Derrill Shuttleworth and his father Dale recently painted the rapids of the Slave River on the Alberta-N. W.T. border, the site of a proposed hydroelectric project.

It took 70-year-old Dale Shuttleworth nearly three days to drive his truck camper up to the remarkable rapids of the Slave River in the fall of 2008, a trek few Albertans will make.

But thanks to Dale and his son, Derrill, people can now get acquainted with the rapids from here.

The pair spent several days photographing, sketching and painting the rapids to bring attention to their beauty while proponents of a $5-billion hydroelectric project contemplate their demise.

The Shuttleworths say the four sets of world-class rapids that straddle the Northwest Territories-Alberta border near Fort Smith, N.W.T., were a challenge to paint because of the river’s raw power — a landscape that threatened to leap off the canvas.

“It was like nothing I had painted before,” said Dale. “I usually go to southern B.C. and paint where it’s quiet with placid lakes and clear rivers, so this was a real challenge.”

“It is just an amazing set of rapids. The power is just incredible. There’s not a quiet spot in the painting. It’s just boiling, every inch of it.”

Derrill, 50, says he was deeply moved by the power of surging water the colour of concrete.

“I can see why for the native population it is a sacred place,” he said.

“You do feel kind of spiritual when you are by that river.”

He and his father started their first day painting at the Mountain Rapids, between the Rapids of the Drowned and the Pelican Rapids, about eight kilometres from Fort Smith on the Alberta side of the N.W.T. boundary. They sat on rocks a few metres apart and painted the same scene of a huge pool with water swirling all around, but the paintings are dramatically different.

“My dad’s painting is more realistic and mine is more impressionist,” explains Derrill. “I paint how I feel. I sit there and I go for it. I let the spirit lead me in how I paint.”

Derrill also visited the Rapids of the Drowned, where five North West Company traders lost their lives in 1786. Those rapids, adjacent to the town, are the feeding grounds for Canada’s northernmost flock of pelicans.

Several hundred people turned out last spring to see the paintings when they went on exhibit at Fort Smith’s Northern Lights Museum. Dale sold five of the seven he painted, including one large painting that was nearly one metre by two metres. It sold for $2,500.

“They are in love with the river up there,” Dale says. “One of the guys who bought one of my paintings asked me to boost his truck in the parking lot. I asked him: ‘Shouldn’t you be buying a truck instead of a painting?’ ”

Derrill painted in watercolours while he visited the rapids, then when he returned home he painted about a dozen more acrylics in his studio from sketches and photos.

His paintings are on exhibit at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital Mezzanine Gallery, 10230 111 Ave., daily from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. until Jan. 30.

The Shuttleworths painted the rapids at the request of their friend Tracey Hutton, who wanted to generate an appreciation for their splendour both in and outside the community of 2,600. “I just think it’s an amazing place that should be treasured,” she says. “It’s a long way from Edmonton, but those who do come to see them appreciate the beauty and the power of the water.”

Hutton, a mother of two girls ages four and seven, says it would be a terrible loss if they were flooded for electricity that might be primarily exported to the U.S.

“It would be a real loss to the community recreationally because for us, it’s an outdoor playground,” she says.

People not only kayak the world-class rapids, but fish and canoe on the quieter sections or relax on the beach at one of the rapids. The 20-kilometre section of river valley along the rapids is also used for aboriginal ceremonies, hiking, guiding and snowmobiling.

Fort Smith Mayor Janie Hobart says Atco and TransCanada, the proponents of the 1,500-megawatt hydro project, have requested a meeting with her council in January to discuss their plans.

“There are people who are ardently against it and there are people who think it is very important,” she says. “Most people are taking a wait-and-see attitude until they know exactly what the proposal is and they are trying to keep an open mind.”

dhenton@thejournal.canwest.com

© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal

Slave River 2009 from Jacqui Whitehead on Vimeo.

Francois Paulette, an elder from Smith Landing, wants the proponents of the hyrdo electric project to come see what they want to destroy. Photograph by: Darcy Henton, Edmonton Journal

Canadian Utilities Ltd. president Nancy Southern has a dream to one day wean Alberta off the two coal-fired plants her company’s Atco subsidiary owns in eastern Alberta. She wants to replace that “dirty” energy with green power from hydroelectric facilities on the Slave River and other northern rivers.

The plan has supporters among politicians and environmentalists who see global warming as the biggest threat to the world. The proposed run-of-river project on the Slave, 800 kilometres northeast of Edmonton on the Alberta-NWT boundary, would not cause the wide-scale flooding that a major dam and reservoir would create.

Atco believes the$5-billion project, which is at least a decade down the road, could provide between 1,000 and 1,500 megawatts of electricity. But more importantly, it would cut its carbon dioxide emissions by 50 per cent.

“I think this is potentially a win-win for energy generation,” says Alberta Liberal Leader David Swann. “If it’s done well, First Nations could share the benefits of it and have some stake in it economically and not feel compromised in terms of the environment.”

