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This past football season, Tyson Bagent had more passing yards, more TD passes, more points, the highest percentage of completions and was leading the Rams to the top spot in team scoring average in the nation. Courtesy photo

SHEPHERDSTOWN The four touchdown games began to be stacked high. And the 300-yard passing games came with a noticeable regularity. For much of Shepherds closely-followed season, quarterback Tyson Bagent was completing more than 70 percent of his passes. As the Rams built a nifty winning streak, they bubbled toward the top of the national rankings. Bagent was beginning to be a known commodity across the football-playing landscape. People saw he was building statistics like Alabama and Nick Saban build would-be national championship teams.

The four-, five- and six-touchdown games became as regular as the sun rising in the east. The 300-, 400- and 500-yard passing games were commonplace. The Rams began to routinely appear in the ratings polls, settling into the Top 10 like their offense was settling into opponents end zones.

Ultra successful teams, like the Rams were becoming, attract the attention of people who dont even see them play. Individual players begin to gain attention and awards.

Bagent was honored by his own league the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference as its Offensive Player of the Week in his division, about as often as kickoffs sail through the end zone.

During Shepherds 10-1 regular season, Bagent piled up better numbers than any other quarterback in the country in the NCAA Division II ranks.

He had more passing yards, more TD passes, more points, the highest percentage of completions and was leading the Rams to the top spot in team scoring average in the nation.

Shepherd was 10-1, when the regular season was completed with a run-away win over Clarion.

On came the playoffs. Could the Rams duplicate the season they had in 2015, when they mowed down the opposition and won their way into the national championship game in Kansas City?

Shepherd trimmed Findlay (Ohio). And then came a last-seconds win over Notre Dame (Ohio), which was shown to viewers across the country.

Bagent was suddenly more than just a regional phenom.

As one of eight national finalists for the Harlon Hill Award (emblematic of the best player in all of the NCAA Division II ranks), Bagents star had risen to new heights.

When Shepherd repeated its heart-stopping win over Kutztown on the last play of the game, even more voters had to flock to his side in the balloting.

Even when the Rams were stopped and their season ended by Ferris State (Michigan) in the national semifinals, Bagent had literally amassed statistics that had to be seen as staggering.

In 15 games, 13 of which were Shepherd wins, he had thrown for an even 5,000 yards and completed 391-of-579 throws. He had 53 TD passes in all, had four touchdowns or more in nine of his 15 games and over 300 passing yards in 10 games.

When the final voting for the Hill Award was announced last Friday, Bagent was the winner. He had outpointed Nebraska-Kearney quarterback T.J. Davis and Northwest Missouri State running back Al McKeller as his closest pursuers.

He had joined Shepherd predecessors Damian Beane (1997, 1998 and 1999), Dan Peters (2006), Dervon Wallace (2007), Jeff Ziemba (2015 and 2016) and Connor Jessop (2017) as other Hill Award nominees. Bagent had been one of the eight Hill finalists in 2019. Beanes third-place finish in 1999 was the highest previous finish by any Ram.

On Jan. 14, Bagent will be in Little Rock, Ark. to claim the 64-pound Harlon Hill Award. And Shepherd will have further advanced on the nations football-paying map.

More here:
Bagent and his records enough to win Harlon Hill Award - Shepherdstown Chronicle

Monday 27th December 2021

By Katy Barden

When Scout Adkin won the GB junior trial ahead of the European Mountain Running Championships in 2011, she had the world at her feet.

A decade later, following a dominant performance at the British Championships and World Trials, the Moorfoot athlete is back on top domestically at least with an opportunity to scale the great global heights her talent once promised.

There is no tabloid-worthy scoop to explain those missing years, however. Adkins story is one of real life, commitment and a true love of the sport.

After I did the European Mountain Running Champs in summer 2011 I went off to study at University (Robert Gordon in Aberdeen) for four years which was great . . . but a physio degree is tough, explained Scout, who is coached by Angela Mudge.

You are in 9-5 pretty much every day, then youre on placements basically working full time but still having to do course work, assignments and so on.

Placements taught me the reality of full time work and trying to train as an athlete, and although I pretty much still managed to train through all of that, it wasnt good quality. I was exhausted.

