"Life in the NT is best characterized as work hard, play hard and some might even add live hard,” she said. “It’s expensive to live here, small enough that gossip spreads like wildfire and is anything but typical. Often it really does seem like the last frontier – where you basically set your own course and dictate your own fate. There’s a fine line between success and failure, but I think that’s what makes the play hard aspect so much more rewarding. What I love about it is the sense of community. There’s an intangible link that connects all the people of the North. We look out for one another, we fight for what is best, and we stand up for the little guy. The Northern community is steeped in a rich history full of examples of resilience and perseverance. And there’s no shortage of incredible tales of hard work and survival – stories about early miners and prospectors like Charles Fipke or legendary Yellowknife pilot Bob Gauchie come to mind. How could you not be inspired?”
Sabel has a big appetite for adventure and exploring. It is just something entrenched in her character. She has biked, hiked and paddled throughout Ontario, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories,, Nunavut and Alberta. Sabel has paddled Lake Superior and Great Slave Lake, hiked in the Tundra and biked in the mountains. She has hooked and landed gigantic lake trout. She has plans to hike Akshayuk Pass and paddle the Nahanni River. Above all else, Sabel’s fiercest passion resides with mountain biking. She has put in considerable effort to help grow the mountain biking scene in Yellowknife and is part of a group looking to build a bike park.
Whatever she is doing outdoors, Sabel enjoys the experiences. They are all different and special in their own ways.
“There’s just something honest and humbling about being out in the middle of nowhere, seeing and experiencing what the world is truly like,” she said. “It’s a reminder, in our internet-addicted, instant gratification society, that doing hard things is good and feels good.”
Life in the Northwest Territories can be harsh, but beautiful at the same time. This fine balance strikes a chord with Sabel and the lifestyle she is presented with on a daily basis. She doesn’t find it that different from northern Ontario.
“Talking and complaining about the weather is kind of a Northern pass-time, so we have that in common,” Sabel said. “Winter up here is, of course, nippy, but it’s a dry cold. It doesn’t seem to chill you to the bone like it does back in northern Ontario. Crisp, quiet mornings up here at -45C can actually be quite nice. Aside from the weather, the NWT. is pretty similar to northern Ontario in many ways. The Canadian Shield, bare rock, pristine lakes, muskegs, great wetlands and vast expanses of wilderness - sound familiar? Sudbury and Yellowknife both have that hardscrabble mining town vibe, with the same weather-beaten, potholed roads and graffiti-covered shacks. They can both be tough and gritty, but have gold at their core. Both places certainly inspire adventure. It makes me feel right at home.”
Sabel knows her intrepid sense of getting outdoors came from her father, Franz. He left Europe as a young man with a backpack and a dream and moved to Canada in the early 70s to start a new life. It has helped her in life in many ways.
“That sense of adventure, curiosity, fearlessness and grabbing life by the horns was not lost on me,” she said. “In fact, I may have taken a page from his book, although my compass was pointed a little further North. Of course, I’m grateful for this. It has really defined me as a person. It has meant pushing the boundaries of whatever I thought possible both professionally and personally, and to not shy away from a challenge or hard work.”
Northern Ontario will always hold a big place in Sabel’s heart no matter where in the world she ends up. Her time spent on the pink sandy shores of pristine lakes and white mountains in Killarney along with old growth Temagami forests and Manitoulin Island and Searchmont among other places she frequented over the years will never fade from her memory. They are just as vivid and meaningful as the first day she encountered them. Sabel will always be a proud person from northern Ontario.
“Fall, winter, spring or summer, northern Ontario inspires,” she said. “No matter what, my heart will always be in northern Ontario.”