December 2018
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Revelstoke affordable housing focus Caribou penning project draws to close Revelstoke ski industry manufacturing innovators Pro photographers spotlight
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CONTENTS
Creative Director Aaron Orlando The Revelstoke Mountaineer Magazine is a free monthly publication featuring the best of Revelstoke outdoor life, food, style, visitor experiences, lifestyles, entertainment, home style, and healthy living. Each month we distribute 3,000 free copies to over 200 public venues across Revelstoke, including accommodations, shops, restaurants, cafes, community centres, bars, and everywhere people meet. We are an independent, locally owned publication dedicated to showcasing our amazing mountain town and the great people who create the stoke. For more information, including details on our very affordable advertising rates, please contact us: www.revelstokemountaineer.com on the advertising tab.
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Looking back on Revelstoke’s successful 2018 arts extravaganza
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NEWS BRIEFS
What’s next after Greyhound?
8
STYLE FEATURE
Checking in with Revelstoke metal artist Kat Cadegan
10 DECEMBER EVENTS
Find out what’s happening around Revelstoke this month
14 NEW SHRED CLUB
Revelstoke Snowboard Club takes shape
16 A GOOD FIT
250-814-8710 info@revelstokemountaineer.com
PO BOX 112, 606 Railway Avenue, Revelstoke, B.C. V0E 2S0
18 BOARD BUTTER
Local entrepreneurs use tech to fit into the competitive bootfitting market Revy entrepreneur creates eco-friendly ski and board wax
20 REAL ESTATE UPDATE
Get the latest Revelstoke market stats
Contributors
21 HELI-BIKING
LUNA FEST 2018
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Mt. Cartier heli-biking appli cation denied by province
Canuck Splitfest presenter reflects on patience in the mountains
Looking back at Revelstoke’s maternal caribou penning project
An obsessive hunt for the lat est snow info
Local photographers share their journey into pro careers
Revy traffic control person takes action after witnessing carnage on the TCH
Revelstoke’s Mickey Olson dedicated his time to helping out on the Nordic trails
What food to pack on your Did you know the Modern was next backcountry touring ad dragged uptown by horses? venture
34 HOUSING SOLUTIONS What other resort towns are doing to create affordable housing
We checked in with Revelstoke Mountain Resort’s newest retail offerings
45 HEALTH
32 A SLICE OF HISTORY
44 REMEMBERING MICKEY
30 ON THE GROUND
40 PEAK STYLE
26 EXPOSURE
Housing study puts numbers on Revelstoke’s housing crisis
38 CARIBOU PENNING
24 WEATHER WATCHING
37 NO VACANCY
23 PATIENCE
Housing Society seeks to build affordable rental building
46 INSTA #revelstokemountaineer Insta selects
36 COMMUNITY HOUSING
The Revelstoke Community
COVER PHOTO Kyle Lamothe dips into the trees in the backcountry at Sol Mountain Lodge. Photo: Ryan Creary Aaron Orlando
Alex Cooper
Amaris Bourdeau
Bryce Borlick
Shannon MacLean
Katie Langmuir
Louise Stanway
Michael Wigley
Heather Hood
Emily Beaumont
Claudia Bambi
Creative Director
Melissa Jameson
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LUNA 2018
Clockwise swirl from left: 1. The Roxy Theatre featured large projections. 2. Lucie Bergeron’s Octopus hung in the alleyway behind the Explorer’s Society Hotel. The octopus and its electric friends appeared to dance as the lights flickered. 3, 4. The Bicycle Arch by Trent Kappler featured about a dozen bikes welded together and adorned with lighting. When you turned the pedal, the whole machine moved. 5. In the Circle in the Chubby Funsters courtyard was a large interactive sculpture that reacted to the sound and vibrations of the passing children. 6. Hayley MacIntyre’s Anthropocene adorned the Castle Joe’s Books hideaway courtyard just off Mackenzie Avenue. The work was a representation of our current geological era, where human activity, such as our prolific throw-away culture, is defining the epoch on a global scale. The composition was made entirely of disposable materials, like Tim Hortons cups, and sought to force the viewer to consider the consequences of the trash our disposable culture creates by making them consider it. 7. Rob Buchanan, Jessica Leahey, Greg Hoffart converted the Grizzly Plaza bandshell into a plastic and wood tetrahedron fish bowl complete with fishes, coral, a submarine, and other ocean inhabitants. 8. Zusana Riha’s amazing bear and caribou sculptures were made from recycled materials. Photos by Aaron Orlando/Revelstoke Mountaineer Magazine
By Aaron Orlando When I moved to Revelstoke a decade ago, the arts scene was very different, and certainly not as robust as it is today. There was no Revelstoke Performing Arts Centre, no Art First! gallery, and no comedy scene, to name a few. On an average weekend, there were a couple of live bands in town; now, that’s more like a Tuesday night in winter. There was a smattering of photographers and videographers, but the digital tools that have allowed them push the story of Revelstoke’s backcountry culture out to the world were still nascent. Some things remain the same: both then and now, the arts scene was and is driven by a core group of dedicated volunteers doing the often unheralded hard work behind the scenes to maintain the many programs and facilities that we enjoy, including galleries, youth programming, monthly shows, diverse artists’ facilities, and touring arts performances. The Revelstoke Arts Council (RAC) does so much with often 4
very little to provide a strong foundation for the arts in the community. But, if you listened to the murmurs, there were persistent complaints of a disconnect. Revelstoke has experienced a big youth movement in the past decade. A recent housing study highlighted the comparatively large and growing new twenty-something demographic. From the artists among them, there were complaints their new forms of expression somehow didn’t fit into the existing programming. For their crafts, arts and other works, they sought an ongoing social connection with the community, which wasn’t best realized in a formal setting. They wanted more interaction and feedback, and often gravitated to the local farm and craft market scene to get that connection. Over the past few years especially, this has really began to shift, as newcomers to the community have integrated into the organized arts scene, realizing that the opportunity to shape the scene was right there. All you needed to do was get involved and put your shoul-
der into it to shape the community to your vision. What the LUNA Nocturnal Art & Wonder fest has achieved in its second year is a synthesis of artistic expression that reflects what a youthful community wants to see in a big art festival: thousands of people coming together for an inclusive art party for everyone. It’s a chance to be social and expressive at the same time. I chatted with a few attendees the day after the Sept. 28 festival, and the consensus was the 2018 LUNA was a blast. It had something for the kids, something for the late-night partiers, and everyone in between. Congratulations to the RAC, the LUNA core team of Victoria Strange, Miriam Manley, Rob Buchanan, Jana Thompson, Izzy Lynch and the dozens of volunteers for pulling off another great festival. LUNA fits Revelstoke like a custom-fit ski boot liner and will be welcomed as an annual highlight in the years to come.
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NEWS BRIEFS
A Greyhound bus makes a stop at Crowsnest Pass Summit
From ride sharing to professional charter services, plenty of options are popping up to help fill the gap By Melissa Jameson Greyhound Canada’s decision to cease its Western Canadian routes, effective Oct. 31, 2018 , left thousands of individuals concerned about a sudden gap in ground transportation services for individuals who don’t, or prefer not to, drive on the highway. That gap in services is starting to see some closure as a variety of ground transportation options, from rideshare apps and social media groups to professional charter service companies, are popping up.
Companies stepping up to help fill the gap in ground transportation options are also finding out operating costs play a large factor in the frequency of service offered. Rider Express had originally planned to offer service from Vancouver to Calgary up to seven days a week starting this winter, but has dropped that service to only once a week. Even established companies like Everything Revelstoke are finding cost is a big factor. Lara Davis, sales and service manager at Everything Revelstoke, said while some people are deterred by the cost of the service, the prices reflect their commitment to providing a quality service.
Why is Greyhound Canada no longer running bus- What are the options for ground transportation? ses in Western Canada? In an announcement posted on its website, Greyhound Canada says despite taking a number of cost reducing steps, the company’s ridership continued to decline, dropping nearly 41 per cent across the country since 2010. Stuart Kendrick, senior vice president of Greyhound Canada said, simply put, the company is no longer able to operate.
Whether you’re wondering how you’ll make it to the Kelowna Airport for your flight, or need to get to a business meeting in Calgary, there are a number of options available.
Ride share options Cost $-$$
Pop a Ride Pop a Ride is a website and app that allows drivers and passengers to connect. Prices vary on Pop a Ride as drivers set the rates they’d like to receive. Passengers are provided with information such as the type of vehicle a driver has, whether it allows luggage, pets and extra gear like skis. Learn more at www. poparide.com
Revy Ride Share This Facebook group currently boats over 5,000 members. Members of the group can connect with each other either looking for, or offering, space in a vehicle headed to various destinations to and from Revelstoke. Learn more at https://www.facebook.com/groups/revelstokerideshare
Professional shuttle services Cost $$-$$$$ Kelowna Stoke Shuttle Operated by Everything Revelstoke,
the Stoke Shuttle is currently the only professional shuttle service from Revelstoke to the Kelowna Airport. Learn more at everythingrevelstoke.com/transportation.
Everything Revelstoke private charters In addition to the Stoke Shuttle, Everything Revelstoke also has a number of private transfer options available. It’s also an economical option for those travelling in groups of six or more, as the cost of a private charter is less than the total cost if each person paid for a seat on the Stoke Shuttle. Learn more at everythingrevelstoke.com/transportation.
Rider Express At the time of publication, Rider Express was offering a once a week service from Calgary to Vancouver with a stop in Revelstoke. The company was looking to increase service to twice a week or more once ridership increased. Learn more at riderexpress.ca. Those wanting to book travel from Revelstoke need to contact Rider Express directly at contact@riderexpress.ca or 1-833-583-3636.
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NEWS BRIEFS
Smooth transition so far for Revelstoke cannabis legalization City has received no complaints so far regarding public use By Melissa Jameson The transition to recreational cannabis use legalization has been a smooth one for Revelstoke so far, say local regulatory authorities. The City of Revelstoke’s director of corporate administration Dawn Low says so far there have been no complaints received regarding cannabis use in public spaces. City bylaw operates on a complaint-basis, but Low said bylaw officers will also provide the public with education regarding the new laws. Recreational use of cannabis is regulated under the city’s Clean Air Bylaw. Brochures explaining the local rules are available at the Revelstoke Tourism Information Centre. The city also made the Clean Air Bylaw its “bylaw of the month” during the month of November, said Low. You can still access the page
A cannabis retail shop is in the works for Revelstoke, but no ETA yet. by visiting revelstoke.ca, then choosing Bylaw Enforcement Services from the city services drop-down menu. Revelstoke RCMP Staff-Sgt. Kurt Grabinsky said police have not seen a considerable change in the community since the legalization of cannabis. Grabinsky told the Mountaineer that Revelstoke RCMP continue to seize illegal cannabis when necessary and have issued violation tickets for consumption in a vehicle, and to drivers where they have cannabis accessible while operating the vehicle.
How are Revelstoke RCMP managing the transition to legalization? Grabinsky said the police officers have had a great deal to learn with the recent introduction of federal legalization and municipal bylaws. The detachment
commander said Revelstoke RCMP are continuously reviewing documents to clearly understand the laws, seek legal expertise when necessary, and are providing the public with some educational information. The police encourage those with questions to seek out official websites. Revelstoke RCMP has also met with local liquor establishments to discuss the new Cannabis Act and ensure the laws are being followed to help maintain public safety.
Possible cannabis business in the works for downtown Revelstoke The City of Revelstoke has received several serious inquiries regarding recreational cannabis retail storefronts, but so far only one official application. Applications for cannabis sales are
regulated through the B.C. government’s Liquor & Cannabis Regulation Branch and are referred to the city for comment and consideration. At the time of publication, Low said the city was currently putting together notifications to be sent out to businesses and residents in the vicinity of the proposed downtown location. Low said so far the process has been smooth as the cannabis regulations are based on the already existing ones for liquor licensing. While the proposed recreational cannabis retail storefront still has a number of steps before approval can happen, Low said if the city turns it down then the BC Liquor & Cannabis Regulation Branch will also deny the application. However, should the application meet all of the requirements, including those around distance from public places frequented by children and youth, it’s unlikely that would happen.
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Organic styles Kat eschews chemical processes for natural alternatives. Photo: Zoya Lynch
Kat Cadegan Jewellery Revelstoke jeweller uses sustainable methods to create nature-inspired, hand-crafted art.
