Sports & outdoors

#695 Front row BC sports snaps

Magic Moments in BC Sports: A Century in Photos by Kate Bird Vancouver: Greystone Books, 2019 $24.95 / 9781771644518 Reviewed by Timothy Lewis * There is something uniquely compelling about a photograph of a sporting moment…. [It] can … encapsulate the mood and magic, in a way that a televised event cannot, capturing a single…
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#690 A master’s fly patterns

Essential Fly Patterns for Lakes and Streams: Tips for Tying Your Own Flies by Brian Smith Halfmoon Bay: Caitlin Press, 2019 $24.95 / 9781773860008 Reviewed by Myles Armstead * When you Google “fly tying recipes,” you will discover website after website devoted to every aspect of the art of tying flies, from tube flies to…
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#637 Coastal ranges & riddles

In the Valleys of the Noble Beyond: In Search of the Sasquatch by John Zada Vancouver: Greystone Books, 2019 $32.95 / 9781771645188 Reviewed by John Gellard * John Zada’s “Noble Beyond” is the Great Bear Rainforest, “the largest tract of intact coastal temperate rain forest in the world — one so rich and prolific that…
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#631 Vassilopoulos goes west

Adventures on the West Coast of Vancouver Island by Peter Vassilopoulos Delta: Pacific Marine Publishing, 2018 $39.95 / 9780919317512 Reviewed by John Hutchings * In this new book by Peter Vassilopoulos — the well-known, prolific, South African-born author of numerous books on boating in the coastal waters of British Columbia – we are taken to…
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#624 Fishing the Kamloops trout

Trout School: Lessons from a Fly-Fishing Master by Mark Hume with Mo Bradley, illustrated by Nana Cook and with a foreword by Claire Hume Vancouver: Greystone Books, 2019 $22.95 / 9781771644167 Reviewed by Myles Armstead * Most fly-fishing books fall into two categories: those that speak of the natural beauty and the philosophical ponderings of…
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#621 A new David Thompson

Lines on a Map: Unparalleled Adventures in Modern Exploration by Frank Wolf, with a foreword by John Vaillant Victoria: Rocky Mountain Books, 2018 $25.00 / 9781771602891 Reviewed by John Gellard * On September 6, 2019, Frank Wolf’s Lines on a Map was one of five books shortlisted for the Banff Mountain Book Competition in the…
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#558 Go climb a mountain!

105 Hikes in and around Southwestern British Columbia by Stephen Hui, foreword by Cease Wyss (T’uy’t’tanat) Vancouver: Greystone, 2018 $24.95 / 9781771642866 * The Glorious Mountains of Vancouver’s North Shore: A Peakbagger’s Guide by David Crerar, Harry Crerar, and Bill Maurer Victoria: Rocky Mountain Books, 2018 $40.00 / 9781771602419 Both books reviewed by Ron Dart…
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#549 Peak satisfaction

The Glorious Mountains of Vancouver’s North Shore: A Peakbagger’s Guide by David Crerar, Harry Crerar, and Bill Maurer Victoria: Rocky Mountain Books, 2018 $40.00 / 9781771602419 Reviewed by Glenn Woodsworth * From various points in Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, it is possible to look north to mountains that have had just a handful of…
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#525 Ron Holland makes a splash

All the Oceans: Designing by the Seat of My Pants by Ron Holland, with a foreword by Rupert Murdoch Vancouver: Ron Holland Design 2018, distributed in Canada by Georgetown Publications $45.00 / 9781775096801 Reviewed by Marianne Scott First published Apr. 6, 2019 * Eminent yacht designer Ron Holland, born in Aukland, New Zealand, in 1947,…
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#523 Powter’s alpine passages

Inner Ranges: An Anthology of Mountain Thoughts and Mountain People by Geoff Powter, with a foreword by Chris Bonnington Victoria: Rocky Mountain Books, 2018 $22.00 / 9781771602877 Reviewed by Stephen Slemon First published April 4, 2019 * Canadian mountaineering writing would have struggled to find its public voice, were it not for Geoff Powter. For…
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#488 Snipers, rockets, and howitzers

