Podcasts about Rossland

This podcast hit paid subscribers' inboxes on Oct. 11. It dropped for free subscribers on Oct. 18. To receive future episodes as soon as they're live, and to support independent ski journalism, please consider an upgrade to a paid subscription. You can also subscribe to the free tier below:WhoAndy Cohen, General Manager of Fernie Alpine Resort, British ColumbiaRecorded onSeptember 3, 2024About FernieClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: Resorts of the Canadian Rockies, which also owns:Located in: Fernie, British ColumbiaPass affiliations:* Epic Pass: 7 days, shared with Kicking Horse, Kimberley, Nakiska, Stoneham, and Mont-Sainte Anne* RCR Rockies Season Pass: unlimited access, along with Kicking Horse, Kimberley, and NakiskaClosest neighboring ski areas: Fairmont Hot Springs (1:15), Kimberley (1:27), Panorama (1:45) – travel times vary considerably given time of year and weather conditionsBase elevation: 3,450 feet/1,052 metersSummit elevation: 7,000 feet/2,134 metersVertical drop: 3,550 feet/1,082 metersSkiable Acres: 2,500+Average annual snowfall: 360 inches/914 Canadian inches (also called centimeters)Trail count: 145 named runs plus five alpine bowls and tree skiing (4% extreme, 21% expert, 32% advanced, 30% intermediate, 13% novice)Lift count: 10 (2 high-speed quads, 2 fixed-grip quads, 3 triples, 1 T-bar, 1 Poma, 1 conveyor - view Lift Blog's inventory of Fernie's lift fleet)Why I interviewed himOne of the most irritating dwellers of the #SkiInternet is Shoosh Emoji Bro. This Digital Daniel Boone, having boldly piloted his Subaru beyond the civilized bounds of Interstate 70, considers all outlying mountains to be his personal domain. So empowered, he patrols the digital sphere, dropping shoosh emojis on any poster that dares to mention Lost Trail or White Pass or Baker or Wolf Creek. Like an overzealous pamphleteer, he slings his brand haphazardly, toward any mountain kingdom he deems worthy of his forcefield. Shoosh Emoji Bro once Shoosh Emoji-ed me over a post about Alta.

We all need a place to call our own—somewhere we feel safe to relax and refuel—but a recent convergence of circumstances has made finding a home a serious challenge. In this episode, we focus on housing solutions here in the Basin. We start with a “Tale of Two Towns,” an investigation into creative, multi-faceted projects in Rossland and Fernie. Then we jump through Meadow Creek, Kaslo, Procter, and South Slocan to meet Kootenay entrepreneurs who are using surprisingly innovative solutions to address our housing crisis.

It is one of our most ingenious inventions. Nothing gets the blood moving, the smiles grooving, and the kilometres rolling like the almighty bicycle. Over the past two decades, the bike has inspired Basin residents to create thousands of kilometres of cycling paths and trails, drawing international attention to the region. Additionally, bike culture in the Kootenays has had a large impact on action-sports media, technological innovation, and rural economic health. Join us as we explore these stories in our Beautiful Bicycles episode.

We headed North for the 4th of July weekend to ride in Rossland, BC. Spoiler alert...it was amazing!!!!

In Keep Canada Weird Jordan Bonaparte and Aaron Airport explore the weird and offbeat Canadian news stories from the past week. In this episode your hosts discuss; Rob Schneider bombing in Regina, Sask a bear invasion in Rossland, BC Guelph, Ontario's magic school bus an ice cream sundae theft in Kelowna IS City and Colour a listener of KCW? Series Links Keep Canada Weird Series: https://www.nighttimepodcast.com/keep-canada-weird Send a voice memo: https://www.nighttimepodcast.com/contact Join the Keep Canada Weird Discussion Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/keepcanadaweird Provide feedback and comments on the episode: nighttimepodcast.com/contact Subscribe to the show: https://link.chtbl.com/nighttime-subscribe Contact: Website: https://www.nighttimepodcast.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/NightTimePod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NightTimePod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimepod Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/nighttimepodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Keep Canada Weird Jordan Bonaparte and Aaron Airport explore the weird and offbeat Canadian news stories from the past week. In this episode your hosts discuss; Rob Schneider bombing in Regina, Sask a bear invasion in Rossland, BC Guelph, Ontario's magic school bus an ice cream sundae theft in Kelowna IS City and Colour a listener of KCW? Series Links Keep Canada Weird Series: https://www.nighttimepodcast.com/keep-canada-weird Send a voice memo: https://www.nighttimepodcast.com/contact Join the Keep Canada Weird Discussion Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/keepcanadaweird Provide feedback and comments on the episode: nighttimepodcast.com/contact Subscribe to the show: https://link.chtbl.com/nighttime-subscribe Contact: Website: https://www.nighttimepodcast.