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STYLE
Immersion From India, to Mexico to the Atlantic coast, Kat studied her craft around the world. Photo: Zoya Lynch
By Louise Stanway Kat Cadegan’s hands are always moving — whether she’s chipping away at her newest gem-stone ring set (sourced from a recent trip to India), or collecting materials for an up-coming project — this Revelstoke-based entrepreneur is a perfectionist in her craft. An adventurer at the core, Kat finds inspiration while playing in the outdoors. “I don’t necessarily set out to find ideas,” she admits. “They just seem to find me.” Whether she’s out ski touring, mountain biking, or simply walking her dog, Kat’s eyes are constantly drawn to nature’s intricate patterns and peculiar textures. Leaves, feathers and bones, are simply a few gathered treasures that have been eternalised through her creations. Mountain life aside, Kat’s passion for travel plays a big part in her work. Her journey as a jeweller began in 2006, when, discontent with her science-based career path, she realized life was pulling her in a different di-
rection. Towards India — to be more precise. Immersed in the gems, jewels and rich cultural traditions of Delhi, she spent the next six months mastering the art of silversmithing. With her new passion crystalized, she then travelled to the mountains of Northern Mexico, to study her medium for a further two years. Her road eventually led her back to the mountains of B.C., where she completed her education at the Kootenay School of the Arts in Nelson. Kat and her husband Phillipe (a.k.a. best friend and unofficial business partner), have now found their forever home here in Revelstoke. And, as it happens, their beliefs align perfectly with the town’s green ethos. What others may see as worthless, Kat sees as reusable. “This town cares a lot about handmade and sustainable products,” she explains, “people love to buy local — they want to know where their purchases are coming from.” Recycling materials is just one of the steps that Kat takes towards
making her practices sustainable. Emblems of culture — namely coins and trinkets — collected from her travels, are reborn in her necklaces, bracelets and rings. In a chemical-dominated industry, Kat goes the extra mile to keep her processes environmentally-friendly. In her studio, natural citric acids are used as a substitute for standard pickling (cleaning) acids. For polishing, organic dish soaps are used as an alternative to standard high-estrogen tumbler compounds. What’s more, she even uses biodegradable plastic to package her products. Moving forward, Kat wishes to return to India to investigate the conditions of the mine-workers first-hand, to ensure that even her materials are sourced in a socially responsible way. Check out Kat’s work on Instagram @katcadegan and online at www.katcadegan. com. She also sells her work locally at Garnish boutique in downtown Revelstoke.
Kat Cadegan Kat creates her original works in her studio at the Revelstoke Visual Arts Centre. Photo: Keri Knapp
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ENTERTAINMENT VISIT REVELSTOKEMOUNTAINEER.COM/CALENDAR FOR MORE DETAILS AND TO SUBMIT YOUR OWN EVENT FOR FREE FOR INCLUSION ONLINE AND IN OUR MONTHLY PRINT CALENDAR. *Please check the event on the day as details may change*
WEEKLY EVENTS MONDAY Soup and a Smile @ Revelstoke United Church 11:30 a.m.–1p.m. Enjoy soup and a sandwich each week at the Revelstoke United Church. Cost is by donation or free for those who cannot afford to pay.
TUESDAY Hip Hop Tuesdays @ Traverse 9 p.m. Revelstoke’s favourite night to party! All hip-hop all night!
WEDNESDAY Free meditation @ Balu Yoga 7:30 a.m. Enjoy a guided meditation using the easy and accessible practice known as Sadhana. No experience required and all are welcome.
Brown Bag History @ Revelstoke Museum & Archives 12:15 p.m.–1 p.m. Every other Wednesday listen to museum curator Cathy English talk about Revelstoke history.
Women’s ice hockey drop in @ Revelstoke Forum 8:25 p.m.–9:25 p.m. Get out and have some fun! All skill levels welcome $10 drop in. Equipment available to help get you started. Check out Revel-
stoke Women’s Hockey on Facebook for more info.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1
Open Mic Night @ Last Drop Pub 10 p.m.
Opening Day at Revelstoke Mountain Resort 8 a.m.
The Last Drop welcomes all jammers and singers. Come out and join in with a friendly relaxed atmosphere.
THURSDAY Revelstoke Winter Farmers Market @ Revelstoke Community Centre 12 p.m.–5p.m. The Winter Farmers Market brings together farm and craft vendors from Revelstoke and beyond. The market takes place every second Thursday.
Family night out @ Columbia Basin Alliance for Literacy 5:30 p.m.–7p.m. An evening program with lots of fun activities for families with children of all ages. A light meal is provided. Call 250-805-2305 for more info.
FRIDAY Darts & Karaoke @ Revelstoke Legion 7p.m.–12 a.m. Darts starts at 7 p.m. Karaoke starts at 9 p.m.
Drop-in Curling @ Revelstoke Forum 7 p.m. Give curling a try in a non-competitive environment. Cost is $5 and includes instruction and equipment use. Bring clean running shoes to wear on the ice. Starts Dec. 14.
EVENTS
Revelstoke Mountain Resort officially opens for the 2018/19 season!
Breakfast with Santa @ United Church 8:30 a.m. Enjoy a very merry breakfast and personal visit with Santa. Three seating times available: 8:30 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m. $8/adult, $6/child. Tickets available at the Community Centre or the Revelstoke United Church.
7 p.m. Watch the Revelstoke Grizzlies as they take on the Princeton Posse in Junior B hockey action.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8 ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas @ Revelstoke Performing Arts Centre. 3 p.m. Ballet Victoria’s The Nutcracker
Francophone Holiday Dinner @ Revelstoke Legion Hall 5:30 p.m. Bring a food dish to share and plate/cutlery. Welcoming to all Francophones and Francophiles. Dinner at 6 p.m. $3/person or $10/family.
Far Out Revelstoke Film Premiere @ Eternal Riders Hall 7:30 p.m. The Eternal Riders host a fun night with TGR’S Far Out. Tickets $10 @ Skookum Cycle and Ski. Enternal Riders Hall is located at 622 2nd Street West.
BC/DC @ Traverse 9p.m. Kootenay party legends BC/DC belt out the Acca Dacca at Traverse. Tickets $15 available at The Regent Hotel and Society Snow & Skate.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7
Join Dufflebag Theatre as they give a quirky take on a beloved seasonal tale. Dufflebag’s goofy antics tickle kids’ funny bones and their wittiness entertains the adults. Tickets are $10 adults, $5 children available online at revelstokeartscouncil.com.
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 11 Artist Reception & Celebration @ Revelstoke Library 6 p.m.–8p.m. The Revelstoke Library hosts an exhibit of recent work from Revelstoke Secondary students in Grades 10–12. The exhibit runs until March.
Revelstoke Grizzlies @ Revelstoke Forum
Enjoy the holiday season!
PRESENTED BY
DECEMBER SHOWS TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS BY DUFFLEBAG THEATRE Tickets Adults $10, Kids $5
Saturday Dec 8, 2018 3:00pm
THE NUTCRACKER BY BALLET VICTORIA Tickets Adults $25, Kids $10
Sat Dec 15, 7pm & Sun Dec 16, 3pm 2018 Tickets available at the Visitor Centre & online at www.revelstoketheatretickets.com
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TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS BY DUFFLEBAG THEATRE
THE NUTCRACKER BY BALLET VICTORIA
ENTERTAINMENT
DECEMBER 2018 The Nutcracker @ Revelstoke Performing Arts Centre 3 p.m.
The CP Rail Holiday Train arrives on Dec. 14
Join the professional dancers of Ballet Victoria and the young dancers of Revelstoke as they take you to a fantasyland of music, wonder, movement and joy. Tickets $25 adults, $11 children available online at revelstokeartscouncil.com.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14 CP Holiday Train @ Victoria Road next to CP Rail parking lot 5:30 p.m. This year’s CP Holiday Train features performances by Sam Roberts Band, Kelly Prescott & Tracey Brown.
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 23
MONDAY, DECEMBER 17
Nightly Bonfire @ Revelstoke Mountain Resort 4 p.m.–6 p.m.
Christmas Unplugged @ Revelstoke Alliance Church 7 p.m.
MONDAY, DECEMBER 24
Revelstoke Grizzlies @ Revelstoke Forum 7 p.m.
Stand-up comedy, Christmas carols and improv are all wrapped up into a one of a kind Christmas event with clean comedian Leland Klassen and Christian recording artist Dan Macauley. For more info contact the Alliance Church at 250-837-4008.
Watch the Revelstoke Grizzlies as they take on the Chase Heat in Junior B hockey action.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21
RMR guests can celebrate the holiday season with free hot chocolate and a bonfire right in the centre of the village plaza.
Nightly Bonfire @ Revelstoke Mountain Resort 4 p.m.–6 p.m. RMR guests can celebrate the holiday season with free hot chocolate and a bonfire right in the centre of the village plaza.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 15 Nightly Bonfire @ Revelstoke
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 25
The Nutcracker @ Revelstoke Performing Arts Centre 7 p.m.
24th Annual Revelstoke Community Christmas Dinner @ St. Francis Church Hall 1p.m.–3p.m.
Join the professional dancers of Ballet Victoria and the young dancers of Revelstoke as they take you to a fantasyland of music, wonder, movement and joy. Tickets $25 adults, $11 children available online at revelstokeartscouncil.com.
Revelstoke Grizzlies @ Revelstoke Forum 7 p.m. Watch the Revelstoke Grizzlies as they take on the Princeton Posse in Junior B hockey action.
Sam Roberts Band plays Revy Dec. 14
resort and gain entry to a prize draw for two heliskiing tickets with Selkirk Tangiers. For more info visit revelstokemountainresort.com.
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 16
Mountain Resort 4 p.m.–6 p.m.
RMR guests can celebrate the holiday season with free hot chocolate and a bonfire right in the centre of the village plaza.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 22 Nightly Bonfire @ Revelstoke Mountain Resort 4 p.m.–6 p.m. RMR guests can celebrate the holiday season with free hot chocolate and a bonfire right in the centre of the village plaza.
Gnome Hunt @ Revelstoke Mountain Resort. 8:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m.
Enjoy a home-cooked dinner on Christmas Day. This no charge event is for families and anyone alone during the holidays who is looking to share their Christmas spirit and enjoy a home cooked meal. Call 250-200-0404 to if you are interested in volunteering.
Nightly Bonfire @ Revelstoke Mountain Resort 4 p.m.–6 p.m. RMR guests can celebrate the holiday season with free hot chocolate and a bonfire right in the centre of the village plaza.
Find one of 10 gnomes hidden around the
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ENTERTAINMENT
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 26 Nightly Bonfire @ Revelstoke Mountain Resort 4 p.m.–6 p.m. RMR guests can celebrate the holiday season with free hot chocolate and a bonfire right in the centre of the village plaza.
Boxing Day Box Derby @ Revelstoke Mountain Resort 4:30 p.m. Participants will decorate and then race their cardboard boxes in the Turtle Creek area, in a head to head knock out tournament. For details visit revelstokemountainresort.com.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 27 Nightly Bonfire @ Revelstoke Mountain Resort 4 p.m.–6 p.m. RMR guests can celebrate the holiday season with free hot chocolate and a bonfire right in the centre of the village plaza.
Revelstoke Grizzlies @ Revelstoke
Forum 7 p.m.
DECEMBER 2018
Catch the Revelstoke Grizzlies as they take on the Grand Forks Border Bruins in Junior B hockey action.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 28 Nightly Bonfire @ Revelstoke Mountain Resort 4 p.m.–6 p.m. RMR guests can celebrate the holiday season with free hot chocolate and a bonfire right in the centre of the village plaza.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 29 Nightly Bonfire @ Revelstoke Mountain Resort 4 p.m.–6 p.m. RMR guests can celebrate the holiday season with free hot chocolate and a bonfire right in the centre of the village plaza.
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 30 Nightly Bonfire @ Revelstoke
The Revelstoke Grizzlies have been a domininant force this season, with a 19-1 record so far. The fans have responded, packing the Forum.
Mountain Resort 4 p.m.–6 p.m. RMR guests can celebrate the holiday season with free hot chocolate and a bonfire right in the centre of the village plaza.
New Year’s Eve Fireworks @ Revelstoke Mountain Resort 7 p.m. & 12 a.m.
MONDAY, DECEMBER 31
RMR is ringing in the New Year with two spectacular fireworks shows. A family friendly event takes place at 7 p.m. with a later show scheduled for 12 a.m. Both shows are free to enjoy.
Nightly Bonfire @ Revelstoke Mountain Resort 4 p.m.–6 p.m.
New Year’s Eve Showdown - Revelstoke Grizzlies @ Revelstoke Forum 7 p.m.
RMR guests can celebrate the holiday season with free hot chocolate and a bonfire right in the centre of the village plaza.
Watch the Revelstoke Grizzlies as they take on the Nelson Leafs in Junior B hockey action.