Running was partly my way of coping with it all. Thats what Im so used to doing. I love exercise and I love being outside, so it kept me going.

Perhaps inevitably, Adkin experienced a bit of a dip in the summer that followed her graduation.

I think everything caught up with me, she admitted.

She then relocated to York a predominantly flat city which was in complete contrast to her favoured landscape to start her first job, a brave move considering she didnt know the city or anyone that lived there and was about to start working in a busy hospital.

To be honest, looking back, Im surprised I did it, she laughed.

It was full time but I could also be on call and on weekend cover, so all of that drains you. I was still doing a fair bit of training, but York was very flat, so I could only go out to a do a proper hill run or session at a weekend which wasnt ideal.

I also picked up some injuries over the first few years I was there, partly because I was doing a lot of flat road running. Then I picked up a breathing problem basically due to the air pollution in York, so that set me back a bit.

Running was and still is my coping mechanism. Working in a very busy NHS hospital in ICU, its stressful and running was how I managed to cope with that, but I knew something needed to change.

Adkin found a new job as a physiotherapist in a private sports injury clinic in the Lake District a home from home where shed spent many weekends training and moved at the end of 2018.

As it transpired, 2019 marked a turning point.

Once I got to the Lakes and got settled and my partner moved with me . . . everything just clicked,she said.

Its a great place to live and work. It just felt like ok, now Ive got the opportunity to really train and get my body back to where I knew it could be and it just took me that year (then another year due to Covid!).

Coincidentally, Adkin is currently treating her brother Jacob, the 2019 European Mountain Running champion, who finished fourth in the British Championships and World Trials in spite of picking up an injury mid-race which resulted in a chipped bone and ruptured ligaments.

The siblings, who have both been selected to represent Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the World Mountain Running Championships in Thailand in November 2022, were incredibly competitive in their junior years, but with experience has come an appreciation of what they can offer one another and the value of support.

When Jacob was Euro Mountain Running Champ, I was so happy for him, but it also motivated me to push myself and to believe I could get back there and do that, she said.

Because its so long since Ive been on a GB team, its reassuring to know hes there on the team with me.

Adkin has questioned her own perseverance in the midst of challenging times, but ultimately, she always believed she had the potential to get back to her best.

There were times when I was thinking, why am I pushing myself to get race fit, why dont I just do the odd 5k to keep me sane?. Then I kept thinking back to what I knew and know Im capable of. Deep down I had that self-belief and motivation, but that was tested quite a lot in those ten years.

After winning my first GB vest (as a junior in 2011), I knew Id be down the pack in the seniors but I thought Id build back up again, but every year went by and I just wasnt.

When youre racing and you know you can come 10 or 20 places ahead of where youre coming, thats really hard to stomach.

Adkins situation is not totally unique. The university years in particular often correspond with a drop off from the sport, but it is possible to continue, and, eventually, to thrive.

Dont worry if you feel like youre going backwards through uni, she stated.

As long as you enjoy what youre doing and it doesnt become an extra burden then youll make time for training and youll have the motivation to keep fit and keep racing, albeit accepting it might not be to the standard you were at before.

You have to accept that its going to be different compared to when you were at school and living at home, but the key is not to give up and to keep enjoying it.

When I felt like I was getting worse, getting slower, it was my love of getting out onto the hills that kept me going. Eventually you do come out the other side.

Tags:Scout Adkin

Weekend Round-up

International

Continue reading here:
Scout Adkin on the ups and downs of hill running - scottishathletics.org.uk

Seventy-fiveyears is a long time in the ever-changing world of ski and snowboard innovation.

It's also a long time to be in business in Calgary, with a retail landscape that doesn't stay the same for very long.

And Ski Cellar Snowboard has seen its fair share of changes since opening in 1946.

Founded by Al Compton, its first location wasin downtown Calgary before moving to a storeon 14th Street. Itthen settledinits current location on 17th Avenue in 1956. Compton was a founding member of Snow Ridge, which eventually became theFortress Ski Resort in Kananaskis Country.

Itstarted as ageneral sporting goodsstore focused mainly on hunting and fishing before transforming its basement into a ski shop and service department in the 1960s, which is wherethename Ski Cellar Snowboard came from.