Swann says it is too early to give the project unqualified support since the scale, impacts and exact location of the project have not been determined. But he says he thinks it could be a great development, depending on the environmental impacts and the opportunities for First Nations involvement. “We know pretty well what the positives are, but what are the negative impacts and can we balance those off?”

Cecily Dobson, a spokeswoman for Atco’s project partner, TransCanada, says the companies are working with the local communities to assess the generation alternatives, including studying various designs, locations and sizes for the proposed project. She said a series of feasibility studies will be launched this fall to determine if the project can be developed in an economically, socially and environmentally responsible manner.

“We expect it to take about a year to complete the first phase of studies,” she said. “Throughout this stage, we’ll be engaging with the communities to share the findings of our studies and will work with them to evaluate the information and determine the next steps.”

The project has so far received a mixed reaction in Fort Smith, NWT, the community of 2,500 just north of the spectacular rapids that will be the likely source of generation. Mayor Peter Martselos says the project could benefit the community immensely, but the environmental impacts will have to be balanced against the economic benefits. He says it could be several years before the feasibility studies are complete and residents will have to decide if they support or oppose it.

“I believe the feasibility study will answer some of the concerns of the people. At the end of the day, the people will decide what is the right thing for Fort Smith and the aboriginal people will have to be part of that decision.”

Martselos, who came to Canada from Greece 42 years ago, is sensitive to First Nations issues. He is married to the chief of the Salt River First Nation.

Slave River Paddle Fest!

Donkey Flipping…Photo by Leif AndersonPaddleFest

Paddle Fest on the Slave River was one of the best festivals I have ever been too. It was put on by the Fort Smith Paddling Club over the August long weekend. It was great. There was food, parties and awesome events all weekend.

Some of the great events included a beach ball race where a team had to get there beach ball from one eddy to the one below. The only rules where no pulling skirts and no use of river knives. It was super fun. My team with Theo, Sonny, Christina and I and we got first place! We all won a flip flop. I got one that says “Surfer Girl” on it. It is sweet.

The other big event was the home town throw down rodeo. It was a close one. Two people from each heat made the finals making a final of 4 people with one ride to show off what you got. Shane from Golden BC finished 4th, Sean from Jasper AB finished 3rd, I finished 2nd and Leif from Colorado finish 1st with a sweet ride.

I am now continuing my journey heading to Edmonton then working towards Vancouver. I am going meet my mom in Edmonton for a visit.

I would like to thank John, Gen, Adam and Hillary for letting me stay at there place for a month and be a bum in Fort Smith. It is a great town with awesome people and one of my favorite rivers ever. Everyone should go and paddle the Slave! It is really not as far away as you think it is! You could make it in 3 and a half days of driving from Ontario.

Here are some photos from Paddle Fest and the last few days on the Slave River!

Johnny

Leif going big and clean! Photo by Theo Van Zyl PaddleFest

Gen ensuring everyones safty. Photo by Leif Anderson PaddleFest

Opening Ceremony PaddleFest

Playing aroundo on the raft at Paddle Fest PaddleFest

Boaters at Paddle Fest PaddleFest

Having fun at Paddle Fest PaddleFest

Chillin’ on the rocks at Paddle Fest PaddleFest

Playing at Roller Coaster PaddleFest

Leif doing a big old Helix PaddleFest

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Finishing a blunt at Hang Over Cure WaveHangOverCure

So I have one more week left here on the Slave River in Fort Smith NWT. Which I am stoked to hit the road again but also so sad to leave. This river is amazing. I think I could paddle it all day every day and still feel like I did not get enough time on it. I will have spent about a month here and only have seen a very very very small portion of it because it is just so big. Here is at map made by Leif of most of the rapids and features! Check them out! We have also found a great German documentary of the Slave. It has some great shots of the size and is really funny. Watch it here!

The last few days have been still in the high water level although getting closer to medium. We have been surfing features called Sweet Spot (huge fast bouncy wave that is not good for my shoulder with an island right behind it fallowed by a couple holes) and Hang Over Cure which the pictures are of. Hang Over Cure is small but it is fast and hard and bouncy making it super fun.

Paddle Fest is this weekend. There are all ready 19 boaters here for it. Minus one that dislocated his shoulder today and swam pretty much all of the Mountain Portage section with one arm. Not a fun swim but he is alright and has a lot of questions for me.

Other than that nothing new really. Next week I will be heading towards Edmonton for a visit!

Johnny

Photos by Adam HangOverCure

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Looking at the sneak line at Pelican Photo by Leif Anderson browntown

The water level is coming down now! Finely! It is at 5000cms so it is now low enough for the high water features which is sweet. Yesterday we headed to the Rapids of the Drowned. Which is the only set of rapids on the Slave that are actually in the NWT. All the others are in Alberta. It also means I have been into all 4 sets of rapids now which are Cassette, Pelican, Mountain Portage and Rapids of the Drowned. Anyways here some photos of the wave. We paddled with the guys from Golden. The wave was alright. Hard to get to the top. It also had no name before so we started calling it Brown Town because it sounds better than the wave with no name.

