Local

 As I stood alongside search teams on the 68 Street Bridge Sunday night looking into the waters of the Kettle River for signs of a missing river rafter, I reflected on my afternoon’s float down the Granby. It was an eery reminder that what is regular fun for locals and visitors alike can so easily turn into tragedy.

In talking about the tragic death of Wade Brunelle, the search and rescue teams commented that it is fairly common to see at least one death every year, and last year there were three.

A 53-year-old Albertan motorcyclist died of injuries sustained when he lost control of his bike on a corner near the Paulson Bridge on Highway #3 yesterday.

Randall Prockiw, of Redwater, Alberta, was heading towards Castlegar on Tuesday, Aug. 9 at about 5:40 p.m. when he failed to negotiate a curve and hit the soft shoulder of the highway. Although he tried to regain control, Prockiw hit a large rock in the ditch and then made contact with the rock wall surrounding the curve.

Just as stunt-based shows often start out their broadcasts with warnings not to try this at home, I feel it’s my due diligence to open this article by saying don’t do this at home and that my experience, pushing the limits on day one are not typical. Although I came back from my first roller skiing adventure, courtesy of Rossland’s Kootenay Nordic Sports, slightly thrashed and road rashed, my hopes for good times were not dashed.