"The originalname was The Sportsman," saidDan Russell, co-owner and general manager of Ski Cellar Snowboard and unofficialcompany historian. Skiing is in his blood; his dad and grandpa both worked inski shops.

You can still see The Sportsmansign at the back of the present day 17th Avenue store.

The Sportsmanstore changed hands in the 1970s when Hans Reinhardt, who had been running the ski department,took over.

Another two stores were added in the 80s and 90s inBownessand onMacleod Trailas more partners came on board. There's now one in the Frank King Day Lodge at Winsport as well.

If you look closely you'll find bits of history old skis, boots and equipment dotted around the stores. Walls of faded photos and old marketing postersdocumentthe decades of changing tech, partnersand staff members.

"In the '60s they started bringing in more ski equipment," said Russell. "Wehad Norquay, Sunshine, Lake Louise was starting out.

"Itwas a tough thing to get skiing but there were dedicated people. There were some real enthusiasts that really helped the shops along."

Russell says early in Calgary's ski scene, the only other store looking at skis wooden skis, at the time was The Bay.

"I still have a pair that were originally sold by my grandpa," he said. A long-time customer brought them in one day so Russellcould display them on the wall at Ski Cellar Snowboard.

"We've tried to keep some of the relics around the store to show the evolution of skiing and snowboarding and what's changed," he said.

A lot haschanged in the industry since the first pairs ofskis sold at The Sportsman. Changes in technology, shape and size, and the advent of snowboarding,have made Alberta's ski hills more accessible.

"It'sallowed more people to get into the sport, a lotmore intermediates to be out on the hill, more efficiency," said Russell."Everyone can enjoy the hill now."

Russell says that along with the history, there'sa lot of gratitude for the support from Calgarians and the skicommunitythey've received over the years.

He says the last two years have been historic too, but in ways he'd rather forget.

"In my history,COVIDis the most devastating thing to hit businesses across Canada. We shut down two years ago in March. Skiing was over within a few days," said Russell.

"There werea lot of skiers out there looking for some good spring skiing and it didn't happen. It was devastating on the whole market. That's our spring, our final push," he said.

Russell says so far this season is looking better. There's been an increase in customers looking to get outdoors and keep activeover the winter months.

"Skiing isn't just about the run down the hill. It's everything: the ride to the hill, going up the hill, having lunch with the family. The run is just a small portion of what skiing is," said Russell.

Russell says his grandchildrenare skiing now.He's hoping to keep both the sportand Ski Cellar Snowboardin the family.

"Seventy-fiveyears in business has been good and we're hoping to keep it going for longer."

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From wooden skis to COVID challenges: iconic Calgary ski store looks back on 75 years in business - CBC.ca

Photo credits, clockwise: Colin Miller, Related Companies, Colin Miller, Related Companies

The votes are in. The 2021 Building of the Year title belongs to Lantern House, thepair of bubbled towers on the High Line. The Chelsea condo project edged out the competition with 618 votes, or 23.9 percent of the 2,587 votes cast.Developed by Related and designed by Heatherwick Studio with SLCE Architects,Lantern Housecontains a mix of 181 one- to four-bedroom units split between the two towers, onewhich rises 10 stories and the other, 22 stories. This years contest was a photo finish, with The Brooklyn Tower in a close second place with 615 votes, or 23.8 percent of the total votes.

Photo: Colin Miller

Notable not only for being Thomas Heatherwicks first residential project in North America, but Lantern House is also one of the most unique looking new developments in New York.Heatherwick Studio, the firm behindVesselat Hudson Yards andLittle Island, designed Lantern House as a reinvention of the bay window, with itsexterior made to resemble a lantern. The unusual shape allows for lots of light and expansive views of the Hudson River, as 6sqft previously reported.

For our first residential project in North America, we wanted to design something that is interesting to look at and could be part of the view, Heatherwick said in a press release last year.People love to live in memorable places. For Lantern House, it was important that our design feel rooted in and of New York as much as possible.

Sales at Lantern Houselaunched last January, starting at $1.395 million for a one-bedroom and going up to $17 million for a four-bedroom.

