.
Search
Email this articleE-mail this story  Discuss this articleWrite letter to editor  Discuss this articleOrder a classified ad

A slider's paradise

Kathleen Lippa
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (Nov 29/04) - At this time of year, when most kids are whizzing down the slippery, steep, snow-white hills all over Nunavut, you may wonder how the kids in Hall Beach get their sliding in.

Hall Beach is famously known as one of Nunavut's flattest -- if not the straight up flattest -- communities in the territory.

But never underestimate the heart of the Hall Beach slider. Where there is a hill, there is a way. Waylon Arnaqjuaq, a gung-ho Grade 3 student, said he goes sliding right outside his school's door.

There, a snow clearing truck has left a pile of snow about 10 feet high that makes every child's eye light up.

Grade 4 student Nala Ulluapak, 9, said Hall Beach may be very flat, but she goes sliding on that giant hill outside her school, too, and it is a lot of fun.

The snow even makes a natural drift there, too, because of the location of the steps -- which she also slides on -- and the way the gusts of wind form snow banks against the building this time of year.

Ulluapak recommends a plastic sled for the fastest, best sliding in Hall Beach. But lots of kids she knows also use the "Crazy Carpet" or wooden sleds.

Slide on down to Cape Dorset, and you've got too many hills to choose from.

On a scale of one to 10, Sam Pudlat school principal Ivan Payne would rate Cape Dorset a nine for slide-a-bility.

"Kinngait means hills," said Payne with a laugh. "We've got some of the best sliding for kids, oh yes."

Kimmirut, perhaps Nunavut's most dramatically hilly community, certainly looks like the ultimate slider's paradise at first glance.

But resident Ooloosie Tikivik said size isn't everything when it comes to sliding hills in Nunavut. Kimmirut undeniably boasts some of the largest hills in Nunavut, but many of them are also right in the middle of town where there are vehicles driving around.

Extra caution becomes a must.

"It's good, but it's the main street, eh?" said Tikivik.

So, when it comes to sliding, perhaps it really doesn't matter where you are in Nunavut after all.

Here's to you, Hall Beach sliders!