| Incomappleux River | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Incomappleux inland rainforest | |
  Location in British Columbia | |
| Location | |
| Country | Canada |
| Province | British Columbia |
| District | Kootenay Land District |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Illecillewaet Neve |
| • location | Selkirk Mountains |
| Mouth | Columbia River |
• location | Upper Arrow Lake |
• coordinates | 50°44′48″N 117°42′47″W / 50.74667°N 117.71306°W[1] |
| Basin size | 1,020 km2 (390 sq mi)[2] |
| Discharge | |
| • location | near Beaton[2] |
| • average | 55.8 m3/s (1,970 cu ft/s)[2] |
| • minimum | 4.76 m3/s (168 cu ft/s) |
| • maximum | 570 m3/s (20,000 cu ft/s) |
| Basin features | |
| Progression | Incomappleux Valley |
The Incomappleux River is in the West Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia, Canada. Entering the Beaton Arm of Upper Arrow Lake, the river is a major tributary of the Columbia River. The upper reaches of the Incomappleux valley are home to some of the only inland temperate rainforest in the world.
The area has been studied since 2000 by Valhalla Wilderness Society as a part of their Inland Temperate Rainforest campaign, and the upper Incomappleux was included in the Selkirk Mountain Caribou Park proposal after groundbreaking biodiversity research by biologists Toby Spribille and Curtis Björk, sponsored by Valhalla Wilderness Society, found over 300 species of lichens in the Incomappleux, most of them in the ancient forest. This included seven species new to science. The Incomappleux Valley has been the subject of two films, one by Riel Marquardt, and more recently the VWS film Primeval: Enter the Incomappleux, by award winning documentary filmmaker, Damien Gillis. VWS Director Craig Pettitt and biologist Amber Peters toured the province with the film. The Incomappleux Valley was declared a conservancy in 2023 but the remainder of the Selkirk Mountain Caribou Park proposal, containing critical old growth inland rainforest corridors still remains unprotected. The valley is in the traditional territory of the Sinixt First Nation and its protection was supported by the autonomous Sinixt.
In 2003, the Mount Hope expedition occured :
Led by Michel Bastien : A specialist alplinist who hiked 200 mountains around 4 continents, including the Aconcagua and the Kilimandjaro, an ex-paratrooper.
Yves Laforest : First french canadian to climb Mount Everest, a social figure of alpinism in Quebec.
Aurélie Chabaud : A visual artist from France, responsible for capturing the expedition in video.
Martin Champagneur, a multimedia student at the time, adept of trekking and river rafting.
The expedition in the mountains was a fund-aid campaign for Leucan, an organism that wants to find a cure for Leukemia.[3]
After the expedition of Mount Hope and Mount Charity, the team decided to do rafting on kayaks back to the base camp, on the Incomappleux River.
3 persons out of 4 disapeared during this river descents on kayaks.[4][5]
Michel Bastien, Yves Laforest and Aurélie Chabaud are still missing.
Martin Champagneur was discovered, alive, after 6 days of surviving in the woods. He coudln't light a campfire and was in a territory where grizzlies, wolves and coyotes can be.
A helicopter that was fighting wildfire in the area discover him, with his kayak, by the river.
The families, friends, the local population and the police tried to search for the three others adventurers for weeks.[6][7]
- ^ "Incomappleux River". BC Geographical Names.
- ^ a b c "Archived Hydrometric Data Search". Water Survey of Canada. Archived from the original on February 21, 2009. Retrieved October 19, 2008. Search for Station 08NE001 Incomappleux River near Beaton
- ^ "Three kayakers missing after spill in B.C. river". The Globe and Mail. 2003-08-06. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
- ^ "La disparition des alpinistes Yves Laforest et Michel Bastien - Les recherches reprendront en septembre". Le Devoir (in French). 2003-08-22. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
- ^ ICI.Radio-Canada.ca, Zone Aucun thème sélectionné- (2003-08-08). "Toujours pas de nouvelles des trois alpinistes". Radio-Canada (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2024-09-28.
- ^ Otis-Dionne, Geneviève (2003-08-16). "Disparition des alpinistes Laforest et Bastien - Point final sur les recherches". Le Devoir (in French). Retrieved 2024-09-28.
- ^ "La disparition des alpinistes Yves Laforest et Michel Bastien - Les recherches reprendront en septembre". Le Devoir (in French). 2003-08-22. Retrieved 2024-09-28.