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/NightTimePod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NightTimePod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimepod Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/nighttimepodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This podcast hit paid subscribers' inboxes on Feb. 28. It dropped for free subscribers on March 6. To receive future pods as soon as they're live, and to support independent ski journalism, please consider an upgrade to a paid subscription (on sale at 15% off through March 12, 2024). You can also subscribe to the free tier below:WhoHoward Katkov, Chairman and CEO of Red Mountain Resort, British ColumbiaRecorded onFeb. 8, 2024About Red MountainClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: Red Mountain VenturesLocated in: Rossland, British Columbia, CanadaYear founded: 1947 (beginning of chairlift service)Pass affiliations:* Ikon Pass: 7 days, no blackouts* Ikon Base Pass and Ikon Base Pass Plus: 5 days, holiday blackouts* Lake Louise Pass (described below)Closest neighboring ski areas: Salmo (:58), Whitewater (1:22), Phoenix Mountain (1:33), 49 Degrees North (1:53)Base elevation: 3,887 feet/1,185 metersSummit elevation: 6,807 feet/2,075 metersVertical drop: 2,919 feet/890 metersSkiable Acres: 3,850Average annual snowfall: 300 inches/760 cmTrail count: 119 (17% beginner, 34% intermediate, 23% advanced, 26% expert)Lift count: 8 (2 fixed-grip quads, 3 triples, 1 double, 1 T-bar, 1 carpet)View historic Red Mountain trailmaps on skimap.org. Here are some cool video overviews:Granite Mountain:Red Mountain:Grey Mountain:Rossland:Why I interviewed himIt's never made sense to me, this psychological dividing line between Canada and America. I grew up in central Michigan, in a small town closer to Canada (the bridge between Sarnia and Port Huron stood 142 miles away), than the closest neighboring state (Toledo, Ohio, sat 175 miles south). Yet, I never crossed into Canada until I was 19, by which time I had visited roughly 40 U.S. states. Even then, the place felt more foreign than it should, with its aggressive border guards, pizza at McDonald's, and colored currency. Canada on a map looks easy, but Canada in reality is a bit harder, eh?Red sits just five miles, as the crow flies, north of the U.S. border. If by some fluke of history the mountain were part of Washington, it would be the state's greatest ski area, larger than Crystal and Stevens Pass combined. In fact, it would be the seventh-largest ski area in the country, larger than Mammoth or Snowmass, smaller only than Park City, Palisades, Big Sky, Vail, Heavenly, and Bachelor.But, somehow, the international border acts as a sort of invisibility shield, and skiing Red is a much different experience than visiting any of those giants, with their dense networks of high-speed lifts and destination crowds (well, less so at Bachelor). Sure, Red is an Ikon Pass mountain, and has been for years, but it is not synonymous with the pass, like Jackson or Aspen or Alta-Snowbird. But U.S. skiers – at least those outside of the Pacific Northwest – see Red listed on the Ikon menu and glaze past it like the soda machine at an open bar. It just doesn't seem relevant.Which is weird and probably won't last. And right now Shoosh Emoji Bro is losing his goddamn mind and cursing me for using my platform focused on lift-served snowskiing to hype one of the best and most interesting and most underrated lift-served snowskiing operations in North America. But that's why this whole deal exists, Brah. Because most people ski at the same 20 places and I really think skiing as an idea and as an experience and as a sustainable enterprise will be much better off if we start spreading people out a bit more.What we talked aboutRed pow days; why Red amped up shuttle service between the ski area and Rossland and made it free; old-school Tahoe; “it is the most interesting mountain I've ever skied”; buying a ski area when you've never worked at a ski area; why the real-estate crash didn't bury Red like some other ski areas; why Katkov backed away from a golf course that he spent a year and a half planning at Red; why the 900 lockers at the dead center of the base area aren't going anywhere; housing and cost of living in Rossland; “we look at our neighborhood as an extension of our community of Rossland”; base area development plans; balancing parking with people; why and how Red Mountain still sells affordable ski-in, ski-out real estate; “our ethos is to be accessible for everybody”; whether we could ever see a lift from Rossland to Red; why Red conducted a crowd-funding ownership campaign and what they did with the money; Red's newest ownership partners; the importance of independence; “the reality is that the pass, whether it's the Epic or the Ikon Pass, has radically changed the way that consumers experience skiing”; why Red joined the Ikon Pass and why it's been good for the mountain; the Mountain Collective; why Red has no high-speed lifts and whether we could ever see one; no stress on a powder day; Red's next logical lift upgrades; potential lift-served expansions onto Kirkup, White Wolf, and Mt. Roberts; and the Powder Highway.Why I thought