BOYLE - From Boyle to Brooks and back – that’s just over 1,000 km.
It’s also the distance Albert Karvonen put beneath his feet this winter, the furthest the 89-year-old has ever skied in a single season. And he did it all in his own back yard, so to speak, in the boreal forest, near Boyle, where he was born and raised and later settled to pursue his passion for nature, and capturing its allure on film.
“Last year, I skied 820 km, so I thought I would go with that as an objective and I exceeded that. I got 1,002 km,” said Karvonen from his home on the shore of Amisk Lake, near Boyle, the day before his 89th birthday last week. “It was just a personal challenge I had, and that’s what I did.”
Karvonen has been hiking and skiing through the forest in central Alberta for his entire life and aside from 24 years as a teacher and principal in Edmonton, that is exactly where he has been.
He cites maintaining good health as one of the major reasons for his interest in skiing, but the truth is, the pastime is in his blood as a child of Finnish immigrants, and it has always been a way for him to be outdoors, in the winter, to observe and document nature and its inhabitants.
“If you really feel down in winter, the best thing you can do is put on your jacket and your ski boots and get out to observe the outdoors. Nature,” he said.
Having grown up in the area, he moved away to the city to pursue his teaching career, but Karvonen, wife Pirkko and their children returned in the mid-70s, putting urban life behind them forever and moving permanently into their current home in the forest near Boyle and starting Karvonen Films Ltd., where they compiled one of the largest collections of wildlife video and photography in Canada.
Karvonen has seen great success in filmmaking since he left teaching, and has been the recipient of many accolades for his work as an independent filmmaker since. He was also the recipient of an Honourary Doctor of Science degree from Athabasca University in 2007.
Collections of his work can be found through Athabasca University as well as the Lois Hole Campus Alberta Digital Library.
Karvonen was able to follow his passion and become a wildlife photographer and after putting many miles under boot and ski over the years, he has no intention of changing anything now.
“It’s a lifestyle,” he said, but added he does enjoy the occasional modern luxury.
The Karvonen home is on the grid, using natural gas for heat and he quite enjoys the nature shows on satellite TV. He has also adapted to using a digital camera, which he takes out with him every time he goes out into the forest, rain, shine, or 35 below.
With another winter behind him, Karvonen will put his skis away until next year, but you can bet he will still be out in the forest, recording what he calls the magic of spring.
“It’s magic. It’s wonderful. I took a picture of a stream running into a lake yesterday, and that was magic … It’s just wonderful to see and to hear,” he said.
He is a man of science, but he finds it difficult to describe the natural world as anything but magic and he wants everyone to experience it in all its glory, unfettered. That was part of becoming a filmmaker – being able to share the truths of nature he has learned as a resident there.
“The forest produces oxygen, it helps to reduce floods and it’s a home for all living things, from the plants, to the bears, to the tiniest hummingbird. It’s an area that I really like talking about to other groups. What does the forest represent? What does it mean to you?”
“Look into nature and you will understand everything better,” Karvonen said, quoting Albert Einstein.
Chris Zwick,TownandCountryToday.com