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OUTDOORS
New Revelstoke Snowboard Club takes shape The Revelstoke Snowboard Club launched this fall with the goal of providing some local organization and programming for the riding community. We spoke with the organizers about their plans for the new organization. By Aaron Orlando Revelstoke Mountaineer: A club? Aren’t those for skiers? Revelstoke Snowboard Club’s Simon Allwein: Yes, and for any other group of people who share common interests. In Revelstoke we have the Revelstoke Snowmobile Club, the Revelstoke Nordic Ski Club and of course the Revelstoke Ski Club itself. RM: So, why the Revelstoke Snowboard Club? What are you planning to do with it?
RSC: Our intention is to bring all Revelstoke snowboarders together, no matter your age or ability, and share our passion for the sport and lifestyle. We want to organize riding days at our home resort Revelstoke Mountain Resort as well as explore other resorts or go touring together. We also want to offer backcountry and avalanche education to our members, as well as support the local youth and get them thrilled about snowboarding. There will also be off-snow events such as a snowboard
swap and tuning clinics. What do you have happening this season? In our first year we want to identify the desires of the Revelstoke snowboard community and eventually cater to it. But we will definitely be involved in the Trapper Snowboards Banked Slalom at RMR in February. A banked slalom is a good example of what we like about snowboarding: having fun with friends while experiencing a healthy dose of competition.
What are the benefits of joining? Are you giving out free swag? Our main objective is non-materialistic. We want to get snowboarders together and share the stoke. But thanks to our sponsors we are able to support our members in many ways. Our members get discounts to their services or products, and I’d like to mention them here briefly: Revelstoke Backpacker Lodge, Trans-Canada Fitness, Wax Bench, Powder Rentals, Revelstoke Trading
Dr. Grace Ettinger HBSc, MSc, DDS (General Dentist)
Dr. Ettinger was born and raised in Calgary AB. She moved to Guelph ON in 2007, where she obtained her Bachelor of Science in Biology with Honors in 2012. Dr. Ettinger spent one year studying Mandarin at Jiangsu University in China through the Ontario-Jiangsu University scholarship exchange program. Dr. Ettinger completed her Master of Science in Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Western Ontario in 2014. Her research focused on the clinical use of probiotics for oral and cardiovascular health. Dr. Ettinger then continued her education at the University of Toronto where she completed her Doctor of Dental Surgery degree in 2018. After over 10 years spent living in Ontario, Dr. Ettinger made her way back to the mountains where she loves skiing, hiking, and camping. Dr. Ettinger is passionate about patient-centered dental care and is thrilled to be serving the Revelstoke community.
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Not quite a cube, or a hotel!
ski packages.
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Post, Society Snow & Skate, Trapper Snowboards, Board Butter Glide Wax, and Nitro Snowboards. Also, if you sign up for a membership until the end of the year you get a free Revelstoke Snowboard Club T-shirt … so there’s your free swag. So, if all goes perfectly, where will the club be at in five years? If everything goes perfectly, the Revelstoke Snowboard Club will be established similarly to the ski club. We would love to have a solid member base (100-plus) and offer programs to every kind of snowboarder in Revelstoke and surroundings. The ski club has a nice van — I would love to offer this to our members as well, either for picking up kids in town and taking them to the hill or for day trips to other resorts or events. Who are the organizers behind the RSC? Besides me, Simon Allwein, there is Jason Dinardo, Brooke Campbell and Mark Baron on the board of our non-profit society. How can people get involved? Prospective members or sponsors can find us on Facebook and Instagram or write us an email: info@revelstokesnowboardclub.com
Left: The new Revelstoke Snowboard Club non-profit board is (from left) Simon Allwein, Jason Dinardo, Mark Baron, and Brooke Campbell. Photo: Aaron Orlando/Revelstoke Mountaineer Magazine. Right: Jason Dinardo takes flight in the Revelstoke backcountry. Photo: Oliver Hogan
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New Revelstoke ski boot-liner and fitter takes on market with tech angle Revelstoke’s Pulse Fit System plans to shoehorn in to competitive market using high tech system that the proponents say will give them several competitive angles By Alex Cooper I’ve often said the second best thing about skiing, after the act of skiing itself, is taking off your boots at the end of the day. Ski boots are both arguably the most important piece of your equipment and the one that will cause you the most grief. Kai Palkeinen knows all about it. He started working as a boot fitter in Whistler two decades ago and owned a shop in Chamonix, France, before making the move to Revelstoke. He and his partner Kelly Hutcheson opened Pulse Ski & Boot Lab in the fall of 2015 as a dedicated ski boot store. A year later they moved
into their current location on Mackenzie Avenue and started selling skis. Now, they’ve teamed with a software developer and business consultant to expand their expertise, creating the Pulse Fit System. The system combines an app, custom boot liners, and a boot fitting tool into a process they want to sell to other ski shops and they will overhaul the boot fitting industry. “We’re not trying to take over the industry,” Palkeinen said. “We’re trying to improve the industry and recognize there’s flaws in the system right now.” The Pulse Fit System begins by having a customer answer a few questions about
Above: The foot scanner produces a 3D model of one’s foot, and provides 16 measurements that go into selecting a boot. Right: Pulse Fit System development team (from left) Kelly Hutcheson, Matt Moor, Nathan Bertram, and Kai Palkeinen. Photos: Alex Cooper/Revelstoke Mountaineer Magazine themselves – height, weight, what type of skier they are, how often they ski, and more. They will then have their foot scanned so a boot fitter can access detailed measurements of their foot. That data will then be run through an algorithm Palkeinen developed, which will then recommend two boots for the skier, instead of having the boot fitter make their best guess. “This is math-based, it’s not voodoo-based.” Palkeinen said. “You can usually nail it down to two boots in 15 minutes and it’s 99 per cent right. We can prioritize in terms of comfort, warmth or performance. That gives us an idea of
how tight we go.” The second part of the system are the liners, which they developed and designed themselves and have manufactured in Italy. The liners can either be a heat molded thermal liner, or a custom-injection liner, where the foam is injected into the liner while your foot sits in the boot. “Being frustrated with the industry standard, we went to Italy and designed our own (liner),” said Palkeinen. “This is unique to us. It’s not another product with our branding on it – we designed, developed, and made it.” The third element is the boot fitting
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tool, which Palkeinen designed and built. The foot scans means that when a client has issues with a boot, he can punch it with more precision. “There’s no more marking liners, there’s no more boot fitter judging,” he said.
To develop the system, Palkeinen & Hutcheson brought onboard Nathan Bertram to develop the software; and Matt Moor to work on business development as they expand. They’ve been testing the system and will be using it in-store this winter. During my interview, I was shown the app and a foot scan and demonstrated how it all works together. Their goal is to have it running perfectly so they can start marketing it to other ski shops next year. “We have all the elements, we just have to make sure it’s dialed before it goes out to the trade shows,” said Hutcheson. Bertram and Moor both said they were excited to be part of the business. “I think it’s an opportunity to disrupt an industry in a good way,” said Bertram. You can find out more at: www.pulsefitsystem.com.
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17
Board Butter Glide Wax A local biodegradable wax slides into international markets
By Bryce Borlick It’s a cool autumn day and sun glints off a freshly washed Honda motocross bike. We roll the bike deep into the garage, past cartons of snowboard wax, to its resting place for the winter. I remind Kaz to stuff a rag in the exhaust pipe — as the mad scientist behind Board Butter Glide Wax his mind has likely drifted to the complex chemistry of ski and snowboard wax, or to the new challenges of international distribution that he‘ll soon be tackling. Or has it? “Ahh, I’m so stoked for this winter, gonna be so good!” remarks Kaz with a smile and a glance out towards to the fresh snow on Mount Macpherson. Our conversation naturally drifts toward winter forecasts, dreams of deep pow slashes, and other clichéd conversations that still bring a gleam to our eyes. Kaz loves snowboarding as much as anyone and if you’ve seen a bright orange flash in the glades disappear into a cloud of coldsmoke, you’ve probably seen him. Or if you’ve seen a stylish skier speeding down a CAT track on just one plank at a time, you’ve probably seen one of the wax testing methods that Kaz employs to make Board Butter the best wax on earth. Born Kazuhito Hasashi, Kaz grew up near Nagano, Japan and ski raced throughout his childhood. Years later he landed a dream job with Honda designing motorcycles, including the top end CRF450R now tucked away in the garage. But eventually the demands of work pushed Kaz to take life in a new direction, and he soon landed in the deep snow 18
and tranquil summers of our sleepy Canadian mountain town. With his basic understanding of wax chemistry, experience in product and visual design, a solid crew of supporters, and a name from Mike at The Taco Club, Board Butter Glide Wax was born. Board Butter is unlike any other wax. Most waxes contain synthetic ingredients like perflourochemicals, which give the wax low friction coefficients, but which also end up in our snow, our water, and our food chain. Board Butter, on the other hand, is 100% biodegradable, mixed with locally sourced paraffin and other waxes, and every bit as fast as toxic flouro wax. It’s a coveted enough secret that Kaz will soon be providing the base compound — but not the formula — to a partner in Sweden who will then blend it with their own locally-sourced paraffin. This business model reduces shipping costs and CO2 emission, supports local manufacturing, and helps make our natural world just a little cleaner. With a little luck, Kaz hopes this will help the business grow into a worldwide clan of likeminded people. “One day I realized, I don’t just have a company, I have company. I have friends. And these amazing people from all over the world who reach out to Board Butter are my passion and motivation,” explains Kaz, whose motto is ‘more friends on powder days’. The garage door slams shut and I can see in Kaz’s forlorn smile that he’ll miss riding the motocross bike that he poured so much of himself into. That’s alright — with another snowy winter on the way, the future is looking good.
Celebrate gratitude this season By Heather Hood December has arrived! Hopefully it finds you with excited anticipation of some downtime and the opportunity to celebrate the holidays. I encourage you to take the time to share a meal, drink some wine and take note of all of the good that surrounds you. The wines this month will nicely accompany and compliment any occasion you could encounter this holiday season from an impromptu dinner invite, après sport or your family.
Moraine Chardonnay, 2017 Naramata, B.C. $26.44 A fantastic Chardonnay that has been through malolactic fermentation, in a combination of new and old oak barrels. As a result, the wine has wonderful creamy and buttery flavours. The flavours imparted from the oak are not too heavy as to detract from the fruity characteristics of the wine. There are flavours and aromas of apricot, honeydew, citrus, and vanilla with a nice minerality and a nice balanced acidity. This wine would pair well with poultry, seafood or roasted vegetables.
Mt. Boucherie Blanc de Blanc, NV West Kelowna, B.C. $20.56 Mt. Boucherie has recently released their first sparkling Riesling that is NV. It is a stunning wine that is not only fun to drink, has excellent aromas but is also a great value for your money. This wine boasts flavours of floral, lime zest, green apple, and honey with a slight minerality on the finish. It is an easy wine to enjoy on its own but would pair well with poultry, cheeses or pastries.
Misconduct The Big Take, 2015 Penticton, B.C. $27.30 The Big Take, is a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Malbec. It is a full-bodied wine, full of flavour with nice balanced tannins. The nose has aromas of blackberry, cassis, and tobacco, which carries through on the palate. The mouth is filled with tastes of leather, vanilla, black olive and cherry. This wine would pair well with grilled meats, rich tomato sauce or enjoyed on its own.
All wines available at Cheers! Downtown Revelstoke Open 9am to 11pm Delivery to your door Call 250-837-4550 19
REAL ESTATE
Just the Stats! Revelstoke real estate market December update
Revelstoke inventory remains low, but new builds could bolster stock By Emily Beaumont The snowline continues to make its way down the mountains, soon to blanket our snow globe town as winter moves in. Revelstoke’s real estate market continues to show signs of strength despite the continued lack of inventory. Buyers are poised and ready if properties are priced right. The average sale price for homes has increased this year over last by 10% even with the correction experienced since the spring. Total sales this year over last decreased by 7%. Our very unique market remains fairly strong through the winter months as the world continues to learn of the incredible snow and big-mountain, small-town living Revelstoke offers. The need remains for smaller lots and higher-density residences. Much work is being done behind the scenes to create these absolutely necessary properties for a well-rounded community, creating space for every price range in the market. With a new mayor and council in the recent municipal election, all invested in Revelstoke are expecting much needed change to streamline the building and development process. Revelstoke has a chance to do it right. There is no place like home! Let it snow!
Joel Swick photo
Breakdown of the types of property sales so far in 2018: • • • • •
82 single family residential sales from $212,000 to $930,000 19 strata and recreation sales from $235,000 to $1,455,000 21 manufactured home sales from $60,000 to $355,000 31 lots and acreages sales from $40,000 to $380,000 For a total of 153 Residential Sales from January 1 to November 15, 2018.
