Andrew has a number of things on the go, including his work for the Boundary Chamber. His latest project is a device that makes it easy for the back country. Skin up once, bury the anchor, then let the device pull you back up the hill for multiple runs.
Sounds like a great gadget for a guy who skis on the first inch of snow, and the last inch of snow each winter.
I buy candy that I like, and rarely get someone at the door, unless it is a weekend. It dawned on me last night that we have the potential of getting a couple of kids at the door tonight. I guess they will get money to buy candy.
Bentley's house is decorated.
He gave me some of his new cards - they are in the truck- will scan and upload tomorrow.
If you are planning on heading up the valley tomorrow, check drivebc. There is a planned closure posted below. Correction - traffic disruption tonight was reported as a slide, but was a vehicle crash in the vicinity.
Our thoughts are with Ernie, John, Hollie and all the family.
The Rotheisler family cabin is now known as "100 Stumps", just up the road from my cabin. We were building around the same time, and the young John and Hollie delighted in sneaking through the trees to startle me in my yard.
I don't recall Kay skiing, but she was certainly part of the social community, while the other family members served with the CSPS Ski Patrol.
I am rebuilding the accommodations page and welcome your contact info, link and photos for a free listing. unbaldy@gmail.com or my personal e-mail.
I am getting inquiries and hits on that blog tab.
Thanks to AIM for having a grader on the road yesterday and today. Of course someone had to joyride and fishtail on the fresh surface. Very fortunate that no one appears to have collided with the suspect truck.
I talked to the YRB truck driver at the turn around point - asked if there were plans for a grader - he said they had planned to send a grader up today, then the snowfall changed the plans.
The club had a great season last year, shifting the focus from traditional ski racing to more freestyle/all mountain stuff. Their fundraising spaghetti dinner was a blast, and it was fun to see the skills and confidence growth with the youth. Some of the group has done some off season training at the Apex Freestyle off season facility.
It's time for the AGM - here is the info:
Mount Baldy Alpine Club AGM.
Wednesday November 8th, 7pm. Join us to help plan the upcoming club season,
celebrate the success of the 2022/23 season, elect a new board, and find out
how you can volunteer to assist with building a successful club. Meeting will
be held at the Oliver/Osoyoos Search and Rescue Hall, 5868 Cessna St Oliver
I have a couple of things left to do outside, including putting tarps back where they blew off again last night. Other than that, I am ready for the white stuff.
Thanks to Peter at OK Tire Oliver, and Chris who happened to stop by the shop Saturday, my new snow tires were mounted and ready to install yesterday.
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| A bite before the photo. |
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| Baldy huckleberries in a secret sauce. |
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| I was hungry - forgot to take photos before - great pizza with Baldy grown basil. |
Limited physician availability at the South Okanagan General Hospital has once again closed off emergency room services for Oliver and area residents.
Interior Health advised on Friday that ER services will be unavailable from 4 p.m. Friday, Oct 20 to 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 21. Patients can access care at Penticton Regional Hospital during this time.
All other inpatient services will continue as normal.
The province announced a permanent funding commitment this week to help stabilize physician coverage.
During the ER closure, people in the community who need life-threatening emergency care (i.e., chest pains, difficulty breathing, severe bleeding) should always call 911 for transport to the nearest available and appropriate facility.
Anyone unsure whether an emergency room visit is warranted can call HealthLink BC at 8-1-1, or visit www.HealthLinkBC.ca for non-emergency health information from nurses, dietitians and pharmacists 24 hours a day, seven days per week.
The curse of the Snow Bear trailer. It seems that the last day I plan to use my utility trailer each season, something falls apart. If you happened to see a chunk of metal on the road today, please let me know where.
Will be a piece similar to this - square tubing broken at the weld, with round bent peg attached.
AIM had a grader selectively grading lower down so it could have gone in the ditch, but I didn't find it on my way back up.
I received my invitation and connection information from Property Flute this morning. Please take the time to read the info ahead of the meeting.
The instructions appear clearer to me than the first time we used Property Flute.
There is a two step process - one to attend the meeting and one to register to vote. If you have given your proxy to someone, and still wish to observe the meeting, you only do step 1.
If you are unfamiliar with the Property Flute Platform, the voting is counted by PF, and you don't have to be concerned with a public show of hands.
Registration opens at 5:00pm.
