Skyhawks ink 31 on first day of signing period

Fort Lewis College head football coach Johnny Cox announced 31 student athletes have signed on to play ball for the Skyhawks on Wednesday. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald file)

The Fort Lewis College football program and head coach Johnny Cox announced the addition of 31 student-athletes to the team’s 2023 roster on Wednesday. The latest additions include two collegiate transfers and 29 high school seniors.

“Our coaching staff is extremely excited about this year’s class,” Cox said. “We have added high-character student-athletes that will make us bigger, stronger and faster in all aspects of our game. This class brings in new tools that will allow us to better reach our goals as a team and as a program.”

The 31 new players are in addition to five transfers with FLC who signed during the early signing period. Wednesday was the first day of the NCAA’s signing period for high school seniors. Now all high school, junior college and four-year program transfers may sign at any time.

The following new student-athletes have signed National Letters of Intent or Aid agreements with the Skyhawks football program, listed alphabetically.

Name (position/height/weight/hometown/high school/previous school)

Josiyah Archuleta (wide receiver, 5-11, 165 pounds, Farmington, New Mexico/Farmington High School)

Akicita Ardoin (Offensive line, 6-2, 275 pounds, Lafayette, Louisiana/Southside High School)

Samuel Ballas (Defensive back, 6-0, 200 pounds, Centennial, Colorado/Arapahoe High School)

Donald Beck (Offensive line, 6-5, 340 pounds, Farmington, New Mexico/Farmington High School)

Kameron Benton (Defensive end, 6-4, 230 pounds, Lansing, Michigan/Deer Valley High School)

Cody Billie (Offensive line, 6-3, 280 pounds, Farmington, New Mexico/Farmington High School)

Caleb Botticello (Defensive end, 6-3, 230 pounds, Gilbert, Arizona/Higley High School)

Omar Cisneros (defensive back, 5-11, 190 pounds, Westminster, Colorado/Boulder Creek High School)

Kalib Davis (Safety, 5-10, 170 pounds, Aurora, Colorado/Cherokee Trail High School)

Ifiok Ekiko (linebacker, 6-0, 185 pounds, San Diego, California/Poway High School)

Will Eoff (Offensive line, 6-6, 300 pounds, Murrieta, California/Vista Murrieta/Whittier College)

Tomasi Finau (Linebacker, 6-1, 220 pounds, Makawao, Hawaii/King Kekaulike/Arizona Christian University)

Logan Getejanc (Offensive line, 6-1, 285 pounds, Surprise, Arizona/Shadow Ridge High School)

Nicholas Gillespie (Defensive line, 6-2, 225 pounds, Chula Vista, California/Chula Vista High School)

Ajani Hicks (Defensive line, 6-4, 290 pounds, San Diego, California/Sweetwater Union High)

Chase Higham (Defensive line, 6-3, 275 pounds, Herriman, Utah/Mountain Ridge High School)

Brayden Hutchinson (defensive end, 6-3, 230 pounds, Loveland, Colorado/Mountain View High School)

Kodi Ingols (wide receiver, 6-1, 190 pounds, Hayden, Colorado/Hayden High School)

Kameron Lewis (defensive back, 5-10, 160 pounds, Parker, Colorado/JK Mullen High School)

Alec Manuel Jr. (Offensive line, 6-2, 293 pounds, Cortez, Colorado/Montezuma-Cortez High School)

Logan Miller (wide receiver, 5-11, 165 pounds, Longmont, Colorado/Skyline High School)

Brayden Mummert (Tight end, 6-2, 230 pounds, Albuquerque, New Mexico/Cibola High School)

Cape Olsen (Linebacker, 5-11, 220 pounds, Parker, Colorado/Ponderosa High School)

Courtland Sanger (defensive back, 5-10, 170 pounds, Eaton, Colorado/Eaton High School)

Maddax Schaefer (Fullback, 6-0, 220 pounds, Longmont, Colorado/Silver Creek High School)

Nasir Simmons (defensive back, 5-7, 145 pounds, Aurora, Colorado/Rangeview High School)

Gray Smith (Offensive line, 6-2, 225 pounds, Albuquerque, New Mexico/La Cueva High School)

Cole Stanley (Offensive line, 6-0, 260 pounds, Parker, Colorado/Castle View High School)

Otha Thomas (cornerback, 6-0, 150 pounds, Denver, Colorado/Denver South High School)

Chielotam Udengwu (Offensive line, 6-3, 262 pounds, Norwalk, California/John Glenn High School)

Stone Walker (Quarterback, 6-3, 175 pounds, Houston, Texas/Northland Christian School)

Joel Barbour, 36 

Owner and creative director, The Great PNW

Education: Associate degree in graphic design from Spokane Falls Community College

Advice for others: “Be good to people and follow your passion. The money figures itself out.”

Hometown: Spokane

Influential person: Ramsey Pruchnic, co-owner of The Great PNW, president of Spokane-based marketing company Strategy Labs.

Favorite quote: “Money often costs too much.”—Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Joel Barbour launched Pacific Northwest-themed apparel brand The Great PNW via a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign in 2012. Now, the Spokane-based apparel company brings in over $1 million in annual revenue, has a store in River Park Square, and is opening an additional store in Kendall Yards this week. In August, Barbour launched snacks and beverages company PNW Provisions LLC with fellow Spokane entrepreneur Pete Taylor, co-founder of Spiceology. Prior to opening the downtown store, products were sold primarily online from The Great PNW’s headquarters in the East Central neighborhood. Barbour says the company was conceived when he was working in marketing and began designing skateboards and apparel for friends who owned skate shops.
—Virginia Thomas

Chris Batten, 54 

Owner, RenCorp Realty LLC

Hometown: Spokane

Education: Associate degree in real estate management, Spokane Falls Community College; Certified Commercial Investment Member designation

Organization: RenCorp Realty LLC owner, Downtown Spokane Partnership board chair.

Personal motto: “You can be right, or you can be dead right, and at the end of the day, you have to find common ground. That’s important in business to find the compromise and be able to work with people.”

Advice to others: “Be honest. If you do that, then everything else will fall in line.”

Chris Batten says he’s seen some improvements in downtown Spokane compared to a year ago in his role as board chair of Downtown Spokane Partnership, which manages the Downtown Business Improvement District. But there’s still plenty to do to address cleanliness and safety, he adds.

Batten also owns RenCorp Realty LLC, a 22-year-old Spokane-based real estate company that manages about 825,000 square feet of commercial real estate.

He says being truthful is important to career success and helps manage expectations. Being honest, first and foremost, is one of the most important things in business, he adds.  —Erica Bullock

Carla Cicero, 62 

President and CEO of Numerica Credit Union

Education: University of Phoenix, MBA from the University of Wisconsin

Favorite quote: “Everything you ever wanted is on the other side of fear.”

Hometown: Los Angeles, California

Stephanie Curran, 55 

CEO, Spokane Public Facilities District

Hometown: Los Angeles, California.

Education: Master’s degree in organizational communication and leadership from Gonzaga University.

Advice for others: “Always bet on yourself and success will find you.”

Key to career success: Invest in yourself and vocalize your needs.

In five years as CEO of Spokane Public Facilities District, Stephanie Curran has led the organization through dramatic growth. After overseeing the $53 million Podium Powered by STCU indoor sports facility, she now is working with Spokane Public Schools to operate and maintain the $31 million-plus outdoor stadium project, which is under construction. Both developments in the North Bank area will be key drivers of sports-related travel to Spokane, boosting the city’s economic recovery from the pandemic.

The PFD also operates and maintains the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, at 720 W. Mallon; the Spokane Convention Center, at 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.; and the adjacent First Interstate Center for the Arts. —E.B.

Sergio de Leon, 53 

Co-owner, De Leon Foods Inc. and Northwest Freight Handlers Inc.

Hometown: San Juan, Texas

Education: GED diploma

Favorite quote: “Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning form failure, loyalty to those from whom you work, and persistence.” –Gen. Colin Powell

Sergio de Leon’s secret recipe for success is hard work and dogged persistence. His two Spokane companies, Northwest Freight Handlers Inc. and De Leon Foods Inc., have been in business for 28 and 18 years, respectively, and have grown to have 140 employees combined.

De Leon Foods survived the pandemic-related restrictions that shuttered the doors of its three restaurants through the continued operation of its two grocery stores and its tortilla manufacturing facility.

De Leon says staying humble and grateful has helped him in business, and he’d like to pass that along to the next generation of the family-run business. He adds that it’s okay to fail but it’s important to fail fast, learn quickly, and adapt. —E.B.

Kiantha Duncan, 48

President of Spokane NAACP

Education: Antioch University.

Hometown: Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Advice for others: “Prepare for the day as it will not always be night.”

Inspiration: The lives and experiences of people served.

Kiantha Duncan has been president of the Spokane chapter of the NAACP since December of 2020. In her first year, Duncan grew the organization membership by 35%. 