Amenities include a glass lobby that connects the two buildings and is actually pierced by two beams from the High Line,an Equinox-curated healthclub, a landscaped rooftop, and a private courtyard designed by Hollander Design Landscape Architects.

Rendering:Binyan Studios

This years honorable mention is The Brooklyn Tower.The Downtown Brooklyn skyscraper, formerly known as 9 DeKalb, topped out at a height of 1,066 feet this year, becoming the boroughs first supertall and tallest tower.

Developed by JDS Development Group and designed by SHoP Architects, the project incorporates the landmarked Dime Savings Bank of Brooklyn and boasts over 100,000 square feet of amenities. With sales expected to launch at the building next year, we have a feeling this wont be the last time The Brooklyn Towerranks high inour annual competition.

Overall rankings:

1. Lantern House: 618 votes2. The Brooklyn Tower: 615 votes3. 200 East 83rd Street:315 votes4. The Olympia Dumbo: 145 votes5. 130 William: 133 votes6. & 7. 200 Amsterdam and Greenpoint Landing: 122 votes8. One Wall Street: 89 votes9. The Towers of the Waldorf Astoria: 76 votes10. 111 West 57th Street: 74 votes11. Rose Hill: 54 votes12. Brooklyn Point: 52 votes13. Central Park Tower: 51 votes14. 30E31: 50 votes15. Quay Tower: 40 votes16. Third at Bankside: 31 votes

Thanks for voting and congratulations to all the teams represented.

See all past Building of the Year winners here:

Tags : 515 West 18th Street, 9 Dekalb Avenue, Lantern House, The Brooklyn Tower

Neighborhoods : Chelsea,Downtown Brooklyn

See the rest here:
Announcing 6sqft's 2021 Building of the Year! - 6Sqft

After struggling through the Covid spring season, the Sobrato High girls soccer team is aiming to return to the top of the Central Coast Section landscape.

The Bulldogs have had a nice five-year run, reaching the CCS Division II playoff title match in the 2016-2017 season and the Division I championship contest in the 2019-2020 season, the last time there was a full season. Coach Miguel Gutierrez is hopeful this years team will excel as the season goes on.

Overall, things have been good and weve found our chemistry, said Gutierrez, whose team was 0-1-3 through the first four games of the season. Were hoping we get at least top three for our league which would get us into the CCS playoffs. I think if we get there, we can provide competition against the top teams.

Outside of winning, standout midfielder/defender Greenlee Kauinana said the teams priority is to have fun and enjoy the journey. Kauinana is happy to be back after missing the spring season due to a knee injury. She recently concluded her club soccer season with MVLA-ECNL, which included their under-17 team winning a national championship last July.

Despite receiving some opportunities to play in college, Kauinana said this will be her final season of her soccer career.

Its sad its coming to an end, but Ill leave with a lot of happy memories of course, she said. Sophomore year was probably one of my favorite memories and just being with the girls everyday and experiencing the whole journey together.

Gutierrez said Kauinana earned all state honors in her sophomore season and puts together great combinations with junior midfielder Chloe Gallipeo, who is another standout returner.

Greenlees ability to distribute the ball and her talent, I think thats what we needed last year to play that beautiful soccer Sobrato is known for, Gutierrez said.

For her part, Kauinana simply wants to score a goal this season. She certainly has the capability but her instinct is to pass the ball first rather than shoot so opportunities have been slim.

I want to try to go forward with the ball more because I tend to go backward and keep it easy, she said. So Im trying to challenge myself more to keep going forward.

Kauinana said shes come a long way since she was a freshman, when it was difficult to keep her composure at times playing against older girls. However, by her sophomore season, Kauinana had made some adjustments and ended up having another standout season.

Now Im able to stay pretty calm when Im out there, she said.

Gutierrez said his backline is deep with center back Kaila Sheldon and fellow seniors Sydney Mudrak and Angelica Chavez along with sophomore Chloe Brown, who possesses tremendous speed and can join the attack. Players like Chavez have improved and give Gutierrez optimism on the teams potential.

Angelica has developed her game and took on Greenlees role in the spring season, he said.