Number of single family residential home sales by Month the past three years: Month 2015 2016 2017 2018 Jan 3 6 3 5 Feb 2 10 4 5 Mar 7 11 8 8 Apr 8 8 6 8 May 13 10 9 6 Jun 12 10 14 11 Jul 10 7 9 8 Aug 17 14 12 9 Sep 17 10 6 5 Oct 19 7 8 14 Nov 8 7 9 3
Average sale price of single family residential homes the past 10 years: Year Average Sale Price 2008 $433,557 2009 $365,094 2010 $358,459 2011 $355,780 2012 $341,468 2013 $331,109 2014 $333,230 2015 $345,101 2016 $376,931 2017 $486,708 2018 $537,793 Current Listings: • • • •
11 Commercial 6 Strata 40 lots and acreages 38 single family residential.
Just four homes are under $500,000, which is where the majority of the buyers are; three have accepted conditional offers. It’s not until all conditions are removed which then makes the sale firm and unconditional. A property is not reported sold until the subject conditions are removed. Emily Beaumont is a realtor with Royal LePage Revelstoke.
20
NEWS
Mt. Cartier heli-biking application denied Proposed area overlaps with Revelstoke Mountain Resort’s controlled recreation area; resort cites concerns
email from RMR was included in the appendices of the application stating it was not in support.
Heli-biking on Mt. Cartier. Photo: Matt Timmins/Revelstoke Mountaineer Magazine
“Unfortunately it seems this email was overlooked at that time,” said the spokesperson. The email and the oversight were discovered a year later, during the final review of the application. Yaki said no one he spoke with was able to provide him with any insight into the overlooked email.
By Melissa Jameson A local mountain bike guiding company’s hopes to offer heli-biking tours on Mt. Cartier were dashed at the last minute. Wandering Wheels owner Matt Yaki had applied for a tenure on Mt. Cartier that would allow his company to provide guided mountain bike tours on the popular multi-use trail located south of Revelstoke. In an interview with the Mountaineer, Yaki said he received a phone call from FrontCounter BC informing him they would be recommending the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development give approval of the application for a five-year term. While Yaki had originally sought a 30-year tenure, he said he felt the fiveyear term was fair. Yaki’s excitement over the proposed recommendation soon came to a halt as he received a second phone call from FrontCounter BC that same day informing him that, due to an oversight, his
Wandering Wheels in discussion with Selkirk Tangiers over possible sub-tenure
application could not be approved. It seems someone had missed the fact that the area Yaki had applied for tenure in overlapped with small areas of Revelstoke Mountain Resort’s controlled recreation area. That overlap meant RMR would need to provide their support and approval for the Wandering Wheels application, something they were unwilling to do. In an email to the Mountaineer, RMR’s vice president of operations Peter Nielsen said the resort had concerns regarding overlapping tenure in regards to Selkirk Tangiers and RMR’s controlled recre-
ation area. Selkirk Tangiers is a heli-ski company owned by RMR that currently has tenure on Mt. Cartier. Nielsen did not provide details into what specific concerns RMR has.
RMR’s email overlooked, last minute discovery forces denial of Wandering Wheels’ application Wandering Wheels’ application for tenure was first reviewed by the Ministry of Forests in May 2017. According to a spokesperson with the ministry an
Despite Wandering Wheels’ tenure application denial on Mt. Cartier being denied, Yaki is still hopeful his company may be able to provide guided heli-biking tours. Yaki said he has been in discussion with Selkirk Tangiers regarding a possible sub-tenureship. Nielsen confirmed discussions regarding a potential sub-tenure agreement were taking place, but said he was unable to comment on the content of those discussions. However, Selkirk Tangiers general manager Eriks Suchovs provided some insight, confirming that discussions had begun taking place earlier this year. Should Wandering Wheels and Selkirk Tangiers come to an agreement regarding sub-tenure it would still require the approval of the ministry.
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Know More, Go Farther, Come Home
Game on! Winter is here and if you’re heading into the backcountry, avalanche.ca is your first stop. Are you planning to explore our beautiful backyard? Whether you’re on a sled in our many riding areas, heading out-of-bounds at RMR, or skinning up at Rogers Pass, you’ll need to be prepared.
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Every year, 12 people die in avalanches in Canada— most of them here in BC. Almost all avalanche accidents, fatal and non-fatal, are caused by the victims themselves or someone in their group. Don’t be a statistic! If you and your friends are going into the backcountry, these are your first steps: • Take a course. Learn how to recognize avalanche terrain, how to manage your group and how to respond to an avalanche incident. • Check the avalanche forecast regularly. Our local regions are the North and South Columbias. Pay attention to how the snowpack develops over the winter. • Make sure everyone in your group has the essential equipment—transceiver, probe and shovel. Practice your rescue response with the people you ride with.
COMING EVENTS IN REVELSTOKE Jan 12 – 13 Canuck Splitfest Not just for split-boarders, this homegrown event has become one of the leading backcountry events in the west. Anyone on skins is welcome to join the day trips and everyone is welcome for the big evening event on Jan 12 at the Community Centre. See you there! Jan 19 Avalanche Awareness Day on Boulder Mountain Avalanche Canada will be at the Boulder Cabin, partnering with the Revelstoke Snowmobile Club with some fun events for everyone. Come out and join us! Jan 19 – 20 Avalanche Awareness Days at Revelstoke Mountain Resort Come on out to RMR and join the pro patrollers at this annual event. This is a great way to get to know your local avalanche professionals! For more information, check the Events page on avalanche.ca
AST 1
Learn the fundamentals of avalanche formation, travelling in avalanche terrain and companion rescue.
Companion Rescue Skills
A great refresher or introduction to the latest techniques in avalanche incident response.
Have your AST 1? Try these:
Managing Avalanche Terrain
Focus on developing more advanced travel skills.
AST 2
Develop your knowledge of terrain choices, route finding and decision making in avalanche terrain.
Online Education
Online Avalanche Tutorial An easy introduction to avalanche safety and a perfect primer for your AST 1 course. Rescue at Cherry Bowl Questioning the need for rescue training and practice? Go through this multi-media site that tells the story of an amazing backcountry rescue and you’ll be convinced. Land of Thundering Snow Revelstoke is more than powder paradise. It’s also the centre of avalanche research and science in Canada. Check out this great site, brought to you by our friends at the Revelstoke Museum and Archives.
This community content is sponsored by Revelstoke Mountaineer Magazine.
22
OUTDOORS
Patience Canuck Splitfest presenter Michael Wigley reflects on patience in the mountains Revelstoke Mountaineer Magazine is proud to sponsor the Canuck Splitfest, to be held Jan. 11–13, 2019 in Revelstoke. Michael Wigley, a presenter at the 2019 event, has travelled to the ends of the Earth in pursuit of splitboarding adventure. Here, he reflects on the importance of patience while adventuring in the mountains. For more on the Canuck Splitfest, which serves in part as a fundraiser for Avalanche Canada, visit www.canucksplitfest.com.
“Where’s the snow?” The first thought that comes to my mind after flying halfway across the world. Temple Basin, a small ski field in New Zealand, is closed due to lack of snow at the end of July. We hike up to the nearest ridge with our splitboards strapped to our backs, looking to scan the area for the best-filled couloir. I jokingly say to my Kiwi friends, “I think I can find better snow in Canada in the middle of summer, than I can here.” They grin as we strap on our crampons and pull out our ice axes. We begin to climb up the boilerplate snow, to then wait at the top for it to soften up. My mind starts to cycle through the snow conditions, and the expenses of flying out to a new country. Is it going to get better? Should I even be riding this line? It was the winter of 2014 in New Zealand, one of the worst in terms of snow conditions. I flew out for three months and I can count on one hand how many days it snowed. If rain is the rider’s kryptonite, dry spells are what can really kill us. That winter, I discovered one of the most valuable mindsets a backcountry user can have: patience. Whether it’s waiting for snow or weather conditions, or even your own physical skill level, patience is key. Without it, I believe the user can put themselves at great risk that can be deemed unnecessary. I’ve found over my years that timing is everything. The mountains will tell you when it’s time to play or time to go home. There’s a lot of exhausting things that can happen when living out your dream trip. The weather doesn’t cooperate, the snow isn’t stable, equipment fails, or you get sick or injured. Your mindset is what can transform a crappy trip into a great trip. Personally, I’ve broken my board, concussed myself, and lost my wallet in one go in Argentina. My father gave me the best advice while I recovered from the concussion in the hotel room, “If things aren’t working out, go do something else, and come back when things feel better.” Simple, yet straight forward. I use that philosophy while I’m out in the mountains, reading the red flags that present themselves while out ski touring. I have a strong respect for people that turn around in the mountains, evaluating the conditions and coming to the conclusion that today is not the day. Sometimes it can be something as simple as exposing yourself on an open slope for a few switchbacks or a switch in wind speed and direction. You have to be able to adjust your plans to the conditions as you travel and be patient if you have negative observations. Travel in the mountains as if you’re a detective, reading the clues to make the right plan
Splitboarder Ryan Nichol descends into the Mt. Lancelot couloir in New Zealand. Photo: Michael Wigley for the day. The more international expeditions I go on, the more I realize that I think less about the weather conditions will be. I think about more who I will be adventuring with. It’s important to be on the same page and be comfortable with each other. Being stuck in a tent with someone who annoys you during a weather event can put a huge damper on your mood and your patience level.
You’re unable to control the weather but you do pick your partners! When I returned back to New Zealand in August 2017 for my third winter down under. Checking out the early season snowfall online and drooling over it, I bought a plane ticket. In my duration of flying over and travelling to Temple Basin, it poured rain, I arrived to what looked like a dwindling season. Armed with my patient mindset, I posted up
and stayed at Temple Basin for 11 days. After waiting out the storm, the rain turned to snow and over two meters fell. After 10 days the skies opened up and the stability was on. I finally made turns down lines I’ve been dreaming about since I first set eyes on the area in 2014. Remember, we have many winters to shred. Patience, young grasshopper.