She writes a weekly advice column, “Dear Kiantha,” for the Spokesman-Review. She also previously wrote for the Black Lens newspaper and penned a column for the Coeur d’Alene Living magazine titled “Soulful Living.”

Duncan says her greatest influences have been the people she has served. She studied transformative leadership at Antioch University and says that her lived experiences are what have shaped her as a leader to better understand the world around her and the value in learning from one another. —Karina Elias

Ezra Eckhardt, 52 

President and CEO of STCU

Education: U.S. Military Academy at West Point, MBA from Gonzaga University 

Advice for others: “A lot of things we are wrestling with don’t have simple and straightforward answers. Don’t take no for an answer.”

Hometown: Spokane

Ginger Ewing, 44 

Executive director and co-founder of Terrain Programs

Education: Bachelor’s in history from Whitworth University

Hometown: Cheney, Washington

Favorite quote: “There is no revolution without art.” –Kendrick Sampson

Advice for others: “You need a collective group of people to do the work that you are passionate about.”

Ginger Ewing is the executive director and co-founder of Terrain Programs, a Spokane nonprofit focused on ensuring artists and culture creators thrive in the Inland Northwest. After a two-year hiatus, the Terrain event, the Terrain Bazaar, a market featuring hundreds of local artists, and other programs returned in full in 2022. 

Ewing says she knew from an early age that she was meant to do something rooted in community. For her, art is a resource and a tool that allows her to create spaces where all people feel welcomed, amplify their voices, and connect with each other.

Ewing draws inspiration from people around her who are passionate about the work they do and are willing to roll up their sleeves to accomplish it.
—K.E.

Michelle Hege, 53 

President and CEO of DH

Hometown: Born in San Diego, raised in Spokane

Education: Bachelor of Arts from Whitman College, in Walla Walla, Washington; Master of Science in organizational communications from Eastern Washington University; public relations credential from Public Relations Society of America

Biggest career influencers: Cher and Jim Desautel, founders of DH. “Cher and Jim really shaped my early business experience and taught me so much. I really would credit them with a lot of my success.”

Advice for others: “Our field requires people who have a growth mindset and want to be lifelong learners. You have to be curious.”

Goals for using influence: “My goal as a communicator and a leader in a communications agency is to work on campaigns and programs that make the world a better place and that help people.”

As the leader of Spokane-based communications agency DH, Michelle Hege is making her mark on the community.

Hege’s team at DH has grown following the 2022 acquisition of Seattle-based Nyhus Communications LLC. Under her leadership, the company has worked with a diverse list of clients, including Washington state Department of Health, Association of Washington Business, Gonzaga University, and Itron Inc. 

Some of the agency’s most notable work, she says, came during the pandemic, when DH partnered with other business groups to create the “Spread Kindness, Not COVID-19” campaign to help support Spokane County businesses and residents. The campaign was done pro bono, as a way of giving back to the community.  —Dylan Harris

Luc Jasmin III, 37 

Co-owner of Parkview Early Learning Center, Co-owner of The Jasmin Group

Hometown: “Boston area”

Education: Bachelor’s degree in elementary education with an emphasis on math from Eastern Nazarene College, in Quincy, Massachusetts

Biggest career influencers: His parents. “I’ve always seen them work hard. They’ve always treated people with the most respect in the world, and even when they didn’t have much, they’re always looking out for other people.”

Advice for others: “Just go. … Failure and learning opportunities are inevitable. You can’t keep on trying and wait until stuff is perfect, because it’s never going to happen.”

Goal for using influence: “At the end of the day, we’re all in this together, and if we’re truly together, then we can do some big things.”

Favorite quote: “Be the change you want to see in the world.”

Spokane entrepreneur and community leader Luc Jasmin III advocates for local children and families in need of child care, food, community programs, and other essential services.

In addition to owning his own center, Jasmin co-founded the Washington Childcare Centers Association to assist early learning centers and improve child care access. Jasmin also co-founded Northeast Youth & Family Services to fight food insecurity, provide new after-school opportunities, supply clothes, and address other needs. His work caught the eye of Gov. Jay Inslee’s office, which recently named him Regional Outreach representative for Eastern Washington. —D.H.

Larry Krauter, 57 

CEO of Spokane International Airport, Felts Field, and Airport Business Park

Organization: First past chair of American Association of Airport Executives

Hometown: Born in Hollywood, Florida, raised in Ohio

Education: Bachelor’s degree in aviation from Ohio State University; certified planner through American Institute of Certified Planners; accredited airport executive through American Association of Airport Executives; Construction Specifications Institute certification; pilot rating for single-engine land and seaplanes.

Favorite quote: “Never, never, never give up.”—Winston Churchill

As CEO of Spokane Airports, Larry Krauter is at the helm of one of the Spokane region’s most vital economic catalysts. In 2022, the airport had a passenger total of just under 4 million people, approaching pre-pandemic levels with the third highest passenger total in the airport’s history.

The massive Terminal Remodeling & Expansion, or TREX, project is underway, and it is already adding to the airport’s economic impact just through the construction and engineering industries, says Krauter, who is currently serving as the first past chair of American Association of Airport Executives. —D.H.

Mary Kuney, 58 

Spokane County Commissioner

Hometown: Spokane

Education: Gonzaga University

Favorite phrase: “Have courage and be kind.”

Inspiration: Helping improve the community for the next generation. 

Mary Kuney has been the District 4 Spokane County Commissioner for the past five years and was elected its chairwoman earlier this year. Since being elected to the Board of Commissioners, Kuney has been an active member of the Washington State Association of Counties. Last November, she was elected as 116th president of the association.

Kuney was previously the chief deputy auditor for Spokane County, which she says prepared her to analyze potential consequences of decisions faced by the current board of commissioners.

As a lifelong Spokanite and mother of two, Kuney says she is inspired to make the community a better place for her children and for future generations. —K.E.

Wade Larson, 53 

Chief human resources officer, Wagstaff Inc.

Hometown: Born in Rexburg, Idaho

Education: Bachelor’s degree in political science from Brigham Young University; MBA in human resources and marketing from Willamette University, in Salem, Oregon; doctorate in management with an emphasis in organizational leadership from University of Phoenix

Biggest career influencer: His father, Roy Larson. “The older you get, the more like your parents you become.”

Advice for others: “Everyone can be a leader—it’s not a position, it’s a mindset.” “Make a decision and just go for it. You’re going to make mistakes, and you learn from your mistakes.”

Goal for using influence: “Employers are depending on K-12 to graduate workforce-ready students. I’m on a mission to make that happen.”

Wade Larson has been instrumental in helping employers navigate the pandemic-accelerated labor shortage through his business and leadership consulting, the classes he teaches at three Inland Northwest universities, speeches he has delivered in numerous forums, and the three books he has authored. While he believes the workforce crisis will be a multigenerational problem, he plans to continue lending his expertise to the Spokane business community and beyond. —D.H.

Ann Long, 55 

Co-founder, Burbity Workspaces LLC

Hometown: Farmington, New Mexico

Personal motto: “Every Day is a school day.”

Advice for others: “Build a tribe of like-minded people and be intentional about it.”

Ann Long’s impeccable timing helped launch a new coworking facility in Liberty Lake right before pandemic-related shutdowns upended office life for many companies. Since 2020, Long has opened three facilities in Spokane County and manages about 30,000 square feet of coworking space through Burbity Workspaces LLC. The company also is a burgeoning networking hub for entrepreneurs and recently hosted the Founders Live 99-second pitch competition at the Sullivan Valley Commons office complex.

Long says she is always on the lookout for learning opportunities. “We sometimes get so focused on one path,” she says. “If you don’t look outside of that, you don’t know what you’re missing.” —E.B.

Katie MacKay, 43 

Vice president, MacKay Manufacturing Inc.

Education: West Valley High School

Advice to others: “You don’t have to knock it out of the park every time, it just has to be a little bit better.”

Hometown: Spokane

Influence in career: Chris Wood, lean business consultant.

Apart from a brief stint in construction, Katie MacKay has been working since she was a teen at the MacKay Manufacturing Inc. tool and instrument manufacturing facility her family owns. From front-office filing, MacKay worked her way through a couple of departments, learning to supervise workers along the way. She says she’s adopted a saying from lean business consultant Chris Wood: “50% today is okay.” MacKay says she plans slow, steady growth for MacKay Manufacturing, which currently has 175 employees. “I want to be a stable place where other people can spend their career,” she says. Last year, MacKay Manufacturing added a mezzanine to its main facility, began renovating a building it acquired in 2021, and bought another building; at the time, MacKay said she planned to ultimately purchase all six of the buildings that share a city block with MacKay Manufacturing, which is headquartered at 10011 E. Montgomery. —V.T.