If someone has chosen to give you their proxy, and you haven't already done so, please e-mail a copy of it to Tanya at HomeTime. Having the form ahead of time will help with the last minute prep.
Backroad drive today - 201 FSR from Hwy 33 to 200 FSR to McKinney Road
I remember the night that the Nk'mip fire jumped the "Baldy" FSR. Hard to picture from down in the valley, although I did see a video clip of a raging fire jumping a road. My photos today are from the main FSR - I could probably get some better shots from side roads, but chose not to on my own.
The fire goes where it wants to - the fire map doesn't give you the same view, or sense of size, as you get from the ground. A burn area, a green area, another burn area.
Coming up from OK Falls, the aftermath of the Thomas Creek fire of 2021 is something to see as well.
The route from Hwy 33 to Penticton has signs and equipment - looks like they intend to keep it ready for 97 closures near Summerland.
Baldy - the backside.
I'll get photos in the next few days of some of the properties that got a lot of clean-up attention this weekend.
Vandalism on Cougar Road.
"It looks like someone tore down the pvc pipe that
housed our telus phone cables and cut them. (do not know any other way the
damage occurred)
You would be surprised at the comments that get past the blogger filters. Spam, porn links - all kinds of undesirable content. For that reason, any comments you make on the blog are screened by me before posting. If you do not identify yourself with the comment, there is less chance that I will post it.
Only specifically named authors can create a post on the blog. If I were to change the settings to anyone can post, I can assure you that content would pop up that is way worse than the stuff you see on Facebook.
Yesterday "Campking" left a number of comments trying to post about some "vandalism" at their cabin.
I don't know who "Campking" is, so there is no post until the info is e-mailed to me.
Traditional Thanksgiving for me at Baldy is about the people. I never get much work done, but I manage to connect with a lot of people. Great to see so many long time and newer families up here this weekend.
No drama, just friendship and neighbours helping neighbours.
Great turkey dinner tonight with old and new friends - age range - in utero to 80. Thank you to our hosts for bringing us together and an excellent meal. Bonus of 3 desserts thanks to other guests.
There have been losses and challenging times for many in our community this year. I am thankful for those whose health has improved, and those who are still with us.
For those with an empty chair at their family dinner, my wish for you is that being up here and collecting hugs helps just a little bit as you grieve.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend, the window of good weather for outdoor chores is closing soon.
Please e-mail me the info/photos that you wish to have posted, and I will post it for you.
The bin was changed at the transfer station yesterday, and the yard was clean. Please slow down and keep an eye out when you drive by the station this weekend.
If you feel safe doing so, please stop when you see something concerning, and have a friendly hello with the people, letting them know we have wildlife problems if the garbage does not all fit in with the lid closed.
The interaction I had recently with a woman and young fellow was interesting. I was conversing with another owner, we were talking across the owner's truck box with me facing the transfer station. The woman kept looking over at me with a scared or guilty expression. They seemed relieved when I kept the discussion to wildlife and closed lids.
The idea was Brandan's - he volunteered 5 guys to help with FireSmart work in the village. This is part of his efforts to build a better relationship between mountain staff and the community.
Wildfire Mitigation Specialist Dan Stevens selected the area where the labour could be best utilized.
Twenty-one loads of dead and down fuels were hauled out of the corridor between the end of Blue Jay, and the power line. Thanks to Alf Kole and Doug McMynn for allowing us to go through their properties to get the stuff out.
This project has given a boost to the adjacent land owners, making it easier for them to deal with debris on their properties, and is a start on reducing forest fuels in a loaded area. The adjacent owners may choose to get together at some point and look at hiring a machine to make a more level access.
Both Doug and Alf support FireSmart practices, and will likely allow neighbours to continue to haul out debris, after a courtesy call.
Only two power tools - Tom's saw, and Sam's toy - the Makita pruning saw. The rest was plain hard work carrying and dragging stuff out.
The six young guys were amazing, and the silver haired village contingent pulled their weight too.
Thanks to Hilary and Hannah for being "sandwich artists", and building custom order sandwiches for the crew. (Fresh buns from Big Al's)
L-R Hannah, Tom - Ski Patrol, James (FS Ctte), Trevor - Jack of all trades, Ross Potter, Brandan(mgr), Vance Potter, Chris (Maintenance Lead), Alf Kole, Quinn (Asst Mgr), Marian, Parker (electrician), Hilary (FS Chair) and Tom.
