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DECEMBER 18, 2015
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Vol. 64, Issue 239
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Ice climber notches golden repeat
Gord McArthur defends North American Championship title T R E VO R C R AW L E Y
When you’re on the top, everyone is gunning for you. However, Gord McArthur was able to brush off the competition and climb his way to a second consecutive title at the North American Championships last weekend in Bozeman. “It went really well,” McArthur said. “You have a different per-
spective when everybody from North America is gunning to beat you. All of the sudden, that kind of adds a bit more to your plate. “It’s not you just going to try to win, it’s you now trying to stay the winner, if that makes sense. “It definitely adds spice to the event.” The Bozeman Ice Festival doubles as both
McArthur working on climbing centre TRE VOR CR AWLEY
On Thursday, McArthur made it official. Arq Mountain Centre has become a reality and will likely be opening between April and June in 2016 next year. The Arq Mountain Centre, a longtime vision of McArthur and business partner Fraser Bowden, is currently under renovation inside a building in Cranbrook’s industrial park. “This has been on the go for quite a long time and we’ve finally come to a place where we’re ready to move forward. We have a building that we’re working with and we’re working with the architects right now to finalize the renovations inside,” McArthur said. “We have wall designs already done up, so we have 3D renderings of the building, which is great.” Though the vision is to have a climbing gym, McArthur says the centre will be so much more. “It’s multi-faceted. Obviously, the main aspect of the building is going to be the climbing—the gym—but we’re also going to have a huge emphasis on youth. By that I mean kids from two years old up to 10 years old,” he said. “So we’re going to have a huge dedicated area for that age range. “Beyond that, we’re going to have a fitness area, we’re going to have a studio for yoga or spin class or cross-fit stuff. We’re going to have a really focused social area, and of course, some retail space and food and beverage.” For more information on the facility, search for the Arq Mountain Centre on Facebook.
the North American Championship and a World Cup event on the UIAA circuit. There was a little bit of drama before the competition as a sudden windstorm blew over the climbing structure three weeks beforehand, which led to an initial cancellation of the event. “[It] basically destroyed the tower; the tower was huge, massive and they went super-big with it this year, and essentially the storm totally crushed it,” said McArthur. “…the organizers of the event and the town, they rallied and they rebuilt and although it wasn’t quite as big, they totally pulled it off.” Alongside McArthur
at the competition were fellow Cranbrook athletes and climbers— Noah Beek, Karlee Hall and Ineke Rhebergen. Beek placed third, Hall placed second and Rhebergen finished sixth in the North American Championship. “They did amazing, for them to work as hard as they—all three of them have worked really hard. They’ve been training for months now and to see them perform as well as they did, it was absolutely a treat to watch.
See McARTHUR, Page 3 FACEBOOK
At right: Gord McArthur climbing in the semi-finals in Bozeman, MT.
Expect a white Christmas this year ARNE PETRYSHEN
FOR THE TOWNSMAN
Cranbrook pianist Jani Parsons is returning home for a concert with violinist Timothy Steeves, set for Sunday, Dec. 20 at Knox Presbyterian Church. Parsons and Steeves both perform and record with the Chicagobased mixed-chamber ensemble Latitude 49. See more, Page 4.
It will be a white Christmas, with cooler weather sticking around for the holidays, according to weather experts. In terms of weather, Lisa Caldwell, Environment Canada meteorologist, said November was not truly a remarkable month. The mean temperature for that month was -2.4 degrees celsius, which is not far off the normal of -1.28 degrees celsius. “So slightly below normal,” she said. “It didn’t rank in really any rankings.” Precipitation for the month came out to 34.9 mm. Normal is 35.3 mm. “So almost bang on normal for precipitation,” she said.
See WEATHER, Page 3