Thayne McCulloh, 58 

President of Gonzaga University

Education: Bachelor’s degree from Gonzaga University, doctorate in experimental sociology from Oxford University

Hometown: Seattle

Favorite phrase: “Don’t limit the horizon of your imagination.”

Advice for others: There is always more to learn. People always have something to offer and to teach.

Thayne McCulloh has been the 26th president of Gonzaga University for the past 12 years, and the first non-Jesuit to lead the school in its history.  Since the start of his tenure, more than $200 million in new construction and campus improvements have been completed.  

Born in Los Angeles and raised in Seattle, McCulloh says he’s had the privilege of learning from many inspirational people who have helped him approach his work with humility and an awareness that there is always more to learn. McCulloh says he draws inspiration from the purpose for which universities and educational institutions exist—helping people find their passion and capacity. —K.E.

Melissa Murphy, 41 

Owner, designated broker, Prime Real Estate Group

Hometown: Spokane

Education: Master’s degree in marketing from Gonzaga University

Favorite quote: “People will forget what you say. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel.” –Maya Angelou

Melissa Murphy began her career as a Realtor for a national brokerage company and struck out on her own to launch Prime Real Estate Group in 2012. After nearly 11 years in business, the successful independent brokerage owner has become known in the region as an influential market leader who offers real estate knowledge and insights to the greater community.

Prime is headquartered in Spokane and also operates an office in Coeur d’Alene. Since 2020, the company has expanded to markets in Boise, Idaho, and in Tennessee. Murphy also co-owns full-service property management company, One Property Management, which handles about 90 single-family and multifamily living units. —E.B.

Heather Stratford, 50 

Founder, Drip7 Inc.

Hometown: Burnt Hills, New York

Education: Brigham Young University, Thunderbird School of Global Management

Favorite quote: “You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.”

Heather Stratford’s personal life is full of adventurous activities, including sailing, water-skiing, snow-skiing, and riding motorcycles. That thrill seeking is in stark contrast to her role as CEO and founder of Drip7 Inc., where she works to reduce the risks people take online through a gamified cybersecurity training platform.

Drip7 is a subscription-based microlearning cybersecurity and compliance training software platform company headquartered in Spokane. Stratford also recently partnered with Google Cloud, cybersecurity company Cyderes; the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and others on the inaugural Inland Northwest Cyber Security Conference last November. —E.B.

Jordan Tampien, 38 

Co-owner, 4 Degrees Real Estate.

Hometown: Moses Lake, Washington

Education: Master’s degree in business administration, and a law degree, both from Gonzaga University.

Personal motto: “We don’t dream, we plan.”

Advice he’d give others: “Think bigger.”

Jordan Tampien, co-founder of Spokane-based 4 Degrees Real Estate, says he has big goals for the city and aspires to build a skyscraper here in the future, following successes in converting older commercial properties into revenue-generating multifamily complexes and other businesses. He has helped revitalize forgotten neighborhoods with mixed-use properties, restaurants, and fitness centers.

Tampien says he often relies on a network of relationships he’s cultivated to help him see an idea’s greatest potential.

He describes his visions for projects as the foundations for action plans rather than as mere dreams. “I’ve found that the most limiting factor to what I could do, was me,” he says. —E.B.

Vanessa Waldref, 43 

U.S. Attorney for Eastern Washington

Education: Georgetown University

Hometown: Spokane

Inspiration: Pamela DeRusha, attorney, former chief civil attorney for the office of the U.S. Attorney for Eastern Washington.

Favorite quote: “It is amazing what you can accomplish when you do not care who gets the credit.”—U.S. President Harry S. Truman.

Vanessa Waldref became the first woman to hold the title of U.S. Attorney for Eastern Washington in October 2021. Waldref says one of her top priorities is to resolve inefficiencies in communication and collaboration between law enforcement and government agencies.

She grew up in Spokane and attended Georgetown University, in Washington, D.C., for her bachelor’s and law degrees, while volunteering and interning for organizations that helped low-income and homeless people. She returned here to work for a couple of law firms before she became assistant U.S. attorney for the district. —V.T.

Alex Jackson, 51 

Chief executive for the Inland Northwest Region for MultiCare Health System

Education: Indiana University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Advice for others: “Look for a way to make an impact with a team.”

Hometown: Missoula, Montana 

Marcelo Morales, 53 

Founder of Allele Diagnostics Inc. and A4Ventures LLC and co-founder of Amend Health Inc.

Education: McMaster University, MBA from University of Toronto.

Advice for others: “In tumultuous periods like this, try to be steady and not panic.”

Hometown: Toronto, Ontario

Shelby Stokoe, 45 

Chief financial officer for the Inland Northwest Washington service area of Providence

Education: Gonzaga University

Hometown: Spokane

Favorite quote: “What would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?” —Robert H. Schuller

Two Charlottesville businesses that had been using the name Spudnuts when marketing and discussing their fried, glazed, potato-based donuts say they will no longer be using the word after they learned on Wednesday it was a trademarked name.

The Bradbury Cafe on the Downtown Mall and the Doshier’s Donuts food truck said they were both contacted Wednesday by the owner of the trademark after a story in The Daily Progress brought their products to his attention.

“I own the trademark, I own the recipes,” Keith Larsen of Utah, the founder of Johnny O’s Spudnuts, told The Daily Progress on Wednesday.

Larsen has two stores under the Johnny O’s umbrella, one in Logan, Utah, and another in Farmington, New Mexico.

He said he was not made aware that the Charlottesville cafe or food truck had been using the name Spudnuts until both businesses had already started selling the products.

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Larsen reached out to both businesses, and by all accounts, the matter was peacefully resolved.

“Had a lovely conversation with him,” Mark Hahn, president of the Bradbury Group and co-founder and president of Harvest Moon Catering, told The Daily Progress. “We will adjust and change our language and our marketing of the product.”

The Bradbury Cafe, which Harvest Moon operates, had been explicitly using the name Spudnuts in marketing material.

Hahn said that when his staff began experimenting with launching his own riff on the potato donut about a month ago, they had been operating under “the idea of ​​Spudnut as a thing, not a trademark name.”

He said he never expected the donut to be so popular – 24 dozen have already been preordered this week – and he never expected the word Spudnut was legally protected.

Hahn’s doubts about the donut’s popularity may come as a surprise to some.

When the Spudnut Shop in Charlottesville closed roughly six years ago after nearly 50 years in operation, it was not because business had dropped off. The store, which used the name legally as part of a larger national franchise, was still distributing donuts to the crowds every day.

Owners Lori and Mike Fitzgerald said at the time they closed the business “to do something else.”

There was public mourning. Customers showed up en masse to get their hands on the last Spudnuts, an elegy was written by a local songwriter and the area’s delegate in the General Assembly argued something should be done to keep the doors open.

“So maybe we’re not surprised,” said Hahn, “but we weren’t fully prepared for the response.”

Shawn Doshier, who owns Doshier’s Donuts with his wife Kelly, said it was specifically because of how fond the public was of Charlottesville’s original Spudnut that they ventured to make their own version.

“It was all just kind of inspired by something that used to be very popular in the area,” Shawn Doshier told The Daily Progress.

He said he and his wife made a conscious effort not to advertise the products as Spudnuts.

“Honestly we haven’t been marketing them as Spudnuts,” he said. “We’re trying to constantly tell people we’re not part of the Spudnuts franchise. This is our own recipe.”

The Doshier’s Donuts website calls its potato-based donuts a “take on a long time favorite, the Potato Donut, or Spudnut.”

Doshier’s said they will be more cautious in the future about even making the comparison.

Hahn, meanwhile, said his team is already planning on finding a new name for its product.

“Spudnots? Potato rings with a hole? I do not know. We’ll have to take to social media and maybe have the community weigh in so they become truly unique to Charlottesville,” he said. “Spudnuts is a pretty apropos name. But maybe we can do spuddoughs.”

Hahn said that Larsen has offered to send his Spudnut mix to Charlottesville for the area’s bakers to sample. They may adopt the name Spudnut if they adopt the mix, Larsen said.

Hahn said he’s not that dedicated to the name to change the recipe.

“His is a mix and ours is a wet mash,” he said. “He is sending us a sample of his product to see if we’re interested in buying it, which I don’t think we are. We’ll just have to suffer through a side-by-side taste test.”

The Spudnuts name is disappearing from the Charlottesville area yet again, but it may not be forever, according to Larsen. He’s looking to expand the franchise.

“Hopefully, Spudnuts will be back in Charlottesville in a big way in the future,” Larsen said.

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Sentinel Staff

Authors: Pat LaMarche and 8-year-old Ronan Russell; story by Ronan and written by LaMarche

Artists/Illustrators: Aaron Rook

Where the authors live: LaMarche and Rook live in Carlisle and Ronan lives in Farmington, New Mexico when he is not visiting his grandparents in Carlisle.

