and cozy, yet lightweight and breathable to wear all year round. Glerups come in three styles for men, women and children. The ‘slipper’ model has all of the classic characteristics of a slip-on indoor shoe such as comfort, style and warmth. The shoe model provides perfect comfort for colder floor surfaces, and won’t slip off. For those looking for an all-around insulator, there’s the ‘boot’ style Glerups, offering full foot coverage all the way up to the ankle. Glerups also come in a variety of vibrant, earthy colours, making them a versatile choice that will suit anyone’s personal style.

The indoor shoe.With the ever-changing seasons, Canadians have learned to adapt their wardrobes to the weather. While storing your winter and summer clothes can be a pain there is one accessory you can use all year round – Glerups. Rain or shine, humid or cold, Glerups house shoes are the perfect fit for every season.

Glerups indoor shoes have easy slip-on access, are made from the warmest, 100% natural wool and feature an all-natural leather sole. Glerups create an extremely comfortable shoe by using select wool that is gently washed in soft water, made into socks and felted with steam to mimic the shape of your foot. The wool also acts as a self-cleaning fabric and provides breathability, allowing Glerups to remain fresh all year long.

“The great thing about Glerups is that you can wear them during every season,” explains Tim Stacey of Tin Shack, the exclusive Canadian distributor for Blundstone and Glerups footwear. “The wool is breathable, so even in summer you can wear them to keep feet comfy without being too warm.”

Glerups embody the perfect pairing of practicality and convenience in their indoor shoes. They are comfortable and cozy, yet lightweight and breathable to wear all year round. Glerups come in three styles for men, women and children. The ‘slipper’ model has all of the classic characteristics of a slip-on indoor shoe such as comfort, style and warmth. The shoe model provides perfect comfort for colder floor surfaces, and won’t slip off. For those looking for an all-around insulator, there’s the ‘boot’ style Glerups, offering full foot coverage all the way up to the ankle. Glerups also come in a variety of vibrant, earthy colours, making them a versatile choice that will suit anyone’s personal style.

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In the second shot, she flies off a banked jump, arcing her snowmobile through the air into a cloud of snow. The rest of the 2:20 edit shows her hitting jumps and dropping more cliffs.

She clearly remembers the highlight of her season. She and her friends were out all day building a massive, cheese-wedge booter. As it was being built, she was eyeing it up, wondering if she could hit it. She asked a friend what he thought. His response: it was a table-top jump, so if she didn't make it, she prob-ably wouldn't die.

"It's a daunting thing because when you're looking at it from the run in, it looks really big," she said. "It was one you had to hit at full throttle."

Overwater decided to go for it. "I hit it and it was a pretty cool feeling going off something at full throttle," she said.

The jump was a turning point for her. Afterwards, everything became easier. "The more time you have in the air, the more time you have to adjust," she

said. "Being comfortable of that feeling of being in the air."

This year, on top of her paid work guiding and coaching, Overwater wants to do more filming. Like many professional action sport athletes, she is work-

ing on a series of web edits. She fulfilled one of her dreams last year with her first film segment and now she wants to step things up with an even better one this year.

"You don't want to be subpar. For me to support my sponsors (she is spon-sored by Riderz, 509, Motorfist, Snowpulse, Somewon, and the Sled Shed) I don't want to have a film segment just because I'm a girl," she said. "I want it to be because I'm on par with the boys."

Ultimately though, she wants to inspire other riders, especially women, who are a small but growing minority in the sport.

"After I run a camp and the girls are fired up — that's the best feeling," she said. "My goal is to be a positive person and not an egotistical leader in the sport."

TIMESReviewR E V E L S T O K E

REVELSTOKE TIMES Review

TIMESReviewR E V E L S T O K E

REVELSTOKE TIMES Review

4 | www.revelstoketimesreview.com

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“Come on back, but you should know I'm hard at work,” Ken Jaeger says with a wink as he waves me past

the counter. We head into the back of Ken's Repair, made cozy by a wood furnace, and Ken settles down at his office table, ignoring his half played game of solitaire. Snow or no snow, Ken's waiting for the potential “logger rush” near clos-ing time. “They fall year round,” he explains, “sometimes on snowshoes.”

Ken would know. Born and raised in Revelstoke, he fol-lowed his father into the profession of logging. “I studied it, when I was out there, and I studied the fallers working,” he says. “After all, it's as safe as you make it.”

In 1973, seeing workers needing repairs, maintenance and parts, Ken quit falling and Ken’s Repair opened its doors. The store has since earned a reputation for being able to fix any kind small engine. “It's true,” he laughs.