23
FEATURE
Weather watching From the moment the first snowflakes fly, keen weather watchers take advantage of an array of online weather tools to maximize Revelstoke powder days.Here’s a guide to local resources. By Alex Cooper
I
t’s early July and I’m back from biking. I check Facebook and it’s the usual: Donald Trump, memes, baby pictures, something about El Nino … I put my phone away and head to a barbecue. Fast forward two months. The days are shorter and a dusting of snow has fallen up high. I daydream of epic powder days and wonder what kind of winter it might be. Something about El Nino flashes through my mind. I get online, then check with Environment Canada to confirm. “We’re projecting a 75 per cent probability for a weak El Nino to materialize,” meteorologist Armel Castellan tells me. “You end up seeing warmer temperatures across the board. Often it means more winter weather, which means more precipitation.” So potentially more snow, but higher freezing levels. At least it won’t be a “Godzilla El Nino,” as the media dubbed the event in 2016, adds Castellan. “It’s not going to be record-breaking.” He warns of “The Blob,” a mass of warm water in the Alaskan Gulf that caused warm temperatures in the west in 2015 and is back. “Both phenomenon lend itself to a warmer than normal season,” he says. The first real snow falls in early October and it’s followed by a dry spell. I’m a little nervous because that snow stuck 24
Photo: Jared Rice
There’s more online! Find links to weather forecasting resources in this story online at
revelstokemountaineer.com
around and I’m worried there will be a weak layer that will linger all season. Grant Helgeson, a friend and, crucially, a forecaster with Avalanche Canada, reassures me. He thinks it’s been warm enough that early snow is unlikely to turn into a permanent weak layer, but I better check when I go out. “It’s really important to dig down and investigate and see what the new snow is sitting on,” he advises. “We might be see a reasonable base emerge, but things will need to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.” October turns into November and I ponder my first tour. It’s raining in town and I check the webcams obsessively to see how much snow is falling up high. Revelstoke Mountain Resort, Glacier National Park and DriveBC have cameras pointing at the mountains, and I also download the data from nearby River Forecast Centre snow stations. My friends and I head up to McCrae and there’s more snow than expected. Reports from Rogers Pass pop up on the Revelstoke Ski Tourers Facebook group and the ACMG Mountain Condition
Reports mailing list, two great resources for trip reports. Things are looking good. As winter sets in, I get into my routine. Every evening, whether I’m going skiing or not, I check several weather reports: Environment Canada, RMR , Avalanche Canada’s bulletins, and SpotWX.com, a website that lets me see several models for a specific location. In the morning, I check RMR’s snow report and the Glacier National Park weather stations for the latest snowfall totals. Grant recommends Avalanche Canada’s weather page, which provides detailed forecasts for up to a week. They get more complex as they go out, but there’s a handy tutorial to help. “The weather product we have now is better than it ever has been,” he says. “You can really nerd out there.” He also checks the Minstry of Transportation weather stations, which are handily linked to on Avalanche Canada’s main page, and NAV Canada. The latter is for aviation, features 6-, 12-, and 18hour forecasts; and there’s a tutorial to
make sense of it. “That’s the best product for figuring out what’s going to happen today,” he says. The spot forecast is the last thing he looks at. “It’s way more valuable to look at the synopsis, and then you can start to look at some point forecasts,” he says. “If you just look at point forecasts, it can be difficult to understand the big picture, which is what you need for planning a day in the backcountry.” With a few early days under my belt, I get a feel for the snowpack. It’s December and weather dictates my life. I leave a party early because of skiing. On Sunday, I look at the forecast and schedule my week accordingly – I don’t want to risk booking an appointment on a powder morning. It’s been snowing pretty steadily – about 10 centimetres daily – and freezing levels drop. The skiing is fantastic and the snowpack feels solid, but it doesn’t take much to change, Grant warns. “I can think of many instances over the last few years when we start getting that threshold depth at treeline and in the alpine and there’s a slight cold spell that produces surface hoar and faceting,” he says. Surface hoar forms on cold clear nights. When it’s buried, it often forms a persistent weak layer in the snowpack that can linger for weeks. “As we’re tuning up our skis, it’s important we switch over from summer
FEATURE hiking [and] mountain biking mindset to really coming back to being those keen observers of the natural world,” Grant says. The other factor is the wind. It’s a wild card, transporting snow and leaving it in a thick (and stiff) slab in places. “Wind is the architect of avalanches,” Grant tells me. “You might have 20 centimetres of new snow, but that can easily form a 50- to 75-centimetre wind slab in a lee area.” A few days after New Year a high pressure system crosses the Rockies and sends Revelstoke into a deep freeze. It’s sunny, but really, really, really cold. I’m happy staying inside, but the avalanche danger is lowering and I look at hitting those big lines on my bucket list. Forever Young? Grizzly Couloir? Avalanche Mountain? The mountains are calling and I must go. “That can be a great time to go and get after it,” Grant tells me. “The problem is when it starts snowing again, all that faceted “loud powder”– that becomes our next weak layer in the snowpack.” The high pressure breaks up and the next storm hits with a vengeance. The avalanche danger skyrockets and I join everyone in line for the gondola. Massive avalanches come down everywhere, the highway closes, and when I get home I have to shovel the roof. I’m tired and sore but I get up to do it all again the next morning because it’s still dumping. Actually, this storm qualifies
Photo: Alex Cooper
as “nuking.” When it ends, I gaze out of bounds. Grant advises me to stick to simple terrain while things settle. Long-term, the storm could be a good thing for the snowpack, but I’m cautioned not to expect that. “On the coast, as a general rule you can have a huge storm, give it a couple days, and then big terrain is good to go,” he says. “In the Interior, we end up dealing with longer-term persistent weak layers. I can’t say what something would look like based on a given scenario, but here you have to give it more time.” February comes and the impacts of El
Nino are felt. It’s stopped snowing in town and a dreaded Pineapple Express is incoming from the tropics. The freezing levels rises from 1,500 metres (below the bottom of the Stoke Chair) to 3,000 metres (way up there). I enjoy a few decent runs before the snow turns to rain and I question my policy of “Death before download.” I spend the next few days catching up on the chores I neglected before venturing out again. All I can do is hope the damage isn’t too bad, but at least I don’t have to shovel my roof again. The storm ends, it cools a bit and some lighter snow makes the skiing enjoy-
able again. The days get longer and I maximize my skiing: powder mornings when they come, groomers when they don’t, and touring when I have a day off. I feel my obsession with the weather has paid off and I’ve got a handle on the snowpack, but I still check the avalanche bulletins daily because they’re based on field observations and I’m often stuck inside. It helps to have Grant on speed dial. “I encourage people to be curious about their snowpack,” Grant reminds me. “If you’re following along and know what’s happening, you’ll be in tune with the conditions.”
Happy Holidays
Find us on v Instagram & b Facebook at WorknPlayRevelstoke for holiday hours & specials!
25
EXPOSURE The highlights and shadows of professional photography By Br yce Borlick
The images are crisp. The story they tell is intriguing. And the emotions they stir motivate us to explore a little deeper. It’s every outdoor photographer’s ambition to engage the viewer this deeply. But the sun doesn’t always shine for the pros and the glossy façade of professional photography can mask the hard work and the hardships required to achieve such a lofty goal. So, this month we sit down with four shooters, ranging in experience from a new kid on the block to a seasoned veteran, to expose the realities of a career making images.
Revelstoke Mountaineer: People used to say ten years or 10,000 images is the path into professional photography. Has this been true for you? Steve Shannon: I received my first camera as a graduation gift 15 years ago, started selling images around 11 years ago, and started my full-time business eight years ago.
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Laura Szanto: I still have a long road ahead of me. But that’s something I find appealing about this career, because it’s a never-ending process of improvement and evolution. Ryan Creary: I bought my first camera after university and I’d spend all my money on slide film learning the art
of perfectly exposing 35mm film, hoping my exposures were bang on. Getting to see your images a week or two after you took them was a wildly different experience than it is today with the instant gratification of
LAURA SZANTO
Laura hails from Ottawa and shot photos as a hobbyist for several years before taking the plunge into professional photography just a few years ago. She has documented her travel to over 40 countries and has been featured recently in National Geographic Adventure and BBC Travel.
STEVE SHANNON
Steve grew up in the West Kootenays where his love for outdoor adventure was fostered at an early age. Shooting professionally for over 10 years, he won the 2016 Pinkbike Photo of the Year award and has worked with a variety of clients from Bikestation La Palma to Mackenzie Village.
digital photography. Bruno Long: I would think that someone with a good eye, the right motivation, and a career plan could become a full-time photographer in five years or less. RM: Was there a specific moment when you made the commitment to pursue this full time? Bruno: In 2013 I had been having a fair amount of success with images being published in magazines so I figured I should commit to the craft and see where the path leads. About a month after making that decision, I scored the cover of Powder Magazine. Laura: A pivotal moment for me was when I was accepted at the Banff Centre for a photography internship. I became more confident, learned some essential skills and realized I needed to invest in professional gear to be taken seriously.
Ryan: It was in 2002. I had put together my very first submission of about 25 to 50 slides and mailed them to Powder Magazine. To this day, I can remember getting the phone call from David Reddick telling me my very first photo to be published in Powder was going to be used as a cover. That phone call was the catalyst I needed to commit to photography full time. RM: Is it better to have good technical skills or good luck? Steve: You need to have the technical skills to capture the scene, and for most of those beautiful images, I’ll just say that good luck looks an awful lot like hard work. Bruno: A good grasp of technical skills will go a long way, but I think that hard work, dedication, being an easy person to work with, and a good eye can make up for lacking in technical skills. I believe more in creating your own luck. Ryan: The only course I ever failed was my
university photography course. After the professor began asking us to bring a calculator to class I stopped going. So that right there tells you how I approach photography — for me it’s all feeling and passion. My least favourite thing is buying new camera gear. RM: How big a role does image processing play? Steve: I try to get it right in the camera, so the raw file I have is exactly what I need to create the image I see in my head. Generally I do very little processing. Ryan: Editing and processing is huge part of photography and the creative process now. Processing is like the finishing work — it’s what really makes an image shine or come to life. I definitely spend more time than I need to on that part but that’s the only way I know. RM: How do you differentiate your work in 27
ENTERTAINMENT
BRUNO LONG
Bruno is a New Brunswick native who made the move to the west and has made a career out of photography for almost 15 years. If you can think of an outdoor publication, he’s probably been featured in it. His professionalism and thirst for adventure are reknowned in the industry.
a digital world where images are shared so easily? Laura: I think it’s really important to shoot your interests. Your passion for the sport, or whatever you really enjoy shooting, will drive your creativity and innovation for coming up with new material. Ryan: You need to shoot what you are passionate about. Caring less about trends and shooting from the heart is where one will always create their strongest work. Bruno: Differentiating yourself from others is more about having a very unique style and sticking to that. Repetition and driving home that you can create something consistently will help you draw in specific clients who are looking for that style. RM: Is commercial work just mechanical or can you find inspiration in it?
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Bruno: There are times where work becomes a bit mechanical, especially when shooting events. Things move so quickly during events that you need to be able to create something useable in almost any situation or lighting. With that being said, there are always moments of inspiration. Ryan: I’ve been lucky — the majority of my commercial and editorial work has been very much aligned with my values and what I’m excited to shoot. However, the times when the weather is working against you and you need sun instead of rain or vice versa, are always challenging and force you to dig deeper to find workable images. Steve: Every shoot, whether super exciting or not, always inspires or challenges my creativity. Yes, this is a job, but I always try to learn more about my craft.
RM: Can you make a good living at this? Steve: As far as exact numbers go, it’s all over the map and depends a lot on how hard you work. I have some months that are crazy busy and very profitable, but sometimes there are slumps with very little income for a few months. What most people fail to realize is that taking photographs is the easy part. Being a professional generally means running your own business these days, and that can be challenging! Bruno: One of the smartest things I’ve heard recently was in an online photography class. The instructor talked about how some people have told him they never work for free. He disagreed with that sentiment, saying, “Of course you can work for free. I can gift my photography to anyone at any time. But I don’t work for cheap. Make sure you get a fair price when you are actually getting paid for your work.” I found that to be a very in-
sightful perspective and something that a lot of people starting out should understand. Know what you are worth. RM: If you had to change careers, what would you do next? Ryan: I studied Outdoor Recreation, Parks & Tourism from Lakehead University, so before I discovered photography my plan was to pursue the guiding side of things. Bruno: I sometimes dream of a classic, nine-to-five, Monday to Friday job. I’m not sure what it would be, but the stability and security of a steady paycheque can be quite tempting when you aren’t sure where your next job is coming from or you are hustling hard to sell an image or convince a client to hire you.
RYAN CREARY
As the veteran of the bunch, Ryan is closing in on 20 years in the industry. Coming from the pre-digital age, his mastery of the lens is widely respected by colleagues and clients alike. He’s been there and he’s done that and he continues to take photography to new heights.
Laura: I would love to be in a band. I was a huge band geek in high school and I loved playing a variety of instruments. I’m no Tash Sultana, but who doesn’t like to make people dance and have a good time.
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FEATURE
On the ground
Revelstoke traffic control person Nick Thomas saw the aftermath of Trans-Canada Highway carnage firsthand for years, prompting him to get involved as a watchdog of provincial and federal highways policy. By Aaron Orlando Most Revelstoke residents are fortunate not to experience the horrors of highway crashes first hand. Not so for Nick Thomas, a recently retired local traffic control person who spent years on scene following the aftermath of crashes that have left many dead and many more injured. This visceral connection to the consequences of provincial and federal policy decisions — especially the big promises touted by politicians through words, and those big highway billboards that announce highway projects years before they actually happen (if ever) — prompted him to action. He armed himself with knowledge and study of budgets and policy, and became a vocal commentator online about policy decision, often demonstrating in-depth knowledge of what’s happening on Revelstoke’s deadly and dangerous stretch of the highway. We spoke with Nick to gain insight on the perennial Revelstoke goal of an improved Trans-Canada that will improve safety for residents and travellers.
Revelstoke Mountaineer: How did you first get involved in commenting on highways policy? Nick Thomas: In 2012 Christy Clark announced $650 million over 10 years for upgrading the Trans-Canada. I realized that it wouldn’t do more than keep up the slow progress – especially given the cost of finishing the Kicking Horse Canyon project. After the announcement there didn’t seem to be any attempt to deliver the promised funding. After the 2013 election the top priority of the new minister of transportation was to increase speed limits not upgrade the highway. That drove me to comment. RM: How do your experiences on the highway as a traffic control person affect your involvement and take on highways policy? NT: I’ve seen too much devastation from high-speed collisions — thankfully victims are usually in the ambulance before I get there. Routine maintenance on
Nick Thomas, who just retired as a traffic control person, has emerged as an informed and vocal critic of provincial highways policy. Photo: Aaron Orlando/Revelstoke Mountaineer Magazine this highway is hazardous. Fortunately I’ve never had anything smash hard into stopped traffic, though I’ve seen countless close calls. On a multi-lane highway you can use lane closures, which are far safer for the public and workers than single-lane alternating traffic. Highway closures during high traffic periods are stressful. The closures between Christmas and New Year a couple of years ago were really hard work and there have been summer ones where traffic was coming in far faster than we could deal with it.
