Out & About

OUTGOING

Tip for city slippers

Ice fishermen often use a product that could save city folks from a visit to the emergency room.

This came to mind recently as a local orthopedist was a no-show at family ski outings because he was so busy mending bones.

“Ski injuries?” we asked.

“No, people are just falling on the ice around home and on the sidewalks,” his wife said.

The General Store, which carries everything ice anglers need, has several models of ice grabbers that can easily be strapped onto the outside of winter shoes or boots.

Inside: See The Gear Junkie’s gripping discovery, page T2.

OUTPADDLE

Telling a swell tale

What: Free multimedia show about six-week 2007 kayak circumnavigation of Haida Gwaii, the rugged archipelago off British Columbia’s northwest coast.

Who: By long-distance sea kayak adventurers Shawna Franklin and Leon Somme of Orcas Island-based Body Boat Blade. Program sponsored by Spokane Canoe & Kayak Club.

When: Monday, 7 p.m.

Where: Corbin Community Center, 827 W. Cleveland Ave.

Details: Having avoided glaciation in the last Ice Age, Haida Gwaii (Land of the People), is a unique biological zone dubbed the “Galápagos of the North.” Its natives are known for sea-going exploits through the region’s rugged coast. Cape St. James at the southernmost island is said to be the windiest place in Canada.

OUTDO

How’s your resolve?

Kent Larson of Spokane waited until the last chilling week in December before fulfilling his resolution to endure full emersion in Priest Lake in every month of 2007.

OUTLIVE

Avalanche ranks high

In Washington, avalanche deaths rank No. 1 among natural disasters — more than floods, fires, tornadoes and even volcanoes, according to the Yakima Herald Republic.

This year’s unstable snowpack already has led to nine avalanche fatalities, making the 2007-08 winter the third worst in state history, behind only 1910 (when a Stevens Pass avalanche slammed into two parked trains, killing 96) and 1981 (when 11 climbers died in an avalanche on Mount Rainier).

The period known for the most unstable snowpack is yet to come.

In the previous 10 winters, nearly 55 percent of the 406 North American avalanche fatalities came after Feb. 1, when rains create even more top-heavy slabs. Only 17 percent came before Jan. 1.

OUTLOOK

Best fishing times

Lunar tables from the U.S. Naval Observatory. Be fishing an hour before and after peak times.

(* indicates best days.)

Through Feb. 3

Today: 4 a.m., 4:20 p.m.

Monday: 4:40 a.m., 5 p.m.

Tuesday: 5:20 a.m., 5:45 p.m.

Wednesday: 6:05 a.m., 6:25 p.m.

* Thursday: 6:50 a.m., 7:15 p.m.

* Friday: 7:40 a.m., 8:10 p.m.

Saturday: 8:35 a.m., 9 p.m.

Next Sunday: 9:25 a.m., 9:55 p.m.

See the Hunting-Fishing Report

every Friday in Sports