www.pgcitizen.ca
THE
MONDAY, JANUARY 5, 2015
PRINCE
GEORGE
CITIZEN
CITIZEN PHOTO BY CHUCK NISBETT
Firefighters responded to a crash in the southbound lane of the Hart Highway about 2 p.m. on Saturday. The occupants of the car suffered minor injuries and were taken to the University Hospital of Northern B.C.
Rough roads ring in new year
Samantha WRIGHT ALLEN Citizen staff sallen@pgcitizen.ca
Freezing rain, ice-slicked roads and weekend-long weather warnings made for a rough welcome to road conditions in the first few days of the new year. It left vehicles skidding on glistening roads and frozen fingers scraping inch-thick ice off cars.
Environment Canada issued a warning to kick off the long weekend for many and on Thursday, Drive BC put out a travel advisory for Highway 97 in Prince George as well as a warning for slippery conditions on Highway 16 between Prince George, Vanderhoof and Fraser Lake.
On Saturday afternoon, a crash on the Hart Highway sent passengers to the hospital, but without serious injuries.
That trend continued through the weekend, as RCMP didn’t report any serious injuries from accidents in the Prince George area, but near Hudson’s Hope, Thursday, a vehicle rollover left three men dead.
Although roads in the city had mostly cleared by Sunday, snow fell throughout
□ They're icy. It's not nice. If you don't have to drive, don't drive.
— Staff Sgt. Mark Pelletier, Prince George RCMP
the day and Staff Sgt. Mark Pelletier said by the afternoon Prince George RCMP had already responded to at least four accidents, above average.
“They’re icy,” said Pelletier of the conditions, adding no injuries had been reported and most were vehicles off the road or in the ditch.
“It’s not nice. If you don’t have to drive, don’t drive.”
Pelletier said he thinks drivers forget that it’s hard-packed ice rather than pavement they’re driving on.
“[People] just have to slow down, be more careful, give lots of room for the cars ahead of you.”
The freezing rain also prompted the
Prince George Airport warn it could impact departures, and on Sunday evening, more than half of flights arriving and leaving had more than 15 minute delays.
Several Central Mountain Air flights were more than 45 minutes late, while several WestJet flights headed to Prince George from Vancouver had similar delays.
On Sunday Environment Canada lifted warnings for the Prince George region, with a forecast for today of sun and cloud, small amounts of snow and a chilly high of -16 C.
The Cariboo, however, from Williams Lake to Quesnel carried a snowfall advisory for 10 to 15 centimetres.
Avalanche Canada extended its avalanche warning for the region through to Sunday.
The conditions closed the outdoor ice oval on Jan. 1 and 2 due to rough conditions even after flooding it each day, but it opened again Saturday.
On Friday, the city reported its plans to focus on priority one and two routes for the weekend, including snow clearing operations, salting, sanding and sidewalk clearing.
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Fires, classy kid most read stories of 2014
Charelle EVELYN Citizen staff cevelyn@pgcitizen.ca
Prince George escaped a warm and dry summer without any major forest-fueled blazes, but those burning in the surrounding areas kept wildfires top of mind as well as smoke at the back of the throat.
Out of the top 10 most-read stories in 2014 on The Citizen’s website, a mid-July briefing on eight active fires (Local wildfires around Prince George, July 18, 2014) takes the crown as the most popular.
Following closely on its heels was a follow up to a story featuring a pre-teen hockey player who dared to stand alone.
Const. Aaron Kehler, the RCMP officer who pulled over convicted murderer Cody Legebokoff may have received the public’s support for Prince George newsmaker, but it was 12-year-old Matt Marotta who generated some of the biggest buzz online.
The Viking Construction peewee Tier 1 Cougars defenceman made headlines in February after he remained the lone player on the ice following a tournament loss in which there was a dispute over the game’s clock. The coach ordered everyone to the dressing room, but Marotta stayed behind to shake the hands of the opposing team.
The year’s second most-read story was Ted Clarke’s Peewee coach admits mistake was made on Feb. 21, 2014, where coach Ryan Arnold gave his side of the Vernon incident following a ruling from the Prince George Minor Hockey Association that saw him and assistant coach Sean Gendron suspended for 30 days.
The original story (Peewee player stands alone, Feb. 20, 2014) comes in at No. 4 on the most-read list. The top 10 most-read stories on PGCitizen.ca in 2014:
1. Local wildfires around Prince George, July. 18,
2014.
