IN THE Bob Hunter ® strictly personal ® WAKE of Tl white-water rafting deaths this summer, tighter regulation of the S4-million-a-year in- dustry has been ordered by Ottawa. But tighter regulation won't really make that much difference. The truth is, people will continue to get killed in white water. That's all there is to it. An important part of freedom is the freedom to be able to ar- range to have one’s self mutilated or eliminated in any number of interesting ways. As far as white-water rafting is concerned, some 55,000 people got out there and took their chance last year, looking White Death in the face. This is a growth industry. There were only $0,000 fearless fools willing to risk themselves back in 1982, when my wife and | rafted down the last 35 mites of the Thompson to where it joins the Fraser at Lytton, 160 miles northeast of Vancouver. 1 had a touch of foreboding about the exercise, but a maga- zine Down East had promised me an unusually decent fer to do a story about white-water rafting, and my wife was there to take the pictures. I suffer from this weird notion that no harm shal! come to me until it’s due, and then, if it's due, well, it’s due, and there’s not a lot you can do about it. Cal! it optimistic fatalism. My wife suffers from the same madness. I suspect most people who do these kinds of daffy, dangerous things have rationalized their behavior with equal success. In any event, we had o@ slightly ra- tional reason for being there: pay. Still, [ had to lick my fips to get rid of the dryness when we signed the very specific release forms. Along the last stretch of the Thompson, we passed through Public House zone created NORTH VANCOUVER District voted Monday night to prepare the Necessary bylaw to create a new specialized commercial zone — the Public Hause (PH) zone. This zone would be applied to the three existing neighborhood pubs in the district: Pemberton Station, Queen’s Cross Pub, Raven Pub. The three existing pubs meet all requirements of the new zone. Marine pubs are also included in the new PH zone as a permitted use to facilitate any future applica- tions that council may wish to consider. The bylaw proposal is the result of numerous inquiries regarding a proposed marine public house at Seycove Marina, the subsequent review of the district’s public house regulations and the recent report of the Provincial Liquor Policy Review recommending that applications for marine pubs be subject to the same approval pro- cess as neighborhood pubs. A public hearing date is set for Sept. 21. no fess than 33 ‘very technical’ rapids. The most faurnous were The Frog, Jaws of Death and Washing Macitine, each of them narrow, shallow and. extremely fast. “What it comes down to is simply this: the faster the rapids, the better the cash flow.” Halfway through Jaws of Death, the eperator had to change course. If he’d made a mistake, it would have been a big mistake. The plunge into a rapids is much like a rollercoaster ride — the same giddy, stom- ach-churning, almost erotic feel- ing — except we were clinging to a couple «f six-ton rubber U.S, Army poutoons, held together by a drop beam, which gave the raft terrific torsional flex. The thing literally bucked. We hung on to a rope, as if we were riding a bronco sidesaddlc. The pontoons are called J- tubes, because of the upturned nose. Military engineers developed them during the Se- cond World War to make instant bridges. It wasn’t until the Fifties that somebody dreamed up the idea of lashing them together to shoot rapids, and it wasn’t until the Sixties that anyone thought of doing it in B.C. Iho omakes an amavsing cratt, vapable oF floating same 12 fons oY materi ft has four com partments to each tubes ser thie event vou take a putictire. san stay afloat, fis muin feature is its flexible frame, which allows the nose of one pontoon to point skyward while the other is pointing down. Even though twisted fike a pretzel, it always springs back in- to shape. At the Frog rapids, a fang of rock stabbing up out of the siz- vling broth caused the water to go into a mad dance, and it was there, in those reversals with the haystacks punching upwards sometimes from directly below us, thar the action was to be found. The roar got into the middle of our heads, causing us to scream with excitement, It's now easy to ‘tread’ a river. During our trip, a candidate for a boatman’s licence was being trained. When the controls were handed over to a new guy — a kid, naturally — che change in our anxiety levels was dramatic. Even before the new rules, white-water rafting was hardly what you could cal! unregulated. The regulations, in fact, cover 12 pages. What it comes down to is simply this: the faster the rapids, the better the cash flow. River outfitters normally enjoy a 15 to 20 per cent return on their investment, which is a very tidy profit margin. People aren't going to stop do- ing this sort of thing. It’s too ex- citing. And too profitable. Tighter regulations are fine, but you can only be so safe in white water — and no safer. Guarantees are out of the question. You plunk your life down and take your chances. That's the way it is. Nobody is forcing you to go. But God, what a rush! LOSE 10-15 LBS. 20 INS. OR MORE IN ONLY 4 WEEKS 2 WEEK SPECIAL CONTOURS SLIMMING ano WEIGHT LOSS CLINIC UPTOWN STYLING SALON 1643 LONSDALE, N.VAN. 988-4042 City joins skateboard task force NORTH VANCOUVER City will parteipate an North Vancouver District's new task force examining skateboarding and related issues. eity councH decided Monday. Despre a city staff recammen- dation that participation was not Necessary, city council decided to send representation to the new skateboarding task force. ‘The city last spring took steps to ban skateboarders from busy. city sidewalas and on July 27 asked the North Vancouver Reereation Commission to look into providing ramps. The task force iy slated to give tis report to district council by Out. “T think we should have repre- sentatives an the task force,”* Ald. Ralph Hall said in support of the move. Zero , pins for savings of up t we've placed coloured pins on men's watches during August. in on the colourful everything from engagement © Look for U i DR. 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