Title: Kursid Kids: For the Love of Pearl

This science-fiction social justice book tells the tale of a far-off land where the obscenely rich exploit the labor and resources of their island nation. One of the billionaires (known as Magnates) imprisons a brilliant scientist, forcing him to create inventions for the cruel man’s pleasure and profit. The first thing the scientist does is modify a cleaning robot—so that he’s not so alone. The Cleanerbot3000 becomes a best friend as well as co-conspirator.

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On the mainland, families struggled to get by. In this captivating tale, the paths of a lovable couple of kids, named Winter and Pearl, and the hapless scientist, Dr. Marmalade, cross, thanks to the one of his more remarkable inventions: a cat that makes wishes come true.

An enormous departure from LaMarche’s more predictable tales, Ronan takes his grandmother’s writing to new levels of whimsy and fun. The collaboration of the two generations remains true to LaMarche’s usual social justice message.

Artist Aron Rook, best known for her enormous murals that bring communities large scale beauty, portrays the characters and experiences of “Kursid Kids” in a stylized and seemingly magical way.

On Jan. 27, Ingram books listed “Kursid Kid” as the second most popular book in the juvenile fiction/fantasy & magic category.

Publishers: Charles Bruce Foundation

Book signings: There will be a book signing from 11 am to 2 pm Saturday Feb. 11 at History on High: the Shop, at 33 W. High St., Carlisle. There will be Dr. Marmalade (the imprisoned scientist) marmalade cookies. And everyone who attends can enter to win a Dr. Marmalade cookie cutter of their very own.

How many books has the author written: LaMarche has written 10 books. This is the first for both Rook and Ronan

site: www.kursidkids.com

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Two titlists, three runners-up among county boys

Bayfield’s Deegan Barnes, right, keeps his cool while inverted against Farmington, New Mexico’s Wycolt Henry in the 165-pound division’s championship match Saturday at the 2023 Butch Melton Memorial Invitational in Ignacio. Barnes pinned Henry moments later, while still inverted, to win the title. (Joel Priest/Special to the Herald)

Reading like a who’s who of state tournament contenders – if not favorites – the top four teams at the conclusion of Ignacio’s 47th Butch Melton Memorial Invitational on Saturday would have been imposing anywhere.

Going into No. 1 in the New Mexico Activities Association’s Class 4A rankings as posted on newmexicowrestling.com, Bloomfield captured first place with 165 points. No. 4 in 5A at the time, Farmington earned 144.5 points and finished second. Ranked No. 3 in the CHSAANow.com Class 2A poll, Cedaredge took third with 132, while NMAA 4A No. 2 Aztec piled up 104.5 and placed fourth.

“This sucker’s probably as tough or tougher than any regional tournament we’d end up at, you know?” IHS head coach Jordan Larsen said after his Bobcats scored 16 points and placed 12th out of 17 scoring squads.

Ignacio’s Kendrick Nossaman works against Bloomfield, New Mexico’s Manuel Chavarria III during 157-pound action at Ignacio’s 2023 Butch Melton Memorial Invitational on Saturday. Nossaman would lose a close 6-5 decision. (Joel Priest/Special to the Herald)

Freshman Zane Pontine paced the ‘Cats with a fifth-place finish – via a disqualification of Durango’s Riley Belt – at 132 pounds, and lone senior Keaton McCoy finished seventh at 144 after pinning Pagosa Springs’ Jacob Miller in one minute even.

“Pontine taking fifth, that was good – I don’t think he was quite ‘happy’ with it, but that’s the name of the game at a tournament like this,” Larsen said. “Keaton wrestled all right; I don’t think he wrestled as well as he wanted to, and … lost a couple matches that maybe we should have won or at least been tighter in. But … he missed a lot of time early (this season) and it takes some tournaments to get back into it. So we’re going to shake it off and, God willing, he’s going to keep working hard.”

Freshmen Aven Bourriague and Lincoln deKay ended up with sixth-place finishes at 106 and 138. Bourriague matched Pontine’s team-best 3-2 tourney record. McCoy and deKay each went 2-2. Freshman 113-pounder Joshua Kerrigan went 1-4, but freshman Dillon Brann went 0-4 at 120 and sophomore Kendrick Nossaman likewise at 157. Also competing at 138, sophomore Asher Gallegos went 1-3 with an end-of-day forfeit win over DHS’ Steven Gallegos.

“Those guys … who are all so danged young, they all have been doing such a great job learning and soaking it all in,” Larsen said. “They’ve been getting better every week. And that was a lot of the talk Saturday with the boys. ‘How do we deal with this adversity? How do we come back, learn from this and use it as fuel for the fire?’”

The tournament’s lower-weight Outstanding Wrestler honor went to Bloomfield senior 132-pounder Adan Benavidez. Benavidez remained unbeaten, going 5-0 after Farmington senior Julian Juarez had to medically forfeit their championship encounter. FHS 175-pounder Ivan Smith earned the upper-weight Outstanding Wrestler by going 3-0 in his pool, then pinning Nucla’s Arthur Connelly and Aztec’s Logan Barboa (in only 0:25) in the placement round to improve to 35-1 overall.

Benavidez and Smith started the Melton ranked No. 2 and 3 in newmexicowrestling.com’s top 15 pound-for-pound rankings.

Bayfield’s Jordan Cundiff ties up Cedaredge’s Ryan Brunk during their heavyweight match at Ignacio’s 2023 Butch Melton Memorial Invitational on Saturday. Cundiff would pin Brunk in an elapsed 3:56. (Joel Priest/Special to the Herald)

Wolverine’s finish a county-best seventh

Somehow getting out of one headstand and simultaneously setting up in a more advantageous one to pin Farmington’s Wycolt Henry 1:40 into the second period, senior Deegan Barnes ended up posting a perfect 5-0 mark to win the 165-pound division – helping Bayfield amass 83 team points and a seventh-place result.

Henry won the Melton last winter at 160 pounds, while Barnes placed third at 152.

Keaton Pickering finished second at 120 after a 7-3 loss to Cedaredge’s Ethan Hice left him with a 3-1 record for the day. All three of Pickering’s victims, however, succumbed by technical fall as the junior put his repertoire on display. Going 4-1 with three pins, BHS freshman 138-pounder Zayden Cundiff also finished as a Melton runner-up after losing a 10-0 major decision to Aztec’s Tony Thompson in the division’s finale.

Junior heavyweight Jordan Cundiff ended up placing fifth, as did sophomores Payton Montgomery (113) and Logan Valencia (126), while freshman Caelan Ramos went 3-2 at 157 after a forfeit win over Norwood’s Kaden Morales to place seventh. After a first-round bye, freshman Estevan Gonzales managed to go 1-3 and place eighth at 106.

Durango’s Wyatt Bartel, right, works to turn Ignacio’s Lincoln deKay during their 138-pound bout Saturday at IHS’ 2023 Butch Melton Memorial Invitational. Bartel would win by third-period pin, earning fifth place at the weight. (Joel Priest/Special to the Herald)

Demons place in top 10

Powered by Ryan Dugan’s 4-1, second-place showing at 113 pounds and Asher Thiessen’s winning 3-0 mark in the 106-B division, Durango managed to register 34.5 team points and finish 10th.

Two of Thiessen’s three wins came via pin, and Dugan notched three pins before losing 9-2 to Bloomfield’s Hunter Samora in the finale. Durango’s 120-pounder Dillon Harris bounced back from two early losses and reeled off three straight wins, including a 4-2 victory over Montrose’ Hunter Hess with fifth place at stake.

Also placing fifth, thanks to four consecutive consolation-round pins, was Wyatt Bartel at 138. Riley Belt ended up sixth at 132, and Elijah Ponce brought home seventh at 113 after a first-period pin of Kerrigan.

In the upper weights, however, DHS struggled and posted a collective 1-16 mark at 150 pounds and above, with Chris McGrath out. Braxton Waddell managed to pin Montezuma-Cortez’s Kaden Nielson and finish 1-2 at 175.

Bayfield’s Caelan Ramos elevates Aztec, New Mexico’s Evan Lane during 157-pound division action at Ignacio’s 2023 Butch Melton Memorial Invitational on Saturday. Ramos would defeat Lane by 15-5 major decision. (Joel Priest/Special to the Herald)

Ignacio’s Keaton McCoy, protecting a nose broken a week earlier in Arizona, works atop Pagosa Springs’ Jacob Miller during 144-pound action at IHS’ 2023 Butch Melton Memorial Invitational on Saturday. McCoy would win by pin to cap off his Senior Day showing. (Joel Priest/Special to the Herald)

Bayfield’s Deegan Barnes, right, shakes hands with his 165-pound division championship opponent, Wycolt Henry of Farmington, after prevailing by pin at Ignacio’s 2023 Butch Melton Memorial Invitational on Saturday. (Joel Priest/Special to the Herald)

This article originally appeared on Climbing

This feature was originally published in Climbing in 2012. It’s been republished here for free as fuel for dreams, while the North American winter drags on.—Ed.