What about Revelstoke’s interests specifically? What changes to existing provincial policy do you think would deliver a safer, more reliable highway for residents? The biggest issue right now is that the new government promised to accelerate upgrades but hasn’t put out to tender projects announced by the previous government (i.e. Chase West, Illecillewaet Brake check and Kicking Horse Canyon Phase 4. They have only recently
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asked for tenders for preliminary work on Salmon Arm West). I think the ministry’s policy is that it isn’t cost effective to do upgrades if they are going to be four-laned later. Since four-laning isn’t going to be complete for decades I think this needs to change. For example accident-prone curves could be eased and left turn lanes built into Enchanted Forest and Peaks Lodge. The winter tire regulations are ineffective because the ministry approves all-season tires with 3.5mm tread. Recently, I’ve noticed you’re drilling down into provincial transportation budget estimates, and even providing thoughtful comparative analysis of annual budget estimates. What drives you to take it that far? What do you learn from these exercises, and what insight do you think other Revelstoke residents could learn from them? I realized that repeating the complaints that have already been repeated for years wasn’t going to make any impact. The government had made promises to fund upgrades and didn’t seem to be delivering so I wanted to check what they had spent and planned to spend. It didn’t take long to see that the government’s own information shows it isn’t keeping its promises. I thought that could be used that to get a response but it hasn’t worked with either the last government or the current one. In the first year of this government they spent less on upgrades than they budgeted and it looks like the same is going to happen again in their second year. On my way to the Okanagan earlier this year, I came onto an MVI that happened about a minute before. A tractor-trailer unit sideswiped another, then crossed the centre line and crashed into the snowbank on the opposite side, nearly missing a head-on with a pickup with two Alberta sledders inside. Later, I checked DriveBC’s feeds, and there was nothing. It was the kind of thing that goes unreported and unnoticed. Do you think residents have a good picture of what’s really happening out there? Some incidents don’t get reported on DriveBC, especially if they don’t impede traffic or are expected to be cleared up quickly. The RCMP don’t attend all incidents and I believe provincial accident data is based on their reports. In your opinion, what should Revelstoke residents be doing to advocate for a better highway sooner? Where are the low-hanging fruits that would bring benefits sooner? Although we need to keep badgering the provincial and federal politicians we have to understand that the highway issue doesn’t affect enough votes to make it a priority in Victoria or Ottawa. Not much will change unless it becomes
a national or provincial issue, which I don’t see happening. The governments have been going after the low-hanging fruit – most of the four-laning that has been done in the last 20 years has been west of Salmon Arm and in Banff National Park. Focusing on operational issues such as traffic rules enforcement, road maintenance, communication, emergency response and other non-infrastructure steps, what do you see as the needing the most attention?
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I came from the UK 10 years ago and unfortunately police over there have just about given up on enforcing traffic rules (except for speed cameras) so we are better off here. CVSE (Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement) have increased their activity here although it would be nice if they had a permanent presence. Locally I think people do a pretty good job with the resources available – more people and equipment would obviously help, but that costs. When there are issues, like cross-city traffic being blocked during closures, they are looked into and changes do get made. The remote avalanche control devices at Three Valley are a big improvement. What about infrastructure issues? Your letters point out that at the rate we’re going, the promise by both main political to four-lane and divide the highway from Kamloops to the Alberta border is going to take many decades to complete. Promises are fine; what should people know about the reality on the ground? If the Kicking Horse Canyon project is completed as has been announced it will have taken 23 years. There is at least twice that much work left to do in the mountains around Revelstoke. The Kamloops to Alberta Border program has no plan, no estimated cost and no timescale — without that it is just political spin. Some sections of the highway, like Three Valley, are probably going to be as horribly expensive as phase four of Kicking Horse Canyon ($450m for 4 kilometres). I won’t be surprised if the government decides that is unaffordable. So Revelstoke is going to remain a two-lane bottleneck for the foreseeable future. The aging highway isn’t going to need less maintenance in future and the summer traffic peak is spreading into the spring and fall construction seasons so delays will increase. As someone who worked on the highways, is there one message you’d like to get across to residents who don’t spend a lot of time on them? Something we all fail to live up to sometimes — give driving your full attention. If you are paying attention you can anticipate and avoid most problems. When something unexpected happens you don’t have time to switch focus and work out what is going on before taking avoiding action.
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LOCAL HISTORY
A slice of Revelstoke: ‘The Modern’ Mackenzie Avenue landmark has a long, varied history By Marissa Duncan The Modern Bakeshop and Cafe is one of Revelstoke’s many bakeries where you can find lineups out the door regularly. It’s welcoming staff, cheerful interior, and mouthwatering baked goods make the Modern a common destination point whether you’re a local, or a tourist. It’s a well-known meeting place whether you’re going hiking, planning on a day at the resort, or just wanting a place to catch up with a friend. But, what was The Modern before it became what it is today? With its original front, The Modern shows off Revelstoke’s historic past through its building. The building was constructed sometime between 119 and 123 years ago on the corner of Third Street and Charles. It was moved using a team of horses and long poles to its present location on Mackenzie Avenue in 1900 by Mrs. M.K. Lawson where she sold embroidery, women’s clothing, and lace. In 1903, Bennison’s bakery, owned by Albert and Alice Bennison, moved in. Judging by the distinct green door that sits above the current sign, it is suspected that originally there was an upper level verandah that was never replaced after the move. According to Marlene Scarcelli, current owner of the building, The Modern has a “unique history.” The building will have been in Scarcelli’s family for 90 years next May. It was her grandfather, Louigi “Louis” Catlin, who bought the building from Mrs. F.H. Bourne on May 6, 1929. The name was changed from Bennison’s to Modern Bakery. At the time, Modern Bakery had no back bakery or basement and stood as its original front. In late 1931 a bakery was added on to the back, and the building was lifted for the addition of a basement. A brick oven was also built at the back of the building. In 1990, when the oven was taken apart, the bricks were used to landscape Minto Manor, which was formerly The Piano Keep. Modern Bakery remained until Catlin’s death in 1952. Orange Crush, a store owned by Harold Malone, moved into the building until 1959 when it settled next door and became what we know today as Malone’s. From 1959 to 1979 Tony’s Roma Restaurant occupied the building until moving into what is now The Village Idiot. During a downtown heritage restoration project, the building’s original facade was put back after being covered with pink stucco. The building then sat empty for a few years before Maureen Weddell opened Mackenzie Station Café, which stayed until 1998. After that, the building became home to a few other businesses including The Blueberry Patch and Woolsey Creek. In 2005, it became what we know today as The Modern Bakeshop & Cafe now owned by Kevan McCroy and Josee Zimanyi. The Modern’s rich history is what gives the building its character. Next time you’re sipping on your latte or nibbling on your hippie ball on the patio, you might find yourself looking at the front of the building a little differently.
‘The Modern,’ now operating as the Modern Bakeshop & Cafe, was originally located in the Farwell neighbourhood, before a team of horses dragged it uptown. Photo: Aaron Orlando/Revelstoke Mountaineer Magazine
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Backcountry snowmobile camps designed for women 32
The Winter Permit System Permis d’accès hivernal Planning to ski Rogers Pass?
Vous comptez skier au col Rogers?
The Winter Permit System is in effect between November and March annually. Learn it. Get your permit.
Le Permis d’accès hivernal est en vigueur entre novembre et mars de chaque année. Apprenez-en le fonctionnement. Obtenez votre permis.
In Rogers Pass, artillery is used to fire explosives and trigger avalanches for the highway avalanche control program. Before you go:
Dans le col Rogers, le programme de déclenchement préventif d’avalanches pour la Transcanadienne est axé sur des tirs d’artillerie. Avant de partir :
• Learn how the system works at pc.gc.ca/skirogerspass • Check daily to know what areas are open or closed before you park, ski or ride • Get your winter permit and national park pass at the Rogers Pass Discovery Centre • Look after your own safety. Have the skills and equipment to travel in avalanche terrain.
• Apprenez le fonctionnement du système : pc.gc.ca/skicolrogers • Chaque jour, tenez-vous au courant d’où vous pouvez vous stationner et faire du ski ou de la planche à neige • Obtenez votre permis d’accès hivernal et votre laissez-passer de parc national au Centre de la découverte du Col-Rogers • Possédez les compétences et l’équipement nécessaire pour voyager dans le terrain avalancheux
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33
FEATURE
Successful resort town affordable housing models are out there Despite our growing housing crisis, Revelstoke still doesn’t have an affordable housing plan. We reached out to representatives and experts in the field of resort community housing to find out what we need to do to get on track. By Aaron Orlando Dollar-wise, it was a big announcement: In mid-November the B.C. government announced they were handing out $492 million to build 4,900 units of affordable housing in 42 communities in B.C. Towns in our region benefitted, getting the green light for housing projects; Nelson earned 45 units for families and seniors, Sicamous got funding for 36 new affordable housing units, Salmon Arm will go ahead with a 71-unit project, and Vernon will break ground on a 36-unit project. Revelstoke, however, got skunked. I reached out to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing to ask why. Their response was that no entities in Revelstoke applied to get a piece of the first third of the province’s $1.9 billion Building BC Community Housing Fund, which aims to build 14,000 affordable units over 10 years. Revelstoke can apply during the next round, in early 2020, the spokesperson suggested. With construction time, any successful application wouldn’t likely get built until at least 2022, which will be late for Revelstoke residents demanding action on affordable housing. The new provincial funding is just one of the many pots of funding available from a number of provincial and federal organizations, who have recently recommitted to housing funding. So, why is Revelstoke, in the midst of an ever-growing housing crisis, leaving the money on the table? More importantly, how can we do better?
The Whistler model Whistler is the gold standard when it comes to affordable housing for a resort community. Since committing to a goal of housing 75% of their workforce in the mid-1990s, the community has created about 2,000 units of affordable rental and ownership housing, administered by the Whistler Housing Authority (WHA), a quasi-governmental organization that leverages an array of funding structures to create new housing. According to the WHA’s 2018 annual report, over the past year, they’re on track to add about 225 new units, and they attracted over $6 million in external funding. This is the result of years 34
of effort and support from local government to achieve their goals. Cheeying Ho, Executive Director for the Whistler Centre of Sustainability (WCS), said the mountain resort community’s successes with housing started with political commitment, and it then followed through by creating the WHA, a self-sustaining organization, which is largely funded via their rental units. The WHA takes a percentage off the top of rental rates to fund its operations. “An independent authority is key to building an affordable housing stock,” said Ho during an interview with the Mountaineer. “It’s just so important to have professional staff dedicated to it. The model is effective and they have a really strong board with expertise in development.” Currently, the Revelstoke Community Housing Society (RCHS) is the closest parallel in Revelstoke. However, it’s run by a volunteer board, which is tasked with the challenging job of managing Revelstoke’s current 14 units of affordable housing, and also applying for grants, and actual boots-on-the-ground housing development. The volunteers do this complex management and development work after their workday ends. (For more on the RCHS, see our story on page 36). “There needs to be help from the municipality to get something like [the WHA] going. I think there needs to be some capital to get an organization going.” Ho said. She said it was important the community “has a plan and knows exactly to do with the money.” Ho also pointed to an array of tools available to a municipality, most of which are not in place in Revelstoke. “There is lots a municipality can do. Rezoning is a very powerful tool that municipalities sometimes underutilize,” she said. “It’s the time for municipalities to really use their zoning powers to demand affordable housing.” Currently, Revelstoke’s zoning bylaw dates back to the early 1980s, and is badly in need of an update, something that many council candidates said they’d like to tackle during the 2018 election cycle. The WCS recently completed a study on the leading practices for affordable housing in small communities, which listed and ranked the pros and cons of various tools municipalities can use. The tools included options such as secondary suites, density bonusing, inclusionary zoning, streamlined development
approvals, housing levies, and many more. Ho pointed to tools such as inclusionary zoning, which requires developers to build a percentage of affordable housing into new multi-unit developments, or density bonusing, which allows for more dense developments if the developer commits to a percentage of affordable housing in the project. She suggested, for example, a requirement in documents that “all new developments have a 15% non-market or affordable” component. “Be proactive in the rezoning process. Because each development needs a rezoning application, on a case by case basis,: she said. The units can be built “on site, elsewhere, [or via] cash in lieu.” Ho said meaningful community engagement, and “having a clear shared vision, and what that means for affordable housing,” are key components.
Tofino Housing Corporation Like Revelstoke, Tofino is experienc-
ing the same seasonal housing rushes as Revelstoke. Workers in low-paying service industry jobs had nowhere to stay, and businesses are struggling to attract workers. After a couple furtive attempts in the mid-2000s, the municipality committed to the Tofino Housing Corporation (THC) model in mid-2017, something that required political will and support from the local council. They funded about $250,000 to get the organization going, and have committed district lands for affordable housing. Ian Scott, THC Interim Executive Director, came from the development community, bringing years of experience in private development projects to the role. He works closely with non-profit development contractors to actually develop the projects. “I really think the housing corporation the model that Tofino chose ... was inspired by Whistler,” Scott said. “One of the key moves that any group getting going can make is hire that professional support,” he said. “That puts you a lot further forward than trying to make it happen with a volunteer effort. It takes talent.”
A row of homes on Second Street East in Revelstoke. Photo: Aaron Orlando/ Revelstoke Mountaineer Magazine
“If the local government is not willing to put in money, it is going to be hard,” he said.