Gallipeo is the only Sobrato player who earned Blossom Valley League Mount Hamilton Division first team all league honors in the spring season. Fellow midfielder Sydney Nguyen provides tough, reliable play, and goalkeeper Kiersta Gurney is another member from the 2019-2020 team that is back for her senior year. So far, junior Kaelyn Sullivan, sophomore Kyra Ostenberg and sophomore Brooklyn Williams have been leading the way in goals scored.

Another sophomore, Taylor Charlet, also has the potential to be a difference-maker. Sobrato went 5-8-1 in the spring and didnt have a junior varsity team. Like a lot of programs, the Bulldogs struggled to put things together amid the return of high school sports. However, with a full season underway, Gutierrez is optimistic the team has what it takes to make a return to the playoffs.

They are fit, young and hungry, he said. We have strong leadership set up and want the older girls to provide a good example to the younger girls so when they leave, the team can be successful in the future.

Sports editor Emanuel Lee can be reached at [emailprotected] and (831) 886-0471, ext. 3958.

Continue reading here:
Sobrato girls soccer team aims to get back to the top - Morgan Hill Times

In 2021, local residents gained some new options for enjoying outdoor adventures. Eisenhower Park became the crossroads for the Salado and Leon trail systems, connecting an entire arc of greenway trails along San Antonios northern half. Friesenhahn Park in Northeast San Antonio also got a new paved trail. Heres a look back at those and some of the other spots visited by The Trailist this year:

Cyclists can now ride 20 uninterrupted miles of Salado Creek trail from Eisenhower Park to John James Park north of Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, the final gap left in the Salado trail. This section of the greenway offers the only outdoor rock climbing access in San Antonio, offering the lone entry point to Medicine Wall, a sport climbing area.

Riding the whole trail offers a unique perspective of our sprawling, ecologically diverse city. The trail starts amid rocky Hill Country terrain, transitions through open fields of prairie plants and mesquite and ends in the shady forest groves of Pecan Valley. Two friends and I rode the 20 miles from the Loop 1604 trailhead to the KOA Holiday campground on Gembler Road, stayed in a cabin that night, then finished the segment to Southside Lions Park the next day.

This park located near James Madison High School off OConnor Road offers almost a mile of concrete trail for hiking and biking and a shorter stretch of unpaved trail.

Its a quiet walk under shady trees, through small meadows of wildflowers and across a muddy, rocky creek bed crossing that likely swells with water during heavy rains. In some spots, thin hedges of 7-foot-tall sunflowers line both sides of the path.

Parkgoers can stay on the trail or take a little detour onto one of the many half-trails and traces that lead off into the woods.

Located in Leon Valley off Bandera Road, the natural area is a mostly wooded park, except for a nearly mile-long single-track dirt trail that cuts around the perimeter. Trail runners or those seeking a quiet walk in the shade will enjoy this area.

It was once a horse, mule and cattle pasture for the Joseph Huebner family, who built a homestead that was later associated with various ghostly legends.

The homestead itself remains fenced off to visitors, and a short stretch of paved greenway trail ends nearby. Eventually the park will link to San Antonios Leon Creek Greenway via its Huebner Creek artery.

Madla is a 42-acre park named after the late South Side state legislator who grew up in nearby Helotes.Its a quiet sanctuary with beautiful scenery and almost no trash in sight.

Located in Grey Forest, a 500-person community along Scenic Loop Road in Northwest Bexar County, the area features an expanse of restored prairie ensconced by relatively old-growth Hill Country forest. Bicycles arent allowed, and pets are only allowed on leashes; visitors need to stick to established trails. One of the parks four main routes is the Jon Allan trail, which starts on the edge of the meadow, then plunges under the tree canopy. It then circles a hill as it climbs to the edge of a cliff looking over Helotes Canyon.

Combined, the Culebra Creek and Helotes Creek greenways have about 2.5 miles of trail. That includes the paved trails along both creeks and a short section of gravel inside Culebra Creek Park, which also has a network of small paths through the forest and along the creek.

About a third of this park on San Antonios far West Side is made up of sports fields. The two creeks come together at the end of a strange concrete runway, a 1,000-foot-long path of 40-foot-wide concrete built on a ridge that separates the two waterways. With sparse trees and an open view of the sky, its a good place to sit and watch the sunset during cooler months. In the summer, the concrete creates an intense heat island effect that makes it tough to linger there too long.

