Life on the edge

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/03/2022 (1621 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Kelly Randall Ricketts can be described as a jack of all trades. Growing up on Vancouver Island and in B.C.’s interior with seven siblings, he learned to be independent and tough.

With the publication of his biography, One Inch From Disaster, his resumé includes author, singer-songwriter, logger, miner, horseman/wrangler, heavyweight boxing champion, fisherman and guide, taxidermist, sawyer, carpenter, builder, welder, mechanic, heavy-equipment operator, millwright and butcher, and he’s studied psychology and sports administration. He’s also married with nine children and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Let’s just say that Ricketts, now 66, has seen and done more than most people have ever dreamed of doing — especially when it comes to dangerous outdoor activities. Bow hunting bears, mountain goats and deer in isolated parts of B.C., along with fishing in the ocean off Vancouver Island, have given him plenty of fodder for spine-tingling stories. Like the old Timex watch commercial, Ricketts can take a licking and keep on ticking.

Ricketts writes honestly about his childhood. His family teetered on the edge of poverty after his father abandoned his mother and he and his siblings, and there was domestic violence and physical abuse within his home both before and after his father left.

His troubled home life caused Ricketts to become self-sufficient at a young age. He recounts going into the golf ball business with a friend when he was 12; the two boys discovered a treasure trove of lost golf balls alongside a Kelowna golf course. By retrieving and reselling the balls, they earned spending money over the summer. It was when a golfer commended them for their initiative and bravery that the boys found out that the grassy area where they were picking up balls was the natural habitat of rattlesnakes.

Many of Ricketts’ tales are cautionary as he continually learns what not to do in the great outdoors. An example: his decision to follow a pair of young wolves along a logging road, armed only with a bow and arrows.

When the wolves he was following suddenly vanished into the bush, Ricketts heard noises coming from all around him, and he realized he was surrounded by a large pack of wolves. There he was without a gun, but his fear turned to anger and he screamed, “Come and get me! I’ll kill you all!” Luckily for him the wolves didn’t respond to his dare — he later heard that a huge pack of about 40 wolves had been seen in the area.

Bow hunting bears isn’t a sport for the faint of heart — and it’s wise to make sure the bear is dead before you plan to skin it. Ricketts found this out the hard way when a bear he shot with an arrow disappeared from his view. Climbing over logs to where the bear lay, he grabbed one of the bear’s rear legs; the animal tried to swipe at him, struggling to free itself from where it was wedged. Notching his bow again for a second shot, Ricketts watched as the bear’s strength waned and death came. He then made absolutely sure the animal was a goner before he began skinning it.

In some stories, Ricketts describes being injured in ways that would keep most people from ever risking their lives again. There was the time when he was cutting trees down on a steep hillside. He was up against a deadline, as he had to deliver the felled trees to a log broker by that afternoon to pay off a loan. He took a calculated risk when tackling the last tree, but his luck ran out. The tree rolled down the hillside over Ricketts’ head before the end of the tree crashed down onto his back. Rushed into the emergency ward, the doctor told him that his lungs had both collapsed and his ribcage had compressed over four centimetres. After he was given treatment to restore his breathing ability, he headed back to his property to haul the last logs to the broker and pay off his loan.

Ricketts knows how to tell a good story and keep his audience on the edge of their seats. One Inch From Disaster is well-written and entertaining — a book for those of us who would rather read about, than personally engage in, very dangerous activities.

Andrea Geary is a freelance writer in Winnipeg.