Soaking wet but still upright, we were spit out of a smooth, fast rapid into a wave train trucking headlong into yet another blind bend. I spun us into an upstream ferry and called a hard “Forward!”, hoping to buy another second or two to pick a line through the next drop, but the fast-approaching rapid was so steep that all I could see were occasional splashes cresting the horizon line. I chose a random notch between boulders and spun us downstream.

We shot through the rocks below, busted through a wave at the bottom of a trough, and when I wiped the spray from my eyes, I saw that we were bearing down fast on a big boat-flipper of a wave coming off the right wall. The Little Nahanni seemed determined to be the most exciting part of our trip.

The prow of the Phoenix Wall on Mt. Dracula Peak in the Vampire Spires of Canada’s Northwest Territories. (Photo: Jeremy Collins)

Pat Goodman, James Q Martin, and I were plunging headlong down this remote northern river not because we were expert boaters–we were not–but because we were climbers, and the river was snaking to the base of the Vampire Peaks, a group of granite spires in the vast, rugged wilderness along Canada’s Northwest Territories/Yukon border. This loaded-down 10-foot raft was taking us climbing.

I had vaguely recalled reading about “the Vamps” years ago in an issue of this very magazine. They were somewhere near the famed Lotus Flower Tower, right? Details were fuzzy, but if I recalled correctly, the climbing scenario there was somewhat less than ideal, involving mosquito clouds, grizzly bears, and ascending long, moss-filled cracks in the rain. Only about a dozen climbing parties had ever visited. That’s about all I could conjure up when Pat invited me on an expedition to claim a first ascent on the area’s most prominent tower.

For Goodman, the Vampires were practically home (this would be his sixth trip), and the difficulties of climbing there were part of the area’s charm. He sent me enticing photos of our main objective–all taken in sunny weather–noting that it was probably the greatest free-climbing prize in the area. I’d met Pat about five years back in the New River Gorge, West Virginia, where he now resides. He was a North Carolina climber at the time, and before that, hailed from Farmington, New Mexico. This background plus his brawling Irish temperament had made him a strong and scrappy climber drawn to a variety of masochistic disciplines: soft-rock hoodoo soloing, offwidth roofs, 5.13 X headpointing, and gnarly alpine big walls. He was the expedition leader, and had secured an American Alpine Club grant that would pay for much of the trip. It didn’t take much to convince me to join the team.

Story continues

The Vampires are part of a large granite intrusion in the middle of the Mackenzie Mountains, a vast, mostly sedimentary- rock range that forms the divide between the west flowing Yukon and east- and north-flowing Mackenzie, two of the North’s largest rivers. The Cirque of the Unclimbables, a much better-known area that includes Lotus Flower Tower and Proboscis, is nearby, about 15 air miles to the southeast.

The expedition’s main objective was to establish a free route on the 2,500-foot northeast prow of the Phoenix, probably the most striking climbing feature in all the sub-valleys that make up the Vamps. Goodman had already made the first free ascents of both Vampire Spire and the Fortress; he considered these and the Phoenix to be the “top three” in the area, and the Phoenix was the biggest. The only previous party to top out the buttress had not attempted the icy and steep scramble up the final ridge, so the true summit of the peak had never been reached. It was hard to imagine a more enticing target.

The river component actually makes sense. Approaching the Cirque or the Vampires requires air support from a floatplane, a helicopter, or both. Planes carry more and airtime is less expensive, but they are limited in where they can land: You need a lake or a wide, straight stretch of slow-moving river. Choppers can pick you up and drop you off almost anywhere, but they are more expensive. Our solution? Raft the river to get that much closer to the climbing, and save on costs. But we would get an airlift from the water to our high base camp, sparing us an epic load-ferrying effort up the steep, wild Vampires valley.

Nahanni National Park–where the Vampires lay–is much better known for its rivers than its climbing anyway. Lower down, closer to where it empties into the huge Laird River just above Fort Simpson on the Mackenzie, the South Nahanni surges through several limestone gorges, eventually plunging 300 vertical feet over the stunning, Niagara-like Virginia Falls, one of the most impressive waterfalls in North America. The whole Nahanni valley was an area of some mystique during Gold Rush times. Several grisly, unsolved murders befell some early prospectors, and local place names bear witness: The Broken Skull River, Deadmen Valley, Hell’s Gate, Headless Creek, the Funeral Range, Vampire Peaks. The Nahanni was referred to as “The Valley of No Return.”

The Vampires and Cirque of the Unclimbables were high up in the river basin, so we’d be stopping well above the main gorges and falls, in the rugged heart of the mountains. We started on the river’s southernmost tributary, the Little Nahanni, which we accessed by floatplane at its source, a remote place called Flat Lakes.

Big water on the Little Nahanni

Getting to Flat Lakes, however, took some doing in itself. It’s possible to fly to Whitehorse, the only place in the Yukon with an international airport, but like the majority of climbers who visit the area, Goodman and I made a marathon drive to a point where we could be picked up by bush plane. We all-nighted from Colorado across Wyoming and Montana, then continued up through Alberta. Past the rolling fields of Edmonton we crossed into British Columbia, soon reaching Dawson Creek, the official start of the Alaska Highway, or the Al-Can, as the locals call it. Beyond there, the country became distinctly wilder. Towns disappeared, the highway twisted through spectacular river canyons and over high passes, and the few-and-far-between gas stops came to look more like logging camps. After 50 driving hours we reached the last settlement we’d see on our journey, Watson Lake.

Watson Lake is a rough-around-the-edges way station for tungsten miners, loggers, and Al-Can tourists. Its best known attraction is the “Sign Post Forest,” a small park just off main street featuring thousands of street signs from all over the world. Go figure. Just behind the Forest we found the community center, with its one-room Greyhound station, where we picked up “Q”–photographer James Q Martin–thus assembling the complete river team (our fourth climber, Jeremy Collins, would meet us in the mountains).

From Watson Lake, we had another four-hour drive, to Finlayson Lake where Warren LaFave would pick us up by plane. This last stretch of driving followed the Robert Campbell “Highway,” a gravel spur off the Al-Can that had us bottoming out violently on a regular basis, but paid us back with caribou, moose, bear, and wolf sightings.

Finlayson Lake is the main fuel-depot and passenger pick-up point for Warren La Fave’s Kluane Airways. Its rustic quarters hardly prepared us for the poshness on the other end of the flight, the Inconnu Lodge, a high-end fishing resort run by Warren and his wife Anita. Inconnu is the jumping-off place for most climbing trips into the Vampires or the Cirque. Late the next morning, Warren picked us up in his vintage Havilland Beaver and flew us in. The Inconnu is a self-sufficient timber-framed lodge, and the only habitation on McEvoy Lake, a seven-mile long fisher’s dream packed with grayling and 50-pound lake trout. Anglers pay $1,000 a night, but Warren seems to like climbers and never begrudges a few free nights in the guide cabins pre- and post-climb as part of the deal.

From the Inconnu we flew about 50 miles over tundra-covered peaks and vast expanses of scraggly-treed flats to a velvety landing on Flat Lake to wade our loads ashore. When the Beaver disappeared we suddenly found ourselves all alone, in total silence. We blinked at each other, then got to work inflating and rigging the raft to began our 100-mile paddle to the Vampires.

Our raft bore down broadside on this ominous lateral wave, and there was nothing to do but paddle like hell. The boat was heavy with gear and slow to change direction– good for punching through waves but in this case, our possible undoing. As impact seemed imminent, I could imagine two possible scenarios: We’d be flipped immediately by the curling wave and sent upside down into the rapid below, or else pulled into the seething eddy on the upstream side of the wave and thrashed against sharp rocks until the raft ripped. My teammates, however, dug in with previously unseen vigor, and we just barely got enough momentum to bump the wave and spin off.

When we finally reached a stretch of relative calm, I reflected on how different climbing is from boating. When you reach a crux spot on the rock, you can stop the action, step back to a stance, hang on gear if you have to, and take your time to make a decision. If you pause in a rapid, the action keeps going. Hesitate, and the river decides for you–and there’s no such thing as rapping off.

It’s also true that in climbing, you never get anywhere except by your own exertions, while on the river, bar disaster, the current will bring you where you want to go. You can sit back and float. Despite a few adrenaline high-water marks along the way, most of the Nahanni was significantly more mellow.

Pat Goodman explores around camp on a rest day.

Which is not to say boring–our four days on the Nahanni alone would have been worth the journey. The river had started out small, with bony rock gardens and places where we had to wade the gravel bars and drag our raft. Small tributaries flowed in from both sides and the river quickly gained power, with waves that splashed over our dry bags. There was not a sign of human presence anywhere: no footprints or fire rings on the gravel bars, no trails, no camps. There were a few cabins marked on the map, but we didn’t see them. We drank the clear water directly from the river. The nights were starry and short.

