Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/118157
WIL DL IFE Flight SCHOOL WHETHER OR NOT the Harris hawk swooping toward my head will make contact is questionable, but I instinctively duck as the big raptor zooms past and alights on a nearby fence post. Evidently, surprising the spectators is all part of the fun when Pacific Northwest Raptors stages one of its Lower Mainland flying demonstrations. And when bird handler Robyn Radcliffe whistles, the chestnut-feathered beauty — named Tuari — returns to her gloved hand and receives a chunk of meat for its efforts. >> The show, which also includes aerial acrobatics by a captive-raised ferruginous hawk, saker falcon (pictured) and turkey vulture, is just one aspect of the program at the Richmond Raptor Festival — an annual August event that aims to raise public awareness and promote conservation of B.C.'s 32 raptor species. HOW TO BE A FALCONER The birds fly free at Pacific Northwest Raptors' home base in Duncan, which offers kids' camps, falconry workshops and educational outreach, including demos at Richmond's Raptor Festival (August 26), now in its fifth year. 250-746-0372; pnwrap tors.com; RaptorFestival: Richmond Nature Park, 604-718-6188 WATER SPORTS Wakey, Wakey BIG-AIR ADVISORY Abbotsford's Albert Dyck Water Ski Park is a man-made lake set to host the BC Summer Games' Towed Water Sports events — including wakeboarding. July 19 to 22. Port Alberni's Sproat Lake is another hub for freshwater aerial antics, as well as the site of this year's B.C. Wakeboard Provincials. August 10 to 12. WAKEBOARDING EXPLODED onto the watersports scene in the 1990s, much as snowboarding did in the mountains. And though the lake-shredding trend has flattened of late, two developments could reignite the sport this year: the possibility that the International Olympic Committee will add cable wakeboarding to the 2020 summer games, and the building of cable parks in B.C. >> Currently, there are 140 water parks worldwide where riders are pulled by an overhead cableski system instead of a boat. Only two exist in Canada, both of them back east. But future B.C. wave jockeys can still learn how just outside Penticton, under the tutelage of certified wakeboarders at Summerland Waterfront Resort on Okanagan Lake. HOW TO RIDE A WAVE The Summerland Waterfront Resort's boathouse school boasts merciful wind-protection (for beginners) at nearby sheltered coves, plus a competition boat, certified instructors and the latest gear. Wakeboard wizard Larry Pidperyhora shows how it's done: bcaa. com/wakeboard (saker falcon) Kerry Banks, (wakeboarders) Waterski & Wakeboard British Columbia p14-17_FreshTrax.indd 17 4/26/12 11:21:50 AM