This is a 300-acre park located between Blanco Road and Wilderness Oak north of Loop 1604. It has open terrain, broad views, interesting elevation changes and a network of single- and double-track dirt trails that branch off of the main trail. Its also relatively uncrowded and dog-friendly, a combination thats difficult to find in any North Side park.

Panther Springs is similar toStone Oak Park, which also is located in a flood plain area riddled with caves and other karst features.

Visitors looking for a quick jaunt can stick to the 3-mile concrete path that connects the parking lots at Parman Library to the parking lot at the northern trailhead off Wilderness Oak. The northern trailhead includes a 1.5-acredog parkwith separate areas for large and small dogs.

If San Antonio has any public land that one could call backcountry inside Loop 410, the forest at Southside Lions Park East is probably it. The area is about 250 acres, plenty to explore on foot, but the forest is too dense and the paths too unclear to make biking much fun.

Except for a gravel access road that cuts through the center from north to south, there are no formal paths on the property, just occasional traces cut by animals, off-trail walkers and unlawful off-roaders. The central access road leads to the Salado Creek Greenway on the north end of the property, and the city is building a 3-mileconnectionto extend the greenway from Southside Lions to Southeast Military Drive. Eventually, the plan is to join that trail to the Mission Reach.

In May and June, I make a habit of regularly checking Hill Country river gauges, looking to seize the opportunity following a rainfall when rivers become perfect for paddling.

In late April, the gauge for the Guadalupe River near the town of Comfort, about an hours drive northwest of San Antonio on Interstate 10, showed the river was running higher than it had been since May 2020. My girlfriend and I put in at Lions Park in Center Point, a town only 9 miles upriver from Comfort on State Highway 27.

This part of the Guadalupe alternates from broad, wide pools with brushy banks to narrow, cypress-lined channels that become mild rapids when the river flows at around 100 cubic feet per second or more. Aside from an occasional passing truck along Highway 27, the beeping and crunching of the quarry were the only human sounds we heard on the river that weekday. We loved having the river to ourselves, shared only with the deer and ducks we encountered along its banks.

On Memorial Day, a group of us decided to paddle the Upper Llano River upstream of Junction. The Llano often has a braided channel more akin to the Pecos or the Devils rivers than the nearby Guadalupe River. It forms countless mini-channels and islands of sun-bleached limestone rocks, held together by small trees and native grasses and flowers.

Upriver from Junction, the Llano is a series of long, flat pools with short sections of shallow, fast-water riffles where its easy to take a wrong turn. In the shallows, the river flows clear enough to watch fish and turtles swimming along its rocky bottom. The bald cypress trees that cast shade over the Guadalupe, the Frio and the Medina rivers are absent from the Llano, replaced by sparser sycamores and pecans.

We had planned a 17-mile trip but cut it about 5 miles short by pulling out at the entrance road toSouth Llano River State Park.

We had cool, cloudy weather on our paddle, with occasional squalls blowing through. But beware an afternoon on the Llano River during a hot day, when the sun can beat down relentlessly.

Read more from the original source:
The Trailist: Highlights from a year in the outdoors - San Antonio Report

In a pastoral scene that has changed little in centuries, farmers wearing red woollen ponchos gather on a December morning in a semicircle to drink chicha, made from fermented maize, and mutter an invocation to Pachamama Mother Earth before sprinkling the dregs on the Andean soil.

Singing in Quechua, the language spread along the vast length of the Andes by the Incas, they hill the soil around plants in the numerous small plots terraced into a patchwork up and down the Peruvian mountainside.

The Andes sustains one of the most diverse food systems in the world. Through specially adapted farming techniques, these farmers conserve a great variety of maize, also known as corn, and other biodiverse crops that could be key to food security as global heating causes a more erratic climate. Maize has been grown in Lares, near Cusco, for thousands of years, in one of the highest farming systems in the world. Choquecancha and Ccachin communities specialise in more than 50 varieties of the cereal in a myriad of different sizes and colours.