On the next-to-last river day, the Little Nahanni joined the main (“South”) Nahanni, and the water changed character, becoming much bigger and lazier, cloudy blue-green instead of clear, with widely braided channels and only the occasional run of straightforward standing waves. The river was placid, and we paddled hard to cover the miles.

As we got closer to the Vampires, a squall moved through with rain and thunder, the first weather we’d seen since arriving, and the mountains above took on an ominous look. Goodman watched the shoreline on river-right, consulting the map, waiting for a flash of recognition from his last time here. It was big country, and when viewed from the river, the broad valleys all looked quite similar. I was glad he was in charge of figuring out where we were.

Suddenly, we drifted into an alignment with a side valley that triggered a six-year-old memory, and Goodman announced that we had arrived at our pickup point. At just that moment we heard the faint twhack-thwack-thwack of the chopper–descending from Phoenix basecamp after dropping off our final team member, Jeremy Collins. We beached on a gravel bar and scrambled to get ready, derigging and deflating the raft and quickly separating gear. The helicopter landed on the gravel bar, we loaded up, and, just like that, we were flying into the face of a gray and gusty rainstorm, into the Vampires.

We came in low, under the clouds, up a steep, rugged valley, and when we suddenly crested a rise we got our first view into the upper cirque. There was Vampires Lake, site of an incident where a grizzly had once trashed a team’s camp while they were on the wall, rendering them without food for over a week. And there, looming beyond the lake, was a massive rock peak that I recognized immediately–the Phoenix– looking significantly bigger than in the pictures Goodman had shown me.

Rain pelted the helicopter’s windshield, and beyond the buttress, partly obscured by mist, was a hanging glacier with a monstrous hole like a gaping mouth. I’d never seen anything like it, in person or in pictures, and I thought about the Nahanni region’s spooky history, wondering if perhaps there wasn’t a legitimate supernatural force at work here that had generated the plethora of sinister occurrences and myths.

We were above 60 degrees north latitude, at an altitude just over 5,000 feet now, and on all sides lay cirques and sub-cirques filled with small glaciers and tall granite walls, many untouched. The 2,500-foot Phoenix prow was the most impressive. It had one completed mixed free and aid line, Freebird, done in 1998, which went to the top of the peak’s “big-wall” section, and another route, After School Special, done a few years later, whose complete ascent had been thwarted by ice just a few pitches from the top. Two other visiting parties had also been stopped short.

Few of the prow’s key features matched the hand-scrawled topo we had, but it was pretty obvious that the discontinuous cracks in the vicinity of After School Special promised the most feasible start for a free climb. Every possible route up the lower wall, however, was crossed by long, black water streaks and involved significant blank sections that looked improbable even through binoculars. We had only a handful of pins and bolts for protecting any sketchy face climbing.

Jeff Achey, Pat Goodman, and Jeremy Collins scope out the next pitch on the 800-meter The Phreenix (5.10+). (Photo: James Q Martin)

Goodman seemed unconcerned with the terrain; his doubts revolved solely around the weather. We’d already had five near-perfect days in a row, and he surely felt like we’d used up our share. We all felt an urgency to get started, while at the same time an uncertainty about where the route would go.

The sound of our high camp was a river sound, a soft roar coming from a glacial cascade a half-mile above, and when I closed my eyes as I lay in the tent on that first night, I saw water: sparkling water tumbling over dark rocks, glassy tongues ending in V-waves that crashed over on themselves, turquoise eddies running upstream against undercut banks. Riverside images floated past at river speed: a grizzly among the willows standing up to sniff the air, a grayling finning in the shallows, an osprey wheeling above the water, moose tracks on the sand bars. Swirling water.

But now it was time to rock, and the next morning, we went up on the wall for a recon. We scampered up two easy pitches on low-angled slabs to the base of the main prow, where a series of overhanging cracks offered several options. The first steep pitch fell into place as I led up. Many sections of crack were filled with grass, but the rock was generously featured with knobs, ideal for free climbing. After 150 feet, I pulled a final overhang and arrived at a weathered rappel anchor, our first concrete evidence of After School Special.

Despite the steepness, the pitch had gone onsight at mid 5.10, and the black water streaks had been dry–an auspicious start, but the real business was yet to come. Collins headed up into thinner terrain, jamming in a couple of small cams, then fingered the opening moves of a steep and committing-looking seam. Feeling the flash pump and seeing nothing to go for, he hung on his top piece–which immediately ripped, along with the one below it, sending him for an alarmingly long fall that left him wide-eyed and level with me. Hanging from his sole piece of pro remaining in the rock, he looked over and chortled. I smiled back, saying nothing, but I couldn’t help thinking to myself, “Dude, we are a long way from anywhere.”

Knowing I’d done my lead for the day, and seeing that this might take a while, I handed off the belay to Goodman and began descending to camp. When Collins headed back up he chose an easier line, up an angling dihedral. Then he busted across a line of edges that drifted back left, pioneering the first strategic traverse, across one of the route’s biggest blank sections. The effort took several hours, which used up most of the daylight, and at 8 p.m. Collins and Goodman rapped from the high point, leaving four ropes fixed.

And so it went, for four days, Collins and me teaming up, then Goodman and Q, ferreting out pitches that gradually found a way up and left across the first thousand feet of the wall, occasionally finding and sometimes using the belay/rappel anchors of After School Special. Usually, two of us would work on the route while the other two hiked, bouldered, or rested in camp. The leader would almost always need a few points of aid to clean grass from the cracks, which would then go free the next day at some kind of 5.10. We placed one bolt and a couple of knifeblades, but otherwise found adequate pro from cams and nuts. The cracks ran from fingers to offwidth, connected by sections of face climbing, plus the occasional scary flake or moss-hummock mantel. It was stellar alpine rock climbing, and we became increasingly psyched about our line.

Any ethical concerns I had about our siege style were outweighed by the obvious benefit: precious time to wander and explore the pristine Vampires wilderness. On one of my off-wall days I took a long hike up onto the glaciers above camp. There was no sign of human passage. On the way up I had a face-off with a smallish caribou, who snorted and advanced with head lowered until I made a good threat display with my trekking poles. Higher, I found canid tracks in the snow leading up and over the col that led into the next valley: a lone wolf.

I eventually summitted a peak that was one of the highest in our cirque, earning a stunning 360-degree view. To the south were gigantic ice fields and the backsides of Cirque of the Unclimbables. Somewhere in that same general direction was the highpoint of Northwest Territories, a rugged granite peak known to climbers as “Nirvana” but officially unnamed. It was just a few hundred feet higher than where I stood. To the north, I had a sweeping view of the Phoenix and the other arm of our valley that contained Vampire Spire and the Fortress. To the northeast were the deep canyons of the Nahanni and the Broken Skull rivers, with countless peaks on the horizon beyond. So much country. So much water and rock. So many possibilities.

Finally we had fixed all our ropes and it was time to make a decision, so back in camp, talk turned to tactics. All of us would have preferred a light-and-fast ascent, but with ropes already strung, four climbers, and a single lead rack, a “disaster-style” assault made little sense. When no one proposed a specific plan, and a chilly evening drizzle put a damper on the next day’s free climbing prospects, I started loading up a haulbag to add to the one already stashed at the base of the wall, and announced that I would spend the next day hauling two modest bags to the top of the lines.

Jeremy Collins snubs the view on pitch four of The Phreenix (5.10+).

The weather cleared, the hauling went smoothly, and I returned to camp with daylight to spare. The following morning we committed to a summit push. It took us a good part of the day to pack the remaining essentials, get out of camp, and establish the four of us at the top of the fixed lines, but by late afternoon, Goodman finally began racking up for a free attempt on pitch eight. Everything had gone free at 5.10 to this point, and the weather was holding.

Thirty feet up lay a highly questionable crack switch, the last blank spot on the lower wall. The After School Special team had aided through here by penduluming from a bolt, and the rock between cracks was steep and smooth. True to the route, however, a perfectly positioned cluster of knobs appeared, and Goodman lurched across the blankness at 5.10+. He then fired up a steep hand crack, which widened to fist and then offwidth, but never slowed him down.

The pitch ended at the base of a striking, 150-foot dihedral that our topo called the Dixie Crystal Corner, a “four star” pitch we’d been admiring since we first glassed the wall. Beautiful as it was from afar, up close the Dixie was a beast–the first 100 feet of crack tapered gradually from seven inches to five, one of the most strenuous possible sizes to contend with. The left wall was smooth and dead vertical and the right only a degree or two less. It looked like it would be a fight, and it was my lead. Life was suddenly very simple. My job was to lead this pitch, quickly, free, and onsight. Nothing else mattered.