What’s happening here in Revelstoke?
The THC is in preliminary steps of building two affordable housing projects; one will be about 11-14 units, another potential future project approximately 55 units. Tofino has also taken zoning steps to alleviate the housing crunch. Every property is allowed either a secondary
suite or a cabin. After establishing a professional housing authority, Scott lists his top three steps for a small resort town. The first is allocating municipal land for affordable housing. The second is getting the land properly zoned. The third is putting municipal financial resources into housing.
I sat down with City of Revelstoke assistant planner Daniel Sturgeon and new city Community Economic Development Director Ingrid Bron to talk about Revelstoke affordable housing plans. They said the city is currently in a state of transition, with many recent senior staff changes and a new council in November. The new planning director starts in early 2019, and affordable housing plans will likely follow in the new year. “We’re in a period of flux,” Sturgeon said. Once the city development services department is fully staffed up early in the new year, they’re hopeful they can devote more resources to the issue. The City of Revelstoke recently completed its Housing Needs and Demands Study, which found the city is currently short by about 425 units of housing. (See our story on page 37 for more on the study.) The next steps towards more affordable social and market housing are not clear, but the city staff members said plans are in the works. Recently, the city assisted the RCHS with land and significant zoning work to facilitate a planned 24-unit affordable rental apartment near the BC Ambulance Service building. The city also provided support for successful funding applications for the project. However, the city’s overall plans moving forward are less defined at this point. In the new year, the city’s development services department is planning to issue a request for proposals for an affordable housing strategy, but that step will require political support. “We would need to get endorsement from our council on what that vision would be,” Sturgeon said. “We can’t think about housing in
isolation of all the other challenges the city is facing,” Sturgeon said. He emphasized the need for a holistic approach on the city’s housing plans. “When we talk about housing, we’re not just talking about housing, we’re talking about everything. We will be deciding what the vision for affordable housing in this community is,” he said, emphasizing the highly interconnected nature of housing with the economy, social issues, and more. “I would like to see a vision statement that reflects Revelstoke, not just a boilerplate definition.” Bron has only been on the job for several weeks, but said she’s hearing clearly from many sectors that housing is a top issue. “Certainly everything I’ve heard from the different groups I’m working with, the different people I’ve consulted with, this is a key need. So, we’re listening,” Bron said. “It all comes back to accommodation for workers, for residents, as well as for emergency needs.” Sturgeon acknowledged the urgency of the housing issue, but said that a cautious approach is needed to get it right. “We are going to move through this as quickly as we can, knowing it’s a priority, but it is a process we have to go through. That process involves collaboration, capacity-building, communication and working across stakeholder groups,” Sturgeon said. “But it is a process, and planning processes tend to be not fast, and if you rush a process, it doesn’t go well.” He also touched on the issue of vacation rentals. The city is using an online tracking system called Host Compliance, which tracks vacation rentals using digital tools. He said currently there are about 200 vacation rentals in Revelstoke, both illegal and legal. City staff are reevaluating the city’s approach to vacation rentals, and will be presenting plans to council in the coming weeks or months. “We will have a report to council to reevaluate how the city addresses vacation rentals,” he said.
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HOUSING
Revelstoke housing society works on new rental building The Revelstoke Community Housing Society is working to build a new affordable rental apartment.We checked in to find out more about the organization.
Above: An early model of the Revelstoke Community Housing Society’s 24-unit affodable rental building, slated for construction near the B.C. Ambulance Station in Revelstoke. Below: RCHS President Glen O’Reilly the planning and design process of an apartment building which will contain 24 one-bedroom suites, and is to be located directly behind the BC Ambulance station on Powerhouse Road. Construction is scheduled to start in the spring of 2018. What are the biggest challenges you face fulfilling your housing mandate?
By Aaron Orlando Revelstoke Mountaineer: What is the Revelstoke Community Housing Society? Glen O’Reilly, Revelstoke Community Housing Society president: The Revelstoke Community Housing Society is an independent non-profit registered society. Established over ten years ago as a committee of the City of Revelstoke, the ‘housing society,’ as we are often called, was separated from the city and became independent organization in January of 2017. Our goal, or mission, is “to provide, manage, and explore a range of affordable housing options within Revelstoke and area that are accessible to local residents.” RM: What projects are you responsible for, and what are you working on in Revelstoke? GO: The housing society has built three building and currently operates 14 rental units within those buildings. The society has secured funding and is currently in 36
Funding and land. Or rather should I say, land and funding, because without the land it is difficult to get the funding to build. Let me explain. The bulk of our funding (like most housing organizations across Canada) comes from government grants, which for us is BC Housing and CMHC (with a grateful nod to CBT). Both BC Housing and CMHC require that land is secured before you can apply for a grant. Given the lack of land, and the current market value of land in Revelstoke, this creates a challenge. Compared to many other resort communities facing similar housing issues, Revelstoke has relatively few affordable housing units. Why do you think this is? There are a number of reasons and a few different ways to answer this question. In my view the problem is compounded by two factors. First, Revelstoke and its lifestyle are becoming a desirable place to live and create a home. This demographic is clamoring for real estate, which creates a hot and otherwise unaffordable market. The second, and probably the more important factor, is the seasonal influx of individuals that come for the active lifestyle and work within the service industry. Housing for this demographic is unnecessarily limited and
unfortunately service industry wages do not go a long way to cover rental prices within this hot market. In your opinion, what needs to be done in order to improve housing affordability and create more affordable housing in Revelstoke? This is the challenge as ‘affordability’ is governed by four points: the cost of land, cost of construction, municipal fees, and profit. If a private developer were to build a 24-unit apartment complex in Revelstoke today, the rents would not be considered affordable, as they would be market driven rents, based on those four points. So which of these four points are reduced or eliminated to create affordability? I doubt anyone is going to offer free land to a developer. It can be debated that the cost of construction in Revelstoke is too high (again, market driven), Given the recent Development Cost Charges fiasco, I doubt the city is willing to give up its plethora of fees. Let’s be honest, developers are in it for the profit. This leaves organizations like the Revelstoke Community Housing Society relying on government grants to create affordable housing. With all that said, there are developers out there who understand the need for affordable housing. The challenge is to find them, and then get the other three factors to work with them to reduce the cost. What’s missing in Revelstoke’s current approach to affordable housing? What could Revelstoke be doing better? What is currently missing and what would have the most immediate impact, in my opinion, is employee housing. If
Revelstoke is going to be a resort destination then the resort-based industries need to have the infrastructure to support their industries. This is asking nothing more than what other resort-based industries have done in other communities for many years. Resorts such as Jasper Park Lodge were doing this in the 1950s. The city has a habit of looking at each proposal, development, project, on a case-by-case basis. This approach allows specifics (like staff housing) to fall between the cracks or be pared back. What is needed are standard guidelines and enforcement though bylaws with regards to when the staff housing is required and how much is needed. If a hotel, resort, or business plans on building in Revelstoke and has an employee base exceeding a specific amount (specified within the bylaw) then they are required to build and maintain housing for a percentage (specified within the bylaw) of their employee base. This does not mean the business or resort has the option of cash in lieu of housing, as this just passes the responsibility of building the required housing on to another organization. Build the staff housing while you are building the hotel. Let me be clear, I am not suggestion that the small retails with four or six employees has to start building staff housing (although many of them already have purchased homes for this purpose, simply because the larger employers have not burdened their share of the responsibility). Industrialist such as Ford and Pullman understood during the late 1800 that good housing created good employees, and literally built towns to house them, however we cannot seem to get local employers to build staff housing.
Report puts numbers to Revelstoke housing crisis
HearingLife Clinic Staff Help Revelstoke Community Hear Better amazing to see the positive impact that hearing aids can have on a person’s life!”
City report suggests hundreds of housing units required to meet current shortage
By Melissa Jameson Affordable housing remains the dominant issue when it comes to a lack of housing in Revelstoke, suggests a recent report. The Housing Needs and Demands Assessment report, completed by Dillon Consulting this past summer, paints a picture of rental housing shortage in Revelstoke. The report notes a lack of housing options, housing diversity, and the need for affordable housing that can accommodate young families. The report suggests that, based on reported household income, a total of 208 subsidized units and 216 market rental units are required just to meet the current demand for housing. Those numbers do not include the need for seasonal staff accommodations. Data from Statistics Canada indicates Revelstoke’s population could grow by an estimated 991 people over the next 25 years. Based on that information, Dillon Consulting states Revelstoke would need an additional 431 units of housing to accommodate the population growth. Broken down, the city would need 28 new subsidized housing units, 144 market rental units, and 259 market owner units to meet the projected future demand.
Why the need for a housing needs and assessment? Revelstoke’s current lack of housing has been well known for the past decade. However, despite this information being well known among the social service sector, the city, members of the public, and various other agencies, little effort was made to actually document and quantify that need. In May, 2018, the Columbia Basin Trust announced it would provide funding for the Revelstoke Housing Society to build 21 units (now 24 after design changes) of affordable housing for families. That came on
the heels of a December 2018 announcement that the provincial government and the Trust had partnered to provide a total of $28 million in funds for affordable housing projects throughout the Columbia Basin. The new housing units have yet to be built. While Revelstoke was successful in obtaining the funds, the lack of solid statistical data on housing was viewed as problematic and the city was asked to provide documentation in consideration of future funding opportunities. While the study may seem like a case of telling-us-what-we-already-know, he Housing Needs and Demands study is actually a key requirement to attain funding from provincial and other organizations that fund housing projects.
What’s causing the affordable housing shortage? The Housing Needs and Demands Assessment report provided key stakeholders with opportunities to provide input as to what issues could be catalysts in the lack of affordable housing units. Themes highlighted in the report include: illegal vacation rentals, lack of staff accommodations, poor condition of existing low-income housing, lack of affordable housing options larger than two bedrooms, and an overall lack of housing stock. In the report, Dillon Consulting writes that while it is recognized that there is a lack of various types of affordable housing options, there was a central theme around the need for affordable and suitable housing that is able to accommodate more than two people. How the city plans to tackle the ongoing need for affordable housing, both short and long-term, remains to be seen.
Dameion Notte Registered Hearing Instrument Practitioner
You may have already seen the Revelstoke HearingLife (formerly Canadian Hearing Care,) clinic staff around town. Hearing Instrument Practitioner Dameion Notte and Client Service Administrator Abbey Renaud have been servicing the Revelstoke community for years. Dameion and Abbey both wanted careers that they could grow with and help people in. They found that in the hearing healthcare industry. “Seeing people hear better as well as seeing the reaction of their family members when they can hear is most rewarding for me,” says Dameion. “The thing I find most rewarding is when a client comes in stressed out about a hearing or hearing aid related issue and seeing their face light up when we help them solve the problem,” adds Abbey. “It’s truly
HearingLife has a hearing healthcare clinic at 305 1st Street West that is open Monday to Friday from 8:30am to 4:30pm. The HearingLife staff provide hearing evaluations, hearing aid services, and custom hearing protection to Revelstoke residents, but the appreciation that these hearing experts have for the Revelstoke community goes beyond business. Dameion loves the familiarity of the town and Abbey was born and raised here. “I love the small town feel and the ability to walk down the street and wave to everyone,” says Dameion. “I love how I know almost every person in the grocery store, or walking down the street. Most of the time, clients stop me to ask a question about their hearing aids, or to tell me a story about my Dad when he was younger. I like how connected everybody is.” As a Client Service Administrator, Abbey cleans and repairs hearing aids, books appointments, and answers client questions. If you are interested in booking a free hearing appointment with Dameion at the Revelstoke HearingLife clinic, please call Abbey at 1-888-542-1170. Formerly
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Mountain caribou penning project nears end
Five-year maternal penning project north of Revelstoke saw successes and challenges
Wildlife veternarian and biologist Brian Macbeth takes a blood sample while former RCRW executive director Kelsey Firk helps stabilize the caribou. Photo: Rob Buchanan
By Alex Cooper The caribou maternity pen north of Revelstoke sits almost empty, except for one lonely resident – a months-old calf that fled to the pen after being chased by several different animals. When the monitors captured her on camera several times, they realized she was fleeing to a safe spot, so they opened the gate for her. She’s the last resident (for now) of Revelstoke Caribou Rearing in the Wild’s (RCRW) maternity pen, which is nearing the end of a five-year pilot project. The last group of captured animals were released in the spring and biologists are currently monitoring them and compiling data for a final report that is expected to be released next September. For Kevin Bollefer, who’s been a director of RCRW for its history, the project is a success. “It was a really good project to get a better feel of what’s going on out there,” he told me. I spoke to Bollefer at his Revelstoke Community Forest Corporation office, where he works as the operations forester. While there, he showed me the program they use to track the caribou through the mountains. Their migrations across their range north of Revelstoke were shown on Google Earth, giving a glimpse journeys that took one animal almost all the way across the Monashees to Blue River. 38
“From watching what these animals have done after release, some of them go back to where they were captured, but a lot of them don’t,” he noted. “They stay around the area and intermix with the animals there.” Southern mountain caribou are considered threatened under the Species at Risk Act and numerous measures have been undertaken or are being considered to protect them. Most herds have seen their numbers decline drastically and the Columbia North herd is no exception. According to RCRW, its population fell to 150 in 2011 from 210 in 1994, though it’s considered to have stabilized in 2003 after a steep decline in the late ‘90s. Comparatively, the Columbia South herd, which ranges around Revelstoke, saw its population drop to just seven animals from 120 in the same time frame. The maternity pen project was launched in 2012 and eventually saw involvement and donations from more than 50 local and regional partners, including all levels of government, First Nations, businesses, and non-profits. The goal was to provide a safe place for caribou calves to grow up for the first few months of their life, when they’re easy prey for predators. “The biggest part was everybody coming together to get this thing done. When we needed help, everyone stepped up,” said Bollefer.