With customers hailing from Revelstoke, Golden, Mal-akwa, Nakusp and Salmon Arm, Ken's Repair not only fixes

small engine equipment but is a reseller of lawn mowers, snow blowers, generators, pumps, and more. In addition, the business sells parts, safety equipment and clothing such as corked boots, gloves, goggles and safety vests.

When asked about his customers, Ken smiles and says, “It's everybody and anybody. Maybe they're working and need a repair. Maybe they need help figuring out what kind of snow blower will work best for them. Maybe they need an old snow blower fixed.” Snow blowers have been rather pop-ular this winter, and Ken just brought in a new order of them.

While being interviewed, a customer picking up a repair order hollers into the back room.

“Thank you Ken. That was fast! I appreciate you fixed it even though I didn't buy it here.”

“Glad to do it,” Ken replies, and it’s clear he means it. “We pride ourselves in fixing things right the first time,”

Ken says. “We've got a great crew here. Luke's the mechanic, Gerda does the book keeping, and Kim works the counter.”

When asked if he misses falling, Ken chuckles and shrugs at the same time. “I'm too old,” he explains. “But I miss being outdoors. I miss the scenery.”

Ken's years of falling ensures he has many stories--from the time up in Fort Saint John where it was -55 C weather for weeks, to the time when five loggers were killed around Rev-elstoke in separate accidents.

Once, Ken started to fall a tree with a hornets’ nest. The hornets promptly swarmed Ken, who took off with his chain-saw idling in the tree for three quarters of an hour. In the end, Ken came back with an axe and felled a nearby tree into the hornets’ tree to finish the job.

In a different incident, Ken felled a tree in winter and had a rather bewildered and sleepy bear stumble out.

Nowadays Ken gets back to nature fishing trout. But more likely than not, you'll find him working at his shop, ensur-ing customers are satisfied with their repairs and orders. Not playing solitaire.

Revelstoke’s RepaiR man

For more than 40 years, Ken Jeager of Ken’s Repair has become the go-to man for small outdoor goods, engine equipment and repairs. Words and photos by Imogen Whale.

www.revelstoketimesreview.com | 5

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On the trail of the artistThe most distinctive aspect of Jo C. Willems’ art work is her

trails. They snake and weave through trees, alpine meadows and snow, rich in texture and detail, sometimes fading into the distance, and other times getting lost in the background.

This shouldn't come as a big surprise — the trail is where Willems found her calling as an artist in the 70s, and where she resumed her work several years ago.

"The trail for me is like Monet's water lilies in the sense it's something I know intimately well," she said, referring to the French master's series of oil paintings. "I spent a decade walk-ing on trails and now I travel them very, very often, either on snowshoe or on bike. To me they're that intimate subject mat-ter that I know really well. I just hang the rest of the painting around it."

Willems said she always knew she would be an artist, but it took her until university to follow her passion. As a kid, she never had any art supplies and would paint with food colour-ing. She studied microbiology at the University of British Columbia, but while there, she took an art class as an elective.

"I never actually gave myself permission to be an artist until I took that class," she said. "It totally shifted my whole sense of the world."

Her instructor Toby MacLennan provided the inspiration. "What she taught was my voice, how to communicate," Wil-lems said. She discovered things in art that she loved in sci-ence. "What happened was all of the awesome things I found about science, I could do in art without having to prove any-thing."

After graduating, she spent a year taking art classes at the University of Victoria before enrolling in a masters program at the University of California in Irvine. While there, she became fascinated by body movements. For her thesis, she biked from Irvine to Victoria, tracking the changes in her body as she went along. "The changes were unexpected and profound — a whole sense of confidence in myself physically," she said.

The trip inspired her. In the summer of 1979, she and her sister Mugs walked the Pacific Crest Trail north through Cal-ifornia. The next year, they hiked south through Washington and Oregon.

In 1983, they hiked the Great Divide Trail together, back when the trail was more a concept than a physical thing. Using maps and compasses, they spent eight months hiking the 5,000 kilometre route, raising money for the Kinsmen Rehabilitation Foundation. "My sister and I have the distinction of being the two shortest people to take the longest time to hike the Great Divide," she said.

The sisters couldn't afford a lot of film, so instead Willems

brought a paint pad and small tablet with her, capturing scenes along the way. When the trip ended, she kept painting, trying to capture as much detail as possible. She wanted it so if you focused on only part of a painting, you would still experience a whole work.