Johnny

All the photos below are credited to John Blyth and Leif Anderson

From browntown

From browntown

From browntown

From browntown

From browntown

From browntown

From browntown

From browntown

From browntown

John Blyth below the poo. Full album

Leif surfing. Photo by John Rathwell. Full album

Water levels on the Slave continue to refuse to drop. Today, we checked out the far side of Pelican, to see if there were any good waves over there. We found the Mosh Pit at an interesting level, and we were also able to surf Nigel’s wave for the first time (as far as I’ve heard of).

Mosh Pit, with Nigel’s in the background. John Rathwell photo. Full album	Ready to drop in. Full album
Dropped in. Full album	Nigel’s wave. Photo by John Rathwell. Full album
Stabby. Photo: John Rathwell. Full album	John Blyth in Nigel’s rapid proper. Full album
Doublesurf. Full album	Doublesurf duel. Full album
Wheelie. Full album	Clean stab (it failed). Full album
Clean blunt (it failed). Full album	John stab. Full album

We’ve been keeping an eye on many different areas. A day or two ago, we went over to Grundy’s Garage, near Maelstrom. There was a wave below there, but we couldn’t catch it.

Scouting Grundy’s. Full album	Running Grundy’s. Full album

We also went to Hangover Cure a few days back, but I forgot all about the photos. Here are a couple of my favorites. The Cure photos of me are all taken by John Blyth, and the Cure photos of John are taken by me.

Leif stab. Full album	John stab. Full album	John funny face. Full album	John fliperoo. Full album
Blunt. Full album	Clean. Full album	Fliperoo. Full album

Monday, July 20, 2009

The Flood Continues

John Blyth below the poo. Full album

Leif surfing. Photo by John Rathwell. Full album

Water levels on the Slave continue to refuse to drop. Today, we checked out the far side of Pelican, to see if there were any good waves over there. We found the Mosh Pit at an interesting level, and we were also able to surf Nigel’s wave for the first time (as far as I’ve heard of).

Mosh Pit, with Nigel’s in the background. John Rathwell photo. Full album	Ready to drop in. Full album
Dropped in. Full album	Nigel’s wave. Photo by John Rathwell. Full album
Stabby. Photo: John Rathwell. Full album	John Blyth in Nigel’s rapid proper. Full album
Doublesurf. Full album	Doublesurf duel. Full album
Wheelie. Full album	Clean stab (it failed). Full album
Clean blunt (it failed). Full album	John stab. Full album

We’ve been keeping an eye on many different areas. A day or two ago, we went over to Grundy’s Garage, near Maelstrom. There was a wave below there, but we couldn’t catch it.

Scouting Grundy’s. Full album	Running Grundy’s. Full album

We also went to Hangover Cure a few days back, but I forgot all about the photos. Here are a couple of my favorites. The Cure photos of me are all taken by John Blyth, and the Cure photos of John are taken by me.

Leif stab. Full album	John stab. Full album	John funny face. Full album	John fliperoo. Full album
Blunt. Full album	Clean. Full album	Fliperoo. Full album

Posted by Leif Anderson at 4:54 PM     

 

 

Slave River!

The last few days have been unreal! Theo and I had a couple days of hanging in High Level for a couple days well he finished his days of work at the fire base. Time at the fire base was spent hanging out by the fire and jamming. Also getting another chip in my windshield fixed! That is my second chip since I have been out west.

Finally on Wednesday Theo finished work and we headed north. The drive was long and straight but as we got further north we got to see parts of the Canadian Shield again. We stopped at the 60th parallel and got a certificate for being north of the 60th. We then continued down highway 1 which is called the waterfall highway. There are 2 beautiful waterfalls on the way including the 100 foot Alexander Falls and Louise Falls.

When we made it to Hay River late at night we went to see the Great Slave Lake. It was really cold but nice and big with a sweet beach. We grabbed some gas and some dinner in the pub in Hay River then headed south east towards Fort Smith.

We got to Fort Smith at 1:30 am and slept in the Jeep beside the Rapids of the Drowned on the Slave River. In the morning we met a couple of the local paddlers and did a sweet run of Mountain Portage section which was sweet. Molly’s Nipple was huge along with some other huge rapids. The river is really messy. Water is going left, right, up and down. It is insane. After dinner we headed to Cassette Rapids for a paddle. Cassette was a blast with a sick sick steep wave. John and I ran Dave’s Demise which is a really really really hard ferry to get around two massive holes. I saw John just make it pass as I yelled out “I’m not going make it”. I hit the shoulder of the first massive hole and surfed down and off it. Then just around the 2nd hole. I had no energy left from the ferry. But it was a sweet run.

Today Theo, Ben and I just parked and played at The Playground which is a chill little wave. We spent all day hanging out there with Rain. It was a blast. Pelicans surrounded us as we surfed.

The River is sweet and we are going have a sweet next few days on the river. Keep checking back for more pics!

Johnny

Posted by JohnnyMisadventures at 12:33 AM