In the old days, the Incas grew these ecotypes and now we continue the path set down by our ancestors, says Juan Huillca, a conservationist in Choquecancha, a tiny mountainside village.

On a blanket are ears of corn ranging in colour from faintly yellowed white to deep purple. All have thick kernels and evocative names. Yellowish corncobs with red tinted kernels are called yawar waqaq (blood crier). White cobs flecked with grey, whose toasted kernels are served as crunchy canchita with Perus flagship dish ceviche, are more prosaically called chuspi sara (small corn).

Historians believe what is now the worlds most widely grown cereal crop was first domesticated by people in modern-day Mexico about 10,000 years ago and subsequently spread south down the spine of the Andes to reach Peru about 6,000 years ago.

Long before the climate crisis, these farmers ancestors adapted to growing crops in different niche ecosystems, from icy mountain peaks to sunny valleys.

In this landscape it would be difficult to produce just one variety of one crop, because in one year you can have frosts, hail, droughts or torrential rain, says Javier Llacsa Tacuri, an agrobiodiversity expert who manages a project to safeguard the farming techniques, which have been identified as one of a handful of globally important agricultural heritage systems.

With a few varieties, you could not face a farming year, so the response is to have many varieties. The frosts and hailstorms have always occurred and their ancestors knew how to face them, he says.

With more than 180 native domesticated plant species and hundreds of varieties, Peru has one of the worlds richest diversity of crops.

Backed by the UNs Food and Agriculture Organization, the project supports the farmers to preserve the native species, and Llacsa Tacuri and colleagues help find markets for the multicoloured corns.

Peru is one of eight places in the world which is considered a centre of origin for agriculture, says Llacsa Tacuri. The first inhabitants and their descendants the peasant farmers who are here started their adaptation to this landscape more than 10,000 years ago.

Huillca says his village and its neighbours are already feeling the climate crisis.

Diseases like stem rust or blight arrive, sometimes we get frost or hail. Thats why we have our seed bank in order not to lose our maize ecotypes, so we can recover what weve lost and resow those varieties, he says.

In a simple farmhouse in Ccachin lies the genetic heritage of thousands of years of crop domestication and variation. Dozens of types of dried kernels are stored in plastic containers for rainy days.

But many young people migrate to the city because this doesnt generate much income, Huillca adds. What we do doesnt bring enough income to sustain the family, so they move to the city.

Sonia Quispe, a maize conservationist in Choquecancha, says the harvest is half what it would normally be.

With the climate crisis, theres less harvest, but we substitute our diet with potatoes, she says. Its important to work with the different varieties of maize for our food security. With global heating, there are varieties that are more resistant to illnesses and pests.

Quispe can identify the variety of three-month-old maize shoots from the stalks. She explains that the ones with red at the base will produce red-tinted cobs with a bitter taste that repels pests, which are moving further up the mountain as the sun becomes more intense.

Julio Cruz Tacac, 31, a yachachiq, or farming teacher, who returned to Ccachin after studying in Cusco, has seen weather patterns change.

When I was little, the sun didnt shine with such intensity, the temperature was mild, he says.

Its as if we live in an Eden in terms of food products, we have everything to hand, he says of his childhood home. This is in contrast to city life, where everything is money, he says, and which became even harder during the Covid-19 pandemic Peru had the worlds highest Covid mortality rate.

The custom of ayni, reciprocal communal work, remains in these remote villages, but a bartering form of exchange, known as trueque, has been hit by the pandemics economic impact.

We go to the market and we trade with the fruit and coca from the farmers in the valley, says Genara Crdenas, 55, from Ccachin. But now with the pandemic the people dont want to barter, they want money.

Financial pressures have affected the villages traditional way of life, but their crops have helped them remain self-sufficient despite the economic problems.

Even so, the climate crisis presents new challenges, says 55-year-old farmer Victor Morales.

When I was young, the rains, the frost, all had their time. But today everything has changed. We had many types of potatoes and maize, now we have varieties which are more resistant to climate change.