It’s one of several options being considered to help save the caribou; others are predator control, moose reduction, and, most significantly, habitat protection, which could lead to large areas being closed off to industry and recreation. A comprehensive strategy for caribou recovery is being developed. The 6.4-hectare maternity pen was built north of Revelstoke in 2013 at a site chosen for its ease of access and the availability of power and lodging at a neighbouring hunting lodge. The first two years of the pen saw mixed results. In 2014, only two of nine calves born in the pen survived to 10 months of age, which RCRW said may have been a result of an unusually warm winter. The survival rate was comparable to that of calves born in the wild (22 per cent). In 2015, mortality inside the pen was the bigger issue, with four dying pre-release due to injury, infection, and abandonment, but only two after. Nine of 15 calves lived to 10 months of age – triple the survival rate in the wild. After 2015, RCRW reviewed its program and undertook a number of changes. The pen was expanded to 9.3 hectares, a new water system was installed, a number of policies around care and capture were revised, and a veterinarian was hired to work at the site during calving period. Despite that, four of 11 calves died in the pen in 2016, while four or five were still alive the
following March. In 2017, 11 pregnant females were captured, nine calves were released, and four survived until March. Before the project began, it was calculated that to actually increase the herd’s population, 20 caribou would have to be penned. In 2018, that’s what RCRW did, penning 20 cows, 17 of which were pregnant. Then, after an unusually hot May, the caribou were released two months early. Three cows died in the pen and two calves were euthanized after being injured. Only 11 calves were alive when the caribou were released. As of October 1, two cows and one calf had died due to predation since release. Another survey is planned for March to see how many survived the winter. Bill Beard, the executive director of RCRW, said they don’t know yet why so many calves died in the pen. “At the moment we’re looking at the necropsy reports and trying to sort that out, but we’ll certainly be publishing that in our final report when we do that next September,” he said. “We don’t really have any certainty around that. More information needs to be gathered before we release anything publicly.” One issue raised is the location of the pen at valley bottom, which is lower and hotter than where caribou normally give birth. Another maternity pen operated by First Nations near Quesnel was moved to a higher elevation because of similar issues.
Kevin Bollefer of the Revelstoke Caribou Rearing in the Wild project displays software used to track the mountain caribou that have been released from the pen. Photo: Alex Cooper/Revelstoke Mountaineer Magazine Bollefer said they piled snow in the pen to make it cooler this year. “My personal thought is if we had a smaller number and we did the snow piling, I don’t think it would be as bad a site as some people might think.” He said there were significant logistical challenges to building a pen higher up. “The biggest issue with going up high is dealing with five metres of snow. How do you build a fence that will keep animals in?” The maternity pen was built with two objectives in mind. The first was to see if the survival rate of calves could be improved. The second was to stabilize and then increase the population of the Columbia North herd. It appears the first objective was met, with the survival rate of calves born in the pen double that of calves born in the wild over the first four years of the pilot project.
all six and move them to the Revelstoke maternal pen,” said Leo DeGroot, the south area caribou lead for the Ministry of the Environment. Several options are being considered for the animals once they’re in the pen, said DeGroot. One is to conduct a captive rearing program, in which calves would be raised in the pen for three years. The other is to simply hold the animals in the pen, possibly with several animals from the Columbia North herd, then release them and hope they integrate and become part of the larger herd. “Hopefully they would stick together after release and the new ones would learn how to use the new habitat from the veterans,” said DeGroot. Regardless of which option the min-
Whether or not the second objective was met awaits a complete herd survey, which is planned for March. “My sense is we definitely haven’t done any harm,” Bollefer said. “I think we’ve increased slightly, but we also learnt a lot too.” Bollefer notes they were able to monitor the caribou giving birth and get a better idea of how calves died. They were able to look at adult survivorship and see if penning was even feasible for caribou. It is also a model for community cooperation that others are looking at. Meanwhile, the pen will still be used – this time to transplant two nearly extirpated herds in southern B.C. The South Selkirk herd is down to only two females, from a high of 46 animals in 2009, while the South Purcell herd dropped to only four animals this year from 16 last year. “The plan is to capture
istry goes with, the transplant won’t happen until at least 2020. They also plan on moving the pen to a new, higher site beforehand. “The issue with pen is low elevation and it’s too warm in summer,” said DeGrooot. “Normally caribou would be at 1,700 metres elevation, not at 700 metres where the pen is.” RCRW has no plans to continue the maternity penning project. The five-year pilot program is nearing its end, with only a final survey left to conduct. A final report is expected next September. “This had been talked about for so long that it was time to do it, or stop talking about it,” said Bollefer. “I’m really glad we did it. We learnt a ton and I do think it was a total success.”
Bobbi Doebert cradles a mother caribou as they wait to release it into the protective RCRW maternity pen. Photo: Rob Buchanan
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PHOTOS Katie Langmuir MODELS Alexe Patenaude, Olivier Ouellet STYLING Catherine Marleau WARDROBE / GEAR R Gear, Critical Parts WORDS Amaris Bourdeau
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LIVES
Above: Nordic skiers gather at the Ole Sandberg Cabin at a moonlight ski event at the Mount Macpherson trail network. Photo: Aaron Orlando/Revelstoke Mountaineer Magazine. Below: Mickey Olson poses before the sign for the Nordic trail that bears his name. Photo: Olson family
A Revelstoke legacy: Mickey Olson’s passion for Nordic skiing lives on Olson’s contributions to Nordic skiing in Revelstoke are memorialized in the trail bearing his name. By Melissa Jameson
It’s nearly impossible to talk about Nordic skiing in Revelstoke without mentioning the late Mickey Olson. One of the most popular Mt. Macpherson ski trails, the Mickey Olson Loop, bears his name. It’s also one of his most gratifying accomplishments. “He was so darn proud of that trail,” said Mickey’s niece, Sandra Painter. Mickey’s life was one that encompassed nearly all of the multifaceted pieces that Revelstoke is comprised of. He was born in a railway baggage car just past Taft, onboard a train headed from Malakwa to Revelstoke in 1927. The middle of nine children, Mickey spent most of his life in Revelstoke, living at the current location of Terra Firma Farms. He began working at a young age making pocket money fetching water and cutting kindling. He worked as a truck logger, first with the McInnes family, eventually going out on his own becoming a partner and operator of Westwind Logging, hauling logs to Shelter Bay and up the Big Bend. Like many others born and raised in Revelstoke, Mickey took time to enjoy the outdoors. He could often be found cross-country skiing, fishing, and camping. Ski jumping was in its heyday during Mickey’s youth, and like many others in Revelstoke he eagerly took part in the sport. He spent countless hours on Mount Revelstoke and enjoyed building smaller jumps with his friends, but never did get up to giving the big jumps a try. Mickey was one of its longest standing and most committed volunteers for the Revelstoke Nordic Ski Club. Mickey first began volunteering with the Nordic Ski Club in 1991 when he started helping with grooming. Long after he had retired from the workforce, Mickey’s volunteer spirit continued. He groomed and maintained trails, plowied the parking lot, and helped to perform maintenance and safety checks on the groomer equipment. Working alongside fellow volunteers Al McInnes and Brian Abear, Mickey took great satisfaction from the delighted looks and waves from people on the trail as they passed by. He volunteered with the ski club well into his 80s. Mickey passed away this last summer at the age of 91. His legacy lives on as many generations to come will be able to enjoy the Mickey Olson Trail.
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HEALTH
Pack easy, ride hard Tips and recipes to help you pack for cold, snowy,and weight-sensitive multi-day excursions By Shannon Zoia MacLean, RHN, CHNC, BA-IR
W
e all know someone who shows up at the backcountry hut and pulls out their sack of wine, right after their carefully whittled down toothbrush. Priorities, right? Who doesn’t dream of hot, tasty food followed by the perfect nightcap while huffin’ on the skin track? Read on to cut food weight where you can, while still eating like ski royalty.
Nutrient density Calories, schmalories. Calories are out, nutrients are in. Think nutrient density when you’re packing for the backcountry.
Fat chance Here’s the skinny on fat: it’s great, long-lasting fuel for touring. Pack some saturated fat for breakfast and snacks to avoid bonking. Coconut oil and ghee work great for heating up breakfast and dinner. Dark chocolate makes a great high-fat snack, and is also high in magnesium, which helps our muscles relax at the end of the day.
Bean there, rode that Dried bean flakes are an instant revelation. Pinto or black bean flakes cook quickly in simmering water, provide post-workout protein and carbohydrates, and make a fabulous backcountry bean burrito, or instant bean soup when combined with dried vegetables and broth powder.
Cashew at the bottom, brah
Blend cashews into a powder with nutritional yeast, onion powder, garlic powder, sea salt, and mustard powder. Add water and freshly cooked pasta for a creamy powder pasta dream.
Meatballer Meatballs are a nutrient-dense addition to a delicious meal. Make them ahead of time, keep them frozen, and heat them up for a quick, delicious protein, iron, vitamin B12, selenium, and zinc hit at the end of a long day.
Spice up your life Brrr, it’s cold out there. Add cinnamon to sweet foods to stabilize blood sugar and warm up the body. Ginger is a warming and anti-inflammatory addition to tea. Garlic powder is a delicious addition to any savory backcountry meal, while its sulphur content and antibiotic properties will help keep you from getting sick. Cayenne contains capsaicin, which increases blood flow. To warm toes, put no more than a teaspoon of cayenne powder spread throughout the inner toe of your socks before booting up and heading out. Just make sure you don’t have any open
cuts or blisters (ouch!). This is also not a good time to adjust your body parts without washing your hands first. It’s the type of lesson you learn once.
Hot cheese Nobody has a problem with the hot-cheeser who brings a wheel of cheese to the hut and bakes it into ooey, gooey dippable strands. Just saying.
Jerk it out Jerky is an ideal backcountry food. It ensures a strong jaw while being light, delicious, and satisfying. It’s also high in lean protein, which helps to kick-start muscle repair right after your ski-day workout. Make it with wild salmon or local pastured beef.
Watta hottea Hot tea in a cold climate is nothing short of therapeutic. Try green tea to start your day, rooibos ginger chai amidst the Even if you can’t be a hero on the uptrack or the slopes down, you can be a blizzard, turmeric to tame inflammation, hero in the hut with these nutritious backcountry meals. and chamomile to prepare for rest.
Miso happy Miso soup can be packed in a Thermos and enjoyed during touring breaks. It provides gut-nourishing probiotic bacteria, along with plenty of the electrolyte most depleted by sweat: sodium.
Track mix Put equal parts dates (fibre, potassium, magnesium, carbohydrates) and figs (calcium, fibre, carbohydrates) with nuts and seeds in a food processor. Pumpkin seeds provide zinc, sunflower seeds and almonds provide vitamin E, chia seeds provide ALA, and hemp hearts are a great Canadian source of protein and omega fatty acids. Add some cinnamon, orange zest, and a pinch of sea salt for flavor. Process until sticky and uniform, adding more fruit if too dry, and more nuts/seeds if too sticky. Roll into balls. Keep a few in front snow pant pockets for quick energy on the ascent.
SHANNON MACLEAN
RHN, CHNC, BA-IR
Registered Holistic Nutrition.
Dry pow, dry food Invest in a good dehydrator and double your dinner in the weeks leading up to your trip. Dehydrate half, pack, label, and enjoy the flavor and nourishment of a fully-rounded rehydrated dinner deep in winter wonderland. Shannon MacLean is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist with a BA in International Relations. Open for bookings at Balu Yoga and Wellness, she is currently studying Functional Medicine and is passionate about wild foraging, recipe creation, and all things health and wellness. Her Instagram is sprucetipnutrition.
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