From Rinks to Regiments: Hockey Hall-of-Famers and the Great War by Alan Livingstone MacLeod Victoria: Heritage House: 2018 $19.95 / 9781772032680 Reviewed by Wayne Norton First published Feb. 15, 2019 * In describing the stellar hockey careers of the men who are the subject matter of his new book, Alan Livingstone MacLeod somehow manages to…
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#467 Mountains and motherhood

End of the Rope: Mountains, Marriage, and Motherhood by Jan Redford Toronto: Penguin Random House Canada, 2018 $21.00  /  9780345812322 Reviewed by Cherie Thiessen First published January 17, 2019 * With the subtitle Mountains, Marriage, and Motherhood, Jan Redford‘s End of the Rope alerts us to the fact that her memoir merges two subjects—ferocity and…
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#416 Nootka Sound Nirvana

Klee Wyck Journal: The Making of a Wilderness Retreat by Lou McKee Fairbanks, Alaska: Epicenter Press, 2017 9781935347750 Reviewed by Grahame Ware First published November 07th, 2018 * Pantheism has a long and storied history. Nature exalts in a way that is simultaneously nameless and named; unconditional and conditional; joyous and painful. But many people…
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#399 Highways of courage

First published October 14, 2018. Rick Hansen’s Man in Motion World Tour: 30 Years Later – A Celebration of Courage, Strength, and the Power of Community by Jake MacDonald, foreword by Rick Hansen Vancouver: Greystone Books, 2017 $34.95 / 9781771643443 Reviewed by Brian Fraser * The adventure thrilled the world. A man in a wheelchair…
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#391 In the Macarees’ footsteps

First published Oct. 3, 2018. 105 Hikes in and around Southwestern British Columbia by Stephen Hui, foreword by Cease Wyss (T’uy’t’tanat) Vancouver: Greystone: 2018 $24.95 / 9781771642866 Reviewed by Glenn Woodsworth * The relative growth of recreational hiking in southwest B.C. has far outpaced the region’s population growth. Fifty years ago, the number of people…
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#384 Island hiking: all in the family

Family Walks and Hikes of Vancouver Island — Volume 1: Victoria to Nanaimo by Theo Dombrowski Victoria: Rocky Mountain Books, 2018 $20.00 / 9781771602792 * Family Walks and Hikes of Vancouver Island — Volume 2: Nanaimo North to Strathcona Park by Theo Dombrowski Victoria: Rocky Mountain Books, 2018 $20.00 / 9781771602815 Reviewed by Christian Fink-Jensen…
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#340 Kurtyka, the Polish alpinist

Art of Freedom: The Life and Climbs of Voytek Kurtyka by Bernadette McDonald Victoria: Rocky Mountain Books, 2017 $32.00  /  9781771602129 Reviewed by Ron Dart First published August 1, 2018 * Born in Biggar, Saskatchewan, in 1951, Bernadette McDonald now divides her time between Naramata, B.C., and Banff, Alberta. She is author of three award-winning…
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#333 Indigenous canoe racing

Southern Northwest Coast Indigenous Canoe Racing: A Brief History by Alan L. Hoover Victoria: NWC Canoe Publications, 2018 $14.95 / 9781775011903 Reviewed by Sanford Osler First published Jul. 2, 2018 * Once a year my local oceanfront park in North Vancouver fills with campers bringing dozens of long sleek wooden canoes to race over the…
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#331 Slot canyons for Twomey

Searching for Tao Canyon by Pat Morrow, Jeremy Schmidt, Art Twomey Victoria: Rocky Mountain Books, 2018 $30.00  /  9781771602587 Reviewed by Ron Dart First published June 29, 2018 * The Canadian-American duo of Pat Morrow and Jeremy Schmidt, authors of the acclaimed Himalayan Passage: Seven Months in the High Country of Tibet, Nepal, China, India,…
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#303 Removing antagonism to win

First published May 15, 2018. Pulling Together: A Coach’s Journey to Uncover the Mindset of True Potential by Jason Dorland, foreword by David Meggyesy Victoria: Heritage House, 2017. $19.95  /  9781772031737 Reviewed by Brian Fraser * Jason Dorland is on a mission. He’s well prepared. He has spent his life training, performing, and coaching as…
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