I swung the rack onto my left side, rigged our two biggest cams on full-length runners clipped to the lead rope, shoved one into the crack, and began chugging. Bingo! Protruding crystals on the right wall allowed me to stand with one foot out of the crack, shaving full number grades off the difficulty. It was strenuous offwidth climbing, and went on forever, but never got really hard.

The crack finally thinned to hands, leading into a series of small ledges. By now it was almost dusk, and the most pressing task was to find a bivi spot. Forty feet higher I could see what appeared to be a ledge, but I was out of rope. We had a set of small two-way radios, and I called down for Collins to follow the pitch. He did, then put me back on belay, and I scrambled up onto the grassy, sloping terraces that would be our camp for the night.

Stretching my lead beyond a rope length created a small hassle for hauling, so while the team sorted it out, I worked on our night’s quarters. The grassy shelf sloped badly, but by peeling back the grass, leveling the dirt and gravel beneath, and then replacing the turf on the flattened terrace, I fashioned what I thought was a pretty fair sitting bivi.

A gentle rain settled in as the team arrived, and we huddled under our hardware-store tarp and cooked up a warming stew. A few remarks circulated about my choice of bivi ledge, but everyone made the best of it–except Collins, who dealt the ultimate insult by rapping down 50 feet to a lower ledge, where he found an even more miserable perch to pass the brief but rainy Northwest Territories night.

The next morning dawned clear, and we went for the top. The climbing was the stuff of dreams, with steep and continuous cracks, challenging but never desperate. Everyone onsighted his pitches. Very near the top, an intimidating squeeze chimney cast some serious doubt on our success, but Collins dispatched it with aplomb. As the pitches went by, one by one, we became ever more hopeful and elated. This thing was going down, today!

Partying on the summit.

We hit the summit ridge, and the vista opened up into a world of swirling clouds, with glimpses of ice-clad peaks. Only the Freebird party had reached this point before us. They had called it good here, and we might have too, but finding dry, late-season conditions, we were able to continue. Climbing alone, occasionally waiting for each other, we scrambled unroped and in approach shoes, up the last 2,000 feet of knife edge. Pat, in the lead, waited before the final rise, and we scrambled together onto to the untouched, tabletop summit slab of the Phoenix.

In 35 years of rock climbing I’ve been privileged to participate in many fine first ascents, from New Hampshire and Maine to Canyonlands and the Black Canyon, but our route on the Phoenix was one of the very best– sort of the Naked Edge of the Northwest Territories, if you will. More classics await future parties on the flanks of the Phoenix itself, and on nearby formations–but if the Vamps ever get more popular, this one will surely get repeated, due to its Half Dome stature, superb and textured rock, elegance of line. Not to mention climbing that is so much more reasonable in difficulty than it had any right to be.

Yet at least for Pat, Q, and me, the route will always be entwined with the river. I will think back to this Vampires adventure as a time when we moved through the unknown as good adventurers should: solid on the water, and fluid on the rock.

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Adeline Triplett, Staff Writer

Adeline Triplett is starting her first semester with The Round Up as a Staff Writer. She is currently a junior at NMSU, majoring in Journalism & Media Studies with a focus in print/editorial. She was born and raised in Farmington, New Mexico.

Growing up with parents who are teachers, Adeline has always had a love of writing and reading. She began writing creatively in elementary school has continued ever since. She discovered her passion for journalism in high school and hopes to make a positive impact with her stories.

Adeline just returned from a semester abroad in London, where she had fun traveling around Europe and meeting new people. Outside of school and writing, Adeline enjoys spending time with friends and family, binging movies and shows, and traveling as much as possible. Moving forward, she hopes that working for The Round Up will help her grow as a writer and in her future career.

By the time he was eight years old, Bror Erickson had lived in four countries, four states, and three continents because his father’s missionary and pastor work took him to all parts of the world.

“It was just another day for me,” said Erickson about his travels during his childhood. “I didn’t always understand completely the significance of how much I got to see at such a young age.”

Erickson was born in Springfield, Illinois as his father finished his last year of seminary. He currently holds the title of pastor and currently resides in Farmington, New Mexico where he’s been the pastor of Zion Lutheran Church for nine years. Soon, though, his travels will bring him and his wife, Laura, to Fort Morgan where he’ll stand behind the pulpit at Trinity Lutheran Church as its new pastor starting Feb.12.

“I’m a little excited about going into a new chapter,” he said.

Trinity Lutheran will be the third congregation he’s led in his 19 years as a pastor, but saying goodbye to his current church and town won’t be easy.

“I hate to say good-bye to friends, so-long to where I’ve been, but (I’m) looking forward to new friends and adventures in Fort Morgan,” he said.

He’s looking forward to being in the Morgan community and the state, but he said he’ll miss New Mexico’s green chili — one of his favorite staples.

Along with being well-travelled, Pastor Erickson is well-educated as he started his doctoral degree in theology this week through the Institute of Lutheran Theology in South Dakota.

“I didn’t have enough on my plate,” he joked about starting school while moving.

Even though his father was a pastor, it wasn’t until Erickson was enlisted in the Air Force over 25 years ago that he knew he wanted to follow in his footsteps. During his junior year of high school, Erickson dropped out and moved to Montana to work on a ranch.

While working at the ranch, he said “I took my GED and decided to join the military.”

He attended chapel every Sunday during his service in the Air Force but while doing that, he discovered the gospel he was hearing was missing the most divine part.

“I heard sermons on family life and whatnot, but I never heard that Jesus Christ died for my sins,” he recalled. “I figured somebody needs to start preaching the gospel.”

His preaching is focused on Jesus dying on the cross for our sins.

When asked why his preaching revolves around that, he stated “because that is the gospel.”

“He (Jesus) didn’t need to come to give us more law,” he said. “What He came to do was to save His creation, and He did that by dying on the cross and conquering death.”

Morgan Trinity Lutheran Church, located at 1215 West 7th Avenue in Fort Morgan meets every Sunday at 9 am for church and 10:15 am for Bible study groups.

TORREY — Annetta Jane Alvey, 76, passed away Jan. 15, 2023, in Provo. She was born May 4, 1946, in Richfield, a daughter of Wallace Edmund and Mada Ellett Giles Alvey.

She married Johnnie Jimmie Uptain March 7, 1964, in Farmington, New Mexico. They were later divorced.

Annetta, AKA Netar Bug, Gma Noodle and Oonle, was a very lovable, kind, generous giving mother and grandmother. She was an amazing mouse killer with a butcher knife or BB gun. She would give you her last dollar. When students, cops or friends would come into the Aquarius Café, where she worked, she was never afraid to tell you what she thought, or to make sure you had the best food in town. She was famous for her cheese fries. She always had stories to tell. We sure will miss her so, so much. She enjoyed making Levi quilts, crocheting and logging. She is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Annetta is survived by her children, Robin Bliss, Cedar City; Richard and Kelly Uptain, Richfield; Barbara and Travis Warner, West Valley City; and Darla and Ben Mares,Torrey; 11 grandchildren, Amanda, Kristina, Jordan, Autumn Ryker, Nichole, Roger, Loren, Sarah, Andrew and Anthony; 16 great grand children, Kaydence, Brylee, Brakehl, Kemrie, Abilene, Easton, Aislynn, Saylor, Huntlee, Paislee, Payton, Braxton, Brayden, Haizlee, Silver and Amara; and brothers, Stanley and Deena Alvey, Hanksville; and Floyd and Lupe Alvey, Collbran, Colorado. She is preceded in death by her parents, Mada and Wallace Alvey; siblings, Evan Wallace Alvey and Deonna M. Alvey; and son-in-law, Douglas C. Bliss. Funeral services will be held Saturday, Jan. 28, at noon in the Thurber LDS ward chapel in Bicknell, where friends may call for viewing Saturday morning from 10:30 to 11:30 am, prior to the services. Burial will be in the Bicknell Cemetery under the care of the Springer Turner Funeral Homes of Richfield and Salina.

In lieu of flowers (Annetta hated flowers), please make donations to help offset funeral expenses to Springer Turner Funeral Home.

Online guest book at springerturner.com.

The CPHQ credential demonstrates a commitment to advancing quality, safety, and value.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, UNITED STATES, January 25, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ — The National Association for Healthcare Quality® (NAHQ) is proud to announce the most recent recipients of the Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality® (CPHQ) credential.

“Healthcare quality and safety professionals who earn the CPHQ credential have demonstrated knowledge, understanding, and application of the domains of healthcare quality and safety; they are prepared to make healthcare better,” said Jennifer Pitts, NAHQ’s vice president of programs, products, and certification. “We congratulate each of our CPHQs for demonstrating an ongoing commitment to excellence and lifelong learning, and a dedication to enhancing quality and patient safety.”