that now was a good time for this interviewMy full-scale assault of Canada, planned for 2023, has turned into more of an old-person's bus tour. I'm stopping at all the big sites, but I sure am taking my time, and I'm not certain that I'm really getting the full experience.Part of this echoes the realization centuries' of armies have had when invading Russia: damn this place is big. I'd hoped to quickly fold the whole country into the newsletter, as I'd been able to do with the Midwest and West when I expanded The Storm's coverage out of the Northeast in 2021. But I'd grown up in the Midwest and been skiing the West annually for decades. I'd underestimated how much that had mattered. I'd skied a bit in Canada, but not consistently enough to kick the door down in the manner I'd hoped. I started counting ski areas in Quebec and stopped when I got to 4,000*, 95 percent of which were named “Mont [some French word with numerous squiggly marks above the letters].” The measurements are different. The money is different. The language, in Quebec, is different. I needed to slow down.So I'm starting with western Canada. Well, I started there last year, when I hosted the leaders of SkiBig3 and Sun Peaks on the podcast. This is the easiest Canadian region for a U.S. American to grasp: Epic, Ikon, Mountain Collective, and Indy Pass penetration is deep, especially in British Columbia. Powdr, Boyne, Vail, and Pacific Group Resorts all own ski areas in the province. There is no language barrier.So, Red today, Panorama next month, Whistler in June. That's the way the podcast calendar sets up now, anyway. I'll move east as I'm able.But Red, in particular, has always fascinated me. If you're wondering what the largest ski area in North America is that has yet to install a high-speed lift, this is your answer. For many of you, that may be a deal-breaker. But I see a time-machine, an opportunity to experience a different sort of skiing, but with modern gear. Like if aliens were to land on today's Earth with their teleportation devices and language-translation brain chips and standard-issue post-industro-materialist silver onesies. Like wow look how much easier the past is when you bring the future with you.Someday, Red will probably build a high-speed lift or two or four, and enough skiers who are burned out on I-70 and LCC but refuse to give up their Ikon Passes will look north and say, “oh my, what's this all about?” And Red will become some version of Jackson Hole or Big Sky or Whistler, beefy but also busy, remote but also accessible. But I wanted to capture Red, as it is today, before it goes away.*Just kidding, there are actually 12,000.^^OK, OK, there are like 90. Or 90,000.Why you should ski Red MountainLet's say you've had an Ikon Pass for the past five or six ski seasons. You've run through the Colorado circuit, navigated the Utah canyons, circled Lake Tahoe. The mountains are big, but so are the crowds. The Ikon Pass, for a moment, was a cool little hack, like having an iPhone in 2008. But then everyone got them, and now the world seems terrible because of it.But let's examine ye ‘ole Ikon partner chart more closely, to see what else may be on offer:What's this whole “Canada” section about? Perhaps, during the pandemic, you resigned yourself to U.S. American travel. Perhaps you don't have a passport. Perhaps converting centimeters to inches ignites a cocktail of panic and confusion in your brain. But all of these are solvable dilemmas. Take a deeper look at Canada.In particular, take a deeper look at Red. Those stats are in American. Meaning this is a ski area bigger than Mammoth, taller than Palisades, snowy as Aspen. And it's just one stop on a stacked Ikon BC roster that also includes Sun Peaks (Canada's second-largest ski area), Revelstoke (the nation's tallest by vertical drop), and Panorama.We are not so many years removed from the age of slow-lift, empty American icons. Alta's first high-speed lift didn't arrive until 1999 (they now have four). Big Sky's tin-can tram showed up in 1995. A 1994 Skiing magazine article described the then-Squaw Valley side of what is now Palisades Tahoe as a pokey and remote fantasyland:…bottomless steeps, vast acreage, 33 lifts and no waiting. America's answer to the wide-open ski circuses of Europe. After all these years the mountain is still uncrowded, except on weekends when people pile in from the San Francisco Bay area in droves. Squaw is unflashy, underbuilt, and seems entirely indifferent to success. The opposite of what you would expect one of America's premier resorts to be.Well that's cute. And it's all gone now. America still holds its secrets, vast, affordable fixed-grip ski areas such as Lost Trail and Discovery and Silver Mountain. But none of them have joined the Ikon Pass, and none gives you the scale of Red, this glorious backwater with fixed-grip lifts that rise 2,400 vertical feet to untracked terrain. Maybe it will stay like this forever, but it probably won't. So go there now.Podcast NotesOn Red's masterplanRed's masterplan outlines potential lift-served expansions onto Kirkup, White Wolf, and Mount Roberts. We discuss the feasibility of each. Here's