2. Peewee coach admits mistake was made,
Feb. 21, 2014.
3. Two pedestrians killed near CNC, Oct. 9, 2014
4. Peewee player stands alone, Feb. 20, 2014
5. Hunting accident injures top athlete, Sept. 25, 2014: An accidental rifle discharge sent the bullet that severed the spinal cord of 16-year-old softball player Trent Seymour.
6. What happened at the lake, May 21, 2014: RCMP detail how they were handling rumours and speculation in the wake of the drowning deaths of two teenagers.
7. Victims from lake tragedy identified, May 19, 2014: Kendall Moore, 17, and Craig Wood, 19, were named as the two teens recovered from the vehicle that ended up in Kwitzil (Gravel Pit) Lake.
8. Missing plane crashed into Indian Ocean, said Malaysian PM, March 24, 2014.
9. Love for Shea, July 17, 2014: Christine Hinzmann speaks to Bryn and Christy Fell after the death of their seven-month-old son Shea who had a rare skin disorder.
10. Cougars sold to investors sources say, March 3, 2014: Ted Clarke breaks the news that the local WHL team has been sold to Greg Pocock and a group of investors that includes NHL players and former Cougars Eric Brewer and Dan Hamhuis.
Canada Winter Games questions answered
ARTHUR WILLIAMS
Part one of a six-part series
The 2015 Canada Winter Games are coming to Prince George on Feb. 13 and run until March 1. The Games feature 19 sports: alpine skiing, archery, badminton, biathlon, cross-country skiing, curling, figure skating, freestyle skiing, gymnastics, ice hockey, judo, ringette, snowboarding, speed skating, squash, synchronized swimming, table tennis, target shooting and wheelchair basketball. Every Monday from today to Feb. 9, Ask Arthur will profile three sports being played at the Games and answer some common questions about them.
Q: What’s the difference between the slalom, giant slalom and super-G in alpine skiing?
Why do skiers smash into the gate poles, aren’t they supposed to ski around them?
A: The Canada Winter Games will be hosting competitions in four alpine skiing disciplines: slalom, giant slalom, super-G (short for super giant slalom) and ski cross - as well as slalom and giant slalom para-alpine events for both males and females.
The alpine disciplines of single-pole slalom, downhill and super combined won’t be featured at the Games.
The exciting sport of ski cross is fairly
Mikaela Shiffrin of the United States competes in women's World Cup slalom in Sljeme, Zagreb, Croatia on Sunday. Shiffrin won the event, posting the fastest time in both runs for an aggregate time of one minute, 56.66 seconds.
straightforward: skiers race down a course featuring jumps and banked turns in groups of four, and the first across the finish line wins. After a series of qualifying rounds, the top two skiers in each of four quarterfinal rounds advance to the semifinals. The top two skiers in both semifinal rounds get to ski in the final to determine gold, silver, bronze and fourth place - while the losers of the semifinals ski in a small final to deter-
mine fifth through eighth place.
The disciplines of slalom, giant slalom and super-G, however, have quite a bit in common: skiers race down a course one at a time, passing through a series of gates - marked by coloured poles - trying to set the fastest time. Unlike many freestyle skiing events, there are no points for style, speed is all that matters.
A racer that fails to pass through one of
the gates in any of the disciplines is disqualified. Gates can be set up vertically, horizontally or diagonally along the hill slope.
According to the Alpine Ski Canada officials’ manual and Canada Winter Games alpine skiing technical package, the main differences between the disciplines are the length of the courses, width of the gates, number of gates and how close the gates are together.
Also, in slalom and giant slalom, skiers race in two runs and take the best time of the two. In super-G, skiers only get one run.
Slalom, the oldest of the three disciplines, features a short course (120 metres of vertical drop minimum at the Canada Winter Games) and lots of narrow gates, placed close together. It’s the slowest, but most technical, of three disciplines.
The number of gates on a slalom course is equal to the vertical drop in metres, multiplied by 0.3 or 0.35 - plus or minus three. So, if the Games features a 120 metre vertical drop course, it should have between 33 and 45 gates.
The gates are marked with single poles on each side, are four to six metres wide and six to 13 metres apart (measured from turn pole to turn pole). However, slalom courses also feature delay turns - two gates 12 to 18 metres apart that force the skier to change their speed and rhythm - and vertical and hairpin combinations.
The combinations feature multiple gates placed 75 centimetres to one metre apart, requiring very quick turns.
— see ARCHERY, page 3
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