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Read the original:
A seed for all seasons: can ancient methods future-proof food security in the Andes? - The Guardian

Few vehicles have arrived to fanfare like the revived Ford Bronco. Returning to the SUV segment after more than a quarter-century, the Bronco is unquestionably the 4x4 of the moment. In order to better highlight just how capable these machines are, Ford invited us to the desert around Las Vegas for a full day of off-roading. While the automaker chose to head west, in search of improved terrain and weather, nature had other ideas.

Its only fitting that my first proper off-roading experience in the American West was to take place behind the wheel of the new Bronco. I spent many days as a kid shuffling the steering wheel in my fathers 89 Bronco, dreaming of skipping along the sunny open desert. What I hadnt expected was for the sky to dump a bunch of snow on the desert the night before our outing.

As we began an early-morning ascent of Nevadas Mt. Potosi, the carnage of the prior days snow storm and subsequent freeze-thaw was evident. We passed several vehicles that had been abandoned by their owners, unable to trek back to the highway. Our transport driver joked that these machines would be forced into hibernation at the current rate. I worried my sheer inexperience might put me in a similar situation.

The summit looked more like Salzburg than Sin City. While the automaker hadnt intended for this trip to involve icy conditions, the team wasnt that put off by the powder. If anything it seemed like the engineers and executives were excited to show off the full breadth of the Broncos chops.

I selected a two-door Wildtrak trim, complete with the 2.7-liter V-6 and 10-speed automatic. Once the First Edition offering fades away for the 2022 model year, this Wildtrak will slot just below the upcoming Bronco Raptor as one of the range-topping models. The SUV comes loaded with a ton of hardware for dominating trails, including the much-desired Sasquatch Package. This off-road package includes upgrades such as 17-inch beadlock-capable wheels, larger 35-inch all-terrain tires, monotube shocks from Bilstien, upgraded differentials at both ends, and a unique 4.7:1 final drive ratio among other tweaks. Its a far more serious piece of kit than the old 89 I had sitting in the barn as a kid.

Our day was set to begin at Fords Off-Roadeo site, after which wed make our way out across the open desert and over the hills of the surrounding Bureau of Land Management property and the adjacent state land. While the lower elevation outside of the park itself would help eliminate the snow piles, the early part of the morning was unavoidably icy. This made our first challenge of the day, an articulation course over some bouldered terrain, nerve-wracking. While I knew the Off-Roadeo course wasnt going to push the limits of the Broncos suspension, sliding off your planned course was inevitable: the initial drop-in for the articulation test was completely iced over. We were essentially told to send it over edge and fight the urge to adjust the wheel until we stopped. At the precipice of the hill, it was determined that the Broncos Trail Control systemeffectively off-road cruise controlwould be key. While unable to fully fight against the ice, Trail Control effectively modulated wheelspin down the hill. That said, the drop-in was as close to an automotive luge experience as Id like to have. After coming to a halt inches from both a tree and a large boulder, I was at the start of my first articulation course.

From there, I was completely out of my off-roading element. Large rocks dotted both sides of the trail. Wheel placement became ever more crucial thanks to the weather conditions. With some help from the nifty front-facing camera and the G.O.A.T. modes, I slowly began to work my way through the course. I say slowly, as I routinely found myself fighting to catch up with the pack. Years of trying to keep cars in control on pavement worked against me, as excess counter-steering foiled the trucks ability to rise and fall with landscape. One of the Off-Roadeo trail guides popped by to drop a bit of wisdom.

You just have to trust the truck can do it.

Its not a revolutionary sentiment to someone in the know, but it was all that I needed to get settled in. Watching the line of Broncos ahead of me crest each obstacle, I began to feel more confident. As the articulation course came to an end, I was ready to let the Bronco do the hard work. Leaning on the expertise of my fellow drivers, we made our way into the open desert. After an hour or so of rolling, the Bronco fell into place in my head. Like the Wrangler with which it does battle, the Bronco is far more capable than most owners will have the pleasure of knowing. Its a machine for challenging your own limits, pushing personal boundaries, and experiencing the world less traveled. More than anything the Bronco is just plain fun to use on the trails, even if youve never done anything quite like that before.

Six-year-old me wouldve adored this thing, but not nearly as much as the adult me does.

Read more here:
Going Off Road, On Ice, Where the Bronco Shines - RoadandTrack.com

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