The following individuals join the ranks of nearly 15,000 individuals around the world who have earned the CPHQ:

Elizabeth Abrahams
West Chester, Pennsylvania

Anthony Adeoye
Silver Spring, Maryland

Alaa-Adeen Ahmad
Irvine, California

Lindsey Alexander
Suffolk, Va

Logan Almasy
Freeport, Pennsylvania

Feven Amanuel
Bloomfield, NJ

Elizabeth Amoroso-Daquanni
West Hartford, Connecticut

Samantha Atlas
New-York, New-York

Angela Barber
Beatrice, Nebraska

Lauren Baumeister
Cambridge, Mass

Sherry Becker
Hines, Illinois

Daniel Belloise
Yonkers, New York

Susan Berends
North Liberty, Iowa

Linda Bibbee
Powhatan, Virginia

Stephen Bishop
Lancaster, California

Michelle Blumenthal
Crawfordville, Fla

Stephanie Boyd
North Canton, Ohio

Heather Briggs
Hampton, Illinois

Michele Britz-Stanley
Albuquerque, New Mexico

Yvonne Brobst
Townsend, Delaware

Lisa Brogan
Sicklerville, New Jersey

Cassandra Brownlee
Tualatin, Oregon

Socorro Bueser
Jacksonville, Fla

Samantha Cahill
Tucson, Ariz

Amanda Caldwell
Rossford, Ohio

Chelsea Campbell
Erie, Colorado

Jessica Campbell
Clarksville, Indiana

Heather Carberry
Jessup, Maryland

Kimberley Carter
Winterville, North Carolina

Margaret Casas
Oxnard, California

Victoria Cash
Beachwood, Ohio

Ron Chenoweth
Paula, Kansas

Margarita Chmil
Galloway, Ohio

Jewel Coulter
McKeesport, Pennsylvania

Melissa Dagon
Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania

Danielle Daley
Hamden, Connecticut

Michelle Davis
Raleigh, North Carolina

Lou Reynolds dementia
Apex, North Carolina

Erin Dowling
Culver City, California

Lori Drewery
Cherryville, North Carolina

Zachary Duel
Richmond, Va

Tracey Dzierzgowski
Sewell, NJ

Dawn Edwardson
Andover, Minnesota

Bike Enwezoh
Newhall, California

Renate Ernest
Brentwood, California

Rachel Fahey
Cleveland, Ohio

Timothy Fang
Seattle, Washington

Gladie Feliciano
Tempe, Ariz

Amanda Feltner
Somerset, Kentucky

Camie Fields
Brentwood, Tennessee

Barbara Flanders
Erie, Pa

Lynette Foreman
Milford, Ohio

Melissa Foreman
Blaine, Washington

Jessica Franz
Olathe, Kansas

Margaret Fuentes
El Dorado Hills, California

Jacqueline Gacek
Wilton, New York

Ashley Gardner
Cumming, Georgia

Kristen Gebhardt
Austin, Texas

Stacy bell
Hayward, California

Crystal Golightly
Vero Beach, Fla

Juliano Gomez
Houston, Texas

Margaret Grant
Portland, Oregon

Richard Halama
Omaha, Nebraska

Valerie Hangman
Laurel, Nebraska

Kaitlin Harper
Mount Wolf, Pa

Michele Hartzell
Center Valley, Pa

Cory Hedwall
Castaic, California

Alexandra Helms
Borne, Texas

Christina Hernandez
Raleigh, North Carolina

Teresa Hodgkins
Rancho Mirage, California

Maya Hodgson
Chandler, Arizona

Janine Holbrook
Lake Stevens, Washington

David House
New-York, New-York

Olga Hoyos
Farmington, New Mexico

Emily Hudler
Burleson, Texas

Christina Hyde
Lafayette, New York

Jamie Jaret
Queensbury, NY

BradJohnson
Hazlehurst, Mississippi

Sarah Johnson
Forest Hills, New York

Danielle Jordahl
Bellingham, Washington

Lydia Kim
Ewa Beach, Hawaii

Minyong Kim
Los Angeles, California

Kimberly Kimberling
Hudson Oaks, Texas

AmandaKing
Jackson, Tennessee

April King
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Melanie King
Newburgh, Indiana

Lauren Koloski
Ipswich, Massachusetts

Jeannine Conzier
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Lisa Kransdorf
Los Angeles, California

Kimberly Kreitzer
St Mary’s, Ohio

Nicole Kveton
Aurora, Colo

Tandra Lassiter
Atlanta, Georgia

Brian Le
Van Nuys, California

Angela Leach
Sharpsburg, Kentucky

Catherine Leigh
Georgetown, Kentucky

Danielle Lint
East Lansing, Michigan

Isaac Loera
Corona, California

April air
Billings, Montana

Cynthia McCoy
Fairview, Tennessee

Anastasia MacKay
Richmond, Va

Michael Malone
Farmington, New Mexico

Sheila Marantette
Frisco, Texas

Benjamin Marshall
Ceresco, Michigan

Stephanie Martin
Twin Falls, Idaho

Tracie Martin
Elkton, Maryland

Matthew Mazurek
Hamden, Connecticut

Heather Milligan
Filers, Idaho

StaceyMonarch
Louisville, Kentucky

Bianca Montalmont
Philly, Pennsylvania

Pamela Montanez
Rio Rancho, New Mexico

Joshua Moran
Charleston, South Carolina

David Mullins
Chula Vista, California

Megan Musick
Franklin, Tennessee

Melissa Noll
Illinois City, Illinois

Alicia Norford
Chesapeake, Va

Christina Northrup
Plattsburgh, New York

Alaa Eddin Obeid
Berwyn, Illinois

Kaitlin O’Brien
Charleston, South Carolina

Silva Ohanian
Glendale, California

Sandra Oliveri
Brooklyn, NY

Lauren Orfe
Philly, Pennsylvania

Janet Owen
Silver Spring, Maryland

Kelly godmother
Martinez, California

Erin Perry
Villanova, Pennsylvania

Jasmine Perry
Laurinburg, North Carolina

Catherine Peters
Chico, Texas

Tammy Petersen
DeWitt, Iowa

Amber Phung
San Gabriel, California

Bobbi Pino-y-Torres
Charleston, South Carolina

Karen Plexman
Missouri City, Texas

Elizabeth Poitras
South Walpole, Massachusetts

Angela Pollock
Jacksonville, North Carolina

Shelley Proctor
Rome, Georgia

Carliss Ramos
Pearland, Texas

Shanda Ramsey
Idaville, Indiana

Bliss Rayo Taranto
West Lake Village, California

Anne Ricketts
Louisville, Kentucky

Stacy Riddle
Bakersfield, California

RyanRobertson
Seattle, Washington

Heidi Rolfs
Portland, Oregon

Marilyn Romero
Lynn, Massachusetts

Melanie Ronda
Albany, New York

Kellie Row
Tishomingo, Oklahoma

Elisa Sacko
Colony, New York

Kimberly Saddoris
Urbandale, Iowa

Nicole Samhammer
Eugene, Oregon

Danyce Seney
Waterford, NY

Barbara Sherman
Martinsburg, West Virginia

Kenneth Shitara
Redondo Beach, California

Stacy Short
Othello, Washington

Sarah Siegler
Somerville, Massachusetts

Rue Silver
New-York, New-York

Barbara Smith
Manahawkin, New Jersey

Melissa Smith Clark
Phoenix, Ariz

Danielle Spring
Bowling Green, Ohio

Erin Stillinger
Aiken, South Carolina

Sarah Sutherland
Alexandria, Kentucky

Michael Szeliga
Newark, Delaware

Krizia Torres
Los Angeles, California

Janet Tully
Mesa, Arizona

Amy Valencia
Sunnyvale, California

Beulah Vance
Tampa, Fla

Kristi Verschelden
Richardson, Texas

Amanda Vidrine
Abilene, Texas

Crystal Vlastelic-St. John
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho

Angela Webster
Eugene, Oregon

Katherine Weible
Lake St Louis, Missouri

Brandon Weiss
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Amanda Whitaker
Paul’s Valley, Oklahoma

mary willis
Eugene, Oregon

Anne Yoo
Ann Arbor, Michigan

Christie Zoter
Dallas, Texas

About NAHQ
The National Association for Healthcare Quality® (NAHQ) is the only organization dedicated to healthcare quality professionals, defining the standard of excellence for the profession, and equipping professionals and organizations across the continuum of healthcare to meet these standards. NAHQ believes that to reduce variability in healthcare delivery, we must first reduce variability in healthcare quality competencies, so we focus our efforts on healthcare quality competencies and workforce development. NAHQ published the first and only Healthcare Quality Competency Framework and validated it twice in the market. We offer the only accredited certification in healthcare quality, the Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality® (CPHQ), extensive educational programming, networking opportunities and career resources to help healthcare quality professionals enhance their competencies and their value. Learn more at NAHQ.org.

Maureen Erin Daugherty
NAHQ
+1 7083637300
email us here
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January 25, 2023, 16:06 GMT

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