We shared a few stories over lunch - including short bios of the Baldy BMR team. Quinn worked at Hemlock for several years, and did his SROAM work term at Grouse when Parker was working there. Parker has worked at 4 ski areas, and is happy that he transitioned his career to more interesting stuff than residential construction. Chris is an engineer, who worked on pipelines. He was exploring other career options when covid hit, and decided to leave Edmonton and move to the mountains.
Tom patrolled at Blue Mountain, and worked for contractors before coming west, where he met Hannah. Tom is clearing the lot to build next summer.
Trevor and Quinn grew up together in Mission - Trevor came to Baldy to visit Quinn, and stayed. He "never wants to work indoors again."
Brandan's family has had a cabin at Apex for a very long time - after his Business education in Adventure Tourism at College of the Rockies, he applied at a couple of hills, was hired at Baldy and stayed.
Alf and Vance are owners along the project, and where Vance goes, Ross seems to get roped into working too.
Staff retention has always been a challenge - kudos to Brandan for assembling this team - they want to be here.
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| No small loads - we piled them as high as we could, then strapped them down. |
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| I tried to trade with Vance - my utility trailer for his toy truck - he wouldn't go for it. |
Thanks to all who have committed to help in the fuel removal project tomorrow - water and lunch provided for all who have spoken to Hilary or Sam. See you at 10:00am at the cul de sac on Blue Jay.
If you know me well, you know I am not a fan of Facebook. I do not follow any of the Baldy Community Facebook pages. Just because something is on Facebook, does not make it true.
From time to time, a friend will ask me about something they saw on Facebook - I looked today, and wish I hadn't.
I did use the Barber account to post a segment of the village map, as a new owner has invited people to stop by, and when we looked at the map, the street address and lot number did not match.
There are genuine concerns when people are perceived to be casing properties up here. What discredits the threads, is the stuff that is tagged on. One post I read was about an "incident" years ago, when an owner who did not know his neighbours thought there were "squatters" in a cabin. This was quickly dismissed when the pieces were put together - owners were in their own cabin. Their neighbour thought the cabin belonged to someone else.
I belong to a number of off hill groups, but I don't "follow" them - just look when I need to. Hearsay and info that is not fact checked is very common, and I don't like reading it.
Some of you met Tom last winter - he was part of the Ski Patrol Team. He has purchased the corner lot closest to the lodge, and has amazed us all with the work he has accomplished on his own, without heavy equipment. Tree falling, log piling, brush hauling and pulling stumps. His plan is to start construction next spring summer. (Bonus, he has firefighting experience)
Bruce and Jan just have the roofing to go, and their new cabin on Cougar will be to lock up. They have worked very hard all summer, and are looking forward to a rest this winter, and carrying on working on the cabin next spring.
On the FireSmart front, we now have "Dumais' Park" on Porcupine. Ernie has always been a planner, and over a couple of visits this off season, ground fuels and ladder fuels have been removed, and most recently trees close to the house have been taken down. Lots of hard work with some help from family and friends.
Thanks to neighbours below allowing a downhill path for the debris to be taken out.
Quick trip to town today, to take the snow blower in for service. I saw three loaded logging trucks coming up McKinney Road, and two loaded ones heading down. Only one was in the middle of the road...........
There is an excavator working on repairs from last spring's run off On McKinney Road. I had a talk with a nice guy from YRB. We covered all kinds of things from budgets and staffing to fuel mitigation.
The project they are working on now should be complete within the next ten days, and the plan is to get the grading done before freeze up. They have graded up the Baldy Road for the first 6 kms.
We talked about the road "stabilization" process. It started with crush applied a couple of years ago, the stabilization formula this year, and again next summer. It was interesting to see how much more of the road firmed up in smooth sections after the application this summer. He told me about application rates - I pointed out that it didn't all go on the road, lots went on my truck.
He knows the logging contractor who was supposed to do the fuel mitigation project that is flagged on the Baldy Road. That contractor did a nice job of the spacing around Big White, and it sounds like our area will not happen this fall.
We talked about the incidents that happen along the Baldy/McKinney Road at night. He told me this area is the worst for vandalism and theft on YRB equipment.
Slow down in the area - the spotter will alert the operator, and he will turn to let you go by.
My driveway culvert and the ditches on either side have been accumulating road crush for several years. I was happy to see a little digging and flushing yesterday.
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| The yellow bush on the bank is "Soapberry" - seeded itself. |
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| Water spray when the blockage was cleared |