what the mountain could look like at full build-out:On Jane CosmeticsAn important part of Katkov's backstory is his role as founder of Jane cosmetics, a ‘90s bargain brand popular with teenagers. He built the company into a smash success and sold it to Estée Lauder, who promptly tanked it. Per Can't Hardly Dress:Lauder purchased the company in 1997. Jane was a big deal for Lauder because it was the company's first mass market drugstore brand. Up until that point, Lauder only owned prestige brands like MAC, Clinique, Jo Malone and more. Jane was a revolutionary move for the company and a quick way to enter the drugstore mass market.Lauder had no clue what do with Jane and sales plummeted from $50 million to $25 million by 2004. Several successive sales and relaunches also failed, and, according to the article above, “As it stands today, the brand is dunzo. Leaving behind a default Shopify site, an Instagram unupdated for 213 weeks and a Facebook last touched three years ago.”On Win Smith and SugarbushKatkov's story shares parallels with that of Win Smith, the Wall-Streeter-turned-resort-operator who nurtured Sugarbush between its days as part of the American Skiing Company shipwreck and its 2019 purchase by Alterra. Smith joined me on the podcast four years ago, post-Alterra sale, to share the whole story.On housing in Banff and Sun PeaksCanadian mountain towns are not, in general, backed up against the same cliff as their American counterparts. This is mostly the result of more deliberate regional planning policies that either regulate who's allowed to live where, or allow for smart growth over time (meaning they can build things without 500 lawsuits). I discussed the former model with SkiBig3 (Banff) President Pete Woods here, and the latter with Sun Peaks GM Darcy Alexander here. U.S. Americans could learn a lot from looking north.On not being able to buy slopeside real estate in Oregon, Washington, or California The Pacific Northwest is an extremely weird ski region. The resorts are big and snowy, but unless you live there, you've probably never visited any of them. As I wrote a few weeks back:Last week, Peak Rankings analyzed the matrix of factors that prevent Oregon and Washington ski areas, despite their impressive acreage and snowfall stats, from becoming destination resorts. While the article suggests the mountains' proximity to cities, lousy weather, and difficult access roads as blockers, just about every prominent ski area in America fights some combination of these circumstances. The article's most compelling argument is that, with few exceptions, there's really nowhere to stay on most of the mountains. I've written about this a number of times myself, with this important addendum: There's nowhere to stay on most of the mountains, and no possibility of building anything anytime soon.The reasons for this are many and varied, but can be summarized in this way: U.S. Americans, in thrall to an environmental vision that prizes pure wilderness over development of any kind, have rejected the notion that building dense, human-scaled, walkable mountainside communities would benefit the environment far more than making everyone drive to skiing every single day. Nowhere has this posture taken hold more thoroughly than in the Pacific Northwest.Snowy and expansive British Columbia, perhaps sensing a business opportunity, has done the opposite, streamlining ski resort development through a set of policies known as the B.C. Commercial Alpine Ski Policy. As a result, ski areas in the province have rapidly expanded over the past 30 years…California is a very different market, with plenty of legacy slopeside development. It tends to be expensive, however, as building anything new requires a United Nations treaty, an act of Jesus, and a total eclipse of the sun in late summer of a Leap Year. Perhaps 2024 will be it.On “Fight The Man, Own the Mountain”Red ran a crowd-funding campaign a few years back called “Fight the Man, Own the Mountain.” We discuss this on the pod, but here is a bit more context from a letter Katkov wrote on the subject:Investing in RED means investing in history, independence, and in this growing family that shares the same importance on lifestyle and culture. RED is the oldest ski resort in Western Canada and it has always been fiercely independent. There are not many, if any ski resorts left in North America like Red and the success of our campaign demonstrates a desire by so many of you to, help, in a small way, to protect the lifestyle, soul and ski culture that emanates from Red.RED is a place I've been beyond proud to co-own and captain since 2004 and the door is still open to share that feeling and be a part of our family. But please note that despite the friendly atmosphere, this is one of the Top 20 resorts in North America in terms of terrain. The snow's unreal and the people around here are some of the coolest, most down-to-earth folks you're ever likely to meet. (Trying to keep up with them on the hill is another thing entirely…)With $2 million so far already committed and invested, we wasted no time acting on promised improvements. These upgrades included a full remodