For Jennifer Botham, sleeping on the ice is a newfound obsession. Botham, her husband Doug Sloane and their two Alaskan malamutes have taken to camping in a pop-up tent designed for ice fishing. The Sylvan Lake, Alta., couple had not been winter camping in more than a decade. The boredom of the pandemic inspired them to brave the cold again. “The fever has gotten us, we’re just so excited,” Botham said. “I think with this pandemic, what it has done — not only for us, but for many people — has just kind of brought you back to the basics. “You don’t need all these movie theatres and malls, and all these big things that cost so much money, to go out and have fun. You don’t need all that stuff just to enjoy life. “This is what we love. We’ve got our animals with us, we’re together, and that’s all that really matters.” After exchanging new gear as Christmas gifts, Botham and Sloane camped out in late December. Then they headed back into the wilderness again to ring in the new year in the mountains, tucked inside their cozy red tent. They sleep on cots loaded high with blankets, cook meals over an open fire and rely on a propane heater to stave off the chill. Sloane said camping has helped him cope with the pressures of the pandemic. He had been feeling burned out at work and was struggling with relentless news about COVID-19. A night under the stars leaves him feeling recharged. “All the negativity that’s going on in the world right now, just being out in the peace and quiet and hearing a fire crackling, it’s just so motivational,” he said. “I feel ready to go back. I feel revived.” Botham and Sloane are not alone in embracing the cold outdoors and overnight. Restrictions related to the pandemic response have inspired many Albertans to try winter camping. While COVID-19 has closed the door on many activities, the Alberta wilderness remains open. Dozens of campgrounds in provincial and national parks are open through the winter months. For those in search of more adventure, back-country camping and Crown land camping spots are also an option. Landing a spot this winter, however, may prove challenging. Demand is high, and many sites that remain operational are first-come, first-served. Some campgrounds are closed due to COVID-19 restrictions. Camping reservations up In a statement to CBC News, Jennifer Dagsvik, a spokesperson with Alberta Environment and Parks said mild temperatures in fall, and so far this winter, have encouraged more people to extend their camping seasons. For instance, 124 back-country reservations were made from Nov 1. to Jan 4, compared to 67 during the same time frame a year ago. Eight front-country provincial campgrounds will be open for the rest of the winter with limited amenities: Beauvais Lake Provincial Park Crimson Lake Provincial Park Dinosaur Provincial Park Jarvis Lake in William A. Switzer Provincial Park Kinbrook Island Provincial Park Pigeon Lake Provincial Park Sulphur Gates Provincial Recreation Area Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park With the surging interest in winter camping, equipment has become harder to find. Wood-burning stoves and winter tents are in high demand, with retailers from local stores to Amazon struggling to keep them in stock. Courtney McMahon, manager of Everest Outdoor Store in Jasper, said the craze over winter camping is part of a larger trend. The pandemic has more Albertans getting outside and exploring closer to home. “Equipment has been flying off the shelves,” McMahon said. “Businesses are closed or kids are out of school for a little bit longer so there have been a lot of families coming in and a lot of people have been gearing up.” A warm introduction to the cold Jenn Sauve from Beaumont, just south of Edmonton, is among them. She and her husband are preparing to take their two young boys on a winter camping trip later this season. Sauve has already rented a small cabin in Rocky Mountain House as a “trial run” and plans to spend a weekend under a lean-to of tree boughs before the snow melts. “It’s so encouraging to see people trying to step out of their bubble,” she said. “I hope that this trend stays. I’d like to see that this isn’t the only year that people, you know, get out of their houses and try some outdoor things and get back into outdoor living.” Dragan Uzelac and his wife Crystal Bezeau operate Niko Wilderness Education near Tofield, Alta. They offer annual workshops for those looking to get their first taste of winter traditional camping with snowshoes, toboggans, wall tents and hot stoves. Health restrictions mean they’ve been forced to cancel most of their reservations this season but they’re still offering equipment rentals and hoping that novice campers can enjoy Alberta’s longest season responsibly. “Winter camping can be pretty indicating for a lot of people,” Uzelac said. “My goal and Crystal’s goal is to introduce winter camping to people, to build their confidence to enjoy winter.” Watch as Uzelac explains the fundamentals of winter camping. ‘Mistakes can be amplified’ Married couple Dale and Colleen Kiselyk operate Nature Alive Adventures out of Barrhead, 120 kilometres northwest of Edmonton. They offer camping and canoe trips, bushcraft and wilderness workshops. The pandemic forced them to cancel most of their reservations this year but demand for their services remains high. Their bushcraft and wilderness workshops, now being hosted online, are booked solid and requests for reservations continue to pour in. People are searching for an escape, Colleen said. “I think the pandemic, it kind of I think squeezed us, made those four walls that we used to find not so confining become like a prison. Now, because we’re told we can’t leave, all of a sudden it becomes like a jail. “People are, just purely for mental health reasons, wanting to get outside, needing that connection even more so with nature — with the open spaces, with fresh air, with the absence of traffic and people.” Dale said first-time winter campers need to do their research. Enduring the Alberta winter requires high-quality equipment and solid planning, he cautioned. Campers may need to harvest their own firewood or haul in extra fuel. Clothes can become wet, creating a risk of exposure. Food and water supplies can freeze. “Because of the difficulties with cold weather, with snow and with the gear that you need, it is quite a big jump. And what people will encounter straight away is a lack of equipment and a lack of experience,” Dale said. “It’s harder. It’s more difficult. The risks are higher. Mistakes can be amplified.” ‘Almost magical’ His advice to first-timers is to camp with someone who is experienced, or to set up camp close to home, not deep into the bush. He recommends rookie winter campers test any new equipment in the backyard and avoid hike-in sites during their first season. Despite the challenges of contending with the cold, winter camping is absolutely worth it, Dale said. There are fewer people, no bears and no bugs. “Magnificent” boreal forest swamps and wetlands, inaccessible in the summer, become the perfect frozen vistas to hunker down in a canvas tent with a crackling stove. “It’s a really big energy expenditure,” he said. “However, once you learn how to do those things, and you settle in and it’s very cold outside and you’re in your hot tent with your stove going, it’s suddenly surprisingly comfortable, warm, inviting and almost magical.”
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