"To me that's what nature is. The artist is someone who cap-tures their experience of what its is," she said. "To me that experience is this enormous story that happens all the time, that's way bigger than me."

Willems stopped painting when PhotoShop came out. The fact you could turn a photo into a watercolour with the

click of the button scared her. Then, one day a few years ago, someone gave her a collection of postcards featuring Claude Monet's water lily paintings. She wondered why Monet painted so many water lilies.

"It occurred to me he was painting his passion," she said. "By simplifying his subject matter, he could focus on what was really important, which for him was light. He could repeat the same subject matter, but focus on painting."

This re-ignited Willems passion for art. She began taking a sketchpad with her on her bike rides, focusing on trails much like Monet focused on water lilies. She began with sketches until one day, while raking leaves from a trail on CPR Hill, a passerby saw her working and urged her to begin painting again.

She started by doing black and white graphite paintings before moving back into water colours. Then she started paint-ing with gouache — a heavier and more opaque paint. "It has this marvellous translucent quality in the way it hits the light and yet it has a denseness to it, so it's kind of like oil painting in a lot of ways," she said.

About two years ago, Willems started displaying her work again. Last fall, her work was featured in one of the side gal-leries at the Revelstoke Visual Arts Centre as an exhibit called Journey.

"It's not just the journey of the trail, it's also the journey of using all the elements in an image as the medium, so the medium is not just the paint, but it's also the trees, because they're so familiar," she said. "I use each of those parts of the painting to create a visual journey.

"I try to use each painting to sculpt a story."

Willems' work can be seen and purchased at the down-town ArtFirst gallery. It is also on display at the library and at the Juniper Gallery on Bowen Island, B.C. She teaches two classes at the Revelstoke Visual Arts Centre. To see more of her work, visit her website at jocwillems.com.

Jo C Willems hiked the Pacific Crest and Great Divide, so it’s no wonder she loves painting trails. By Alex Cooper.

6 | www.revelstoketimesreview.com

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Talk to a Revelstoke old-timer and they'll tell you winters used to be worse here. They'll tell

you that today and they would have told you that back in the seventies.

"Our winter used to be really something to think about," Marjorie Parker said in an interview with the Revelstoke Museum in 1977. "Our snow was terri� c and, oh, it was cold and it blizzards. The school used to be closed half the time because the children couldn't get to school."

Revelstoke is a winter city. It's synonymous with snow. When Toronto called in the army after being buried by a metre of snow in January 1999, mayor Geoff Battersby was interviewed by the Globe and Mail and he laughed at the thought of calling the army here.

"On Dec. 23 we had green grass, and by noon on Dec. 28 we had 174 centimetres of snow," he

told the reporter. "We didn't have to shut down the whole town."

Looking through the archives, winter's did indeed seem to be worse back in the day. The newspaper, and personal histories, are � lled with stories of horrible blizzards, freezing cold temper-atures and gale-force winds.

"In my school days, winters were much more severe than in recent years," wrote Ruby Nobbs in her book on Revelstoke history. "Real blizzards with a howling wind blowing the falling snow � lled in sidewalks and pathways as quickly as they could be ploughed or shovelled."

Children would struggle to school, only to get sent home again because the janitor couldn't get the heat going, she recalled. Sidewalks would be ploughed by horses, and streets might not be ploughed at all. When they were, the banks would

Tales of winters past

By Alex Cooper

www.revelstoketimesreview.com | 7

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be so high that someone on the sidewalk wouldn't be able to see the street.

People would buy food in bulk so they could be prepared in case of a lengthy closure. It wasn't uncommon for a railway worker to be gone for a week in winter due to avalanches impact-ing the railway.

Homes were heated by wood or coal and pipes would often freeze up. Fires were a very real risk.

"Like most mothers in those days, mine was terrified of fire," Nobbs wrote. "More often than not, she was alone with the five of us, dad being somewhere on the railway between here and Field. Night after night during winter storms, she would sit up in front of a hot air register, a heavy sweater over her shoulders and her knit-ting or a magazine by her side. Periodically she would make the rounds to stoke up the fires and check the water pipes."

She would sleep when the kids were at school.Back then, the river would freeze up and people would head out

onto the river to carve out big blocks of ice to bring back for their cold rooms. At the local bars, ice would be used to keep the beers cold. "That was the only refrigeration they had," recalled Parker.

When it comes to winter in Revelstoke, there are two events that jump out — the great blizzard of January 1935, when

159 centimetres of snow fell on the city in four days; and the win-ter of 1971-72, when 779 centimetres of snow blanketed the city.

"Severe weather holds an icy grip on province," declared a headline in the Revelstoke Review on Jan. 25, 1935. In Revel-stoke, the temperature dipped to -30 F (-34 C), the lowest in 42 years according to the paper. The snow started falling Sunday afternoon and didn't let up until Monday evening. By that point, 114 centimetres of snow had fallen. After a day of reprieve on Tuesday, another 45 centimetres fell on Wednesday and Thursday before the snow turned to rain.

Despite that, people still tried to get to work and an election was held. "Citizens plowed their way to work in snow waist-deep, city snowfighting equipment being unable to handle the situation," the paper reported. "Amateur photographers have been busy all week recording the unusual snow scenes."

The newspaper was filled with stories of trains being hit by ava-lanches. In one account, a rescue crew was hit by a slide, but they were dug out, "none the worse for the experience."

Four other men weren't so lucky and perished in the storm. Jean Edouard Cyr, George Boyd and Joseph Dunville died in an ava-lanche at Clanwilliam, while Emil Hautula died in another ava-lanche.

Schools were closed, mail delivery stopped, telegraph service was out and communication with the outside world was cut off. The SS Beaton got trapped in ice for several days. Near Arrow-head, a home was sent sliding 60 feet when it got hit by an ava-lanche; it's owner was sitting inside.

"It will be a long, long time before January 1935 ceases to be the unit of comparison in judging future winter weathers," the newspaper wrote.

That "long, long time" turned out to be 37 years. If the blizzard of 1935 was the biggest storm ever in Revelstoke, the winter

of 1971-72 was the winter it didn't stop snowing. Winter got off to a slow start that year. Snow had to be trucked

in to build the track for an early-December snowmobile race. Once it started to snow it didn't let up — 10 centimetres on Dec. 8, nine centimetres on Dec. 9, 12 cm on Dec. 13, four cm on Dec. 14. and

then 58 cm on Dec. 16, followed by 33 more then next day. The Revelstoke Review published the daily totals every week. "Local skiers welcome winter," a headline blared in the Dec. 22 edition of the Revelstoke Review.

It snowed in small amounts pretty much every day until Jan-uary 19, when the big storm hit. Over the course of three days it snowed 115 centimetres. That week's paper featured a picture of a city pick-up truck stuck in snow. Five people got trapped in an avalanche on the Trans-Canada; it took 2.5 days to free them.

Likewise, people got trapped for days in Rogers Pass as the highway and railway shut down due to avalanches.

Another article described how stranded travellers were asked to help shovel snow in exchange for a place to stay.

More than 5.5 metres of snow fell on Revelstoke by the end of January but things let up during February, only to return just in time for Snow Festival at the end of the month. Another 60 centi-metres fell in the last five days of the month, creating challenging conditions for the Tournament of Champions ski jumping event. The Revelstoke Snowmobile Club was brought in to help pack down the landing zone to allow the competition to happen.

By the time winter finished, 779 centimetres of snow had fallen in town. In the mountains the situation was even snowier. On Mount Copeland, located in the Monashee Mountains west of town, a Canadian record of 24 metres of snow fell.

So when the old-timers say winters used to be worse, they're on to something.

Opposite: A lone vehicle tries to make its way to First Street at some point in the 1920s. Most motorists would have put away their vehicles by then and switched to horse and sleigh.; Above: A man brings a load of ice for McKinnon’s Dairy. Visit the Times Review website for more photos of winters past.

Photos courtesy the Revelstoke Museum & Archives

8 | www.revelstoketimesreview.com

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Freeskiing in Revelstoke is dead! Long live freeskiing!The Red Bull Cold Rush is taking place at Revelstoke Mountain Resort from Feb. 3–6, making sure Revelstoke remains a big mountain competition venue after the Freeride World Tour dropped the resort from its schedule this year.This year’s event features four components. Day one is a big mountain skiing competition on Spilt Milk (picture), a wide venue filled with cliffs and steep chutes located above Greely Bowl.Day two is the cliff hucking day in a venue located beyond the resort’s cat-skiing terrain. Day three is the backcountry slopestyle event in the resort’s cat-skiing terrain.The fourth event is an alpine touring race. It will be held in the afternoon of one of the event days.You can try to watch the events live, or you can catch the highlights at the awards show at the Roxy Theatre on either February 5 or 6, depending on if a weather day is used or not.

~ Words and photo by Alex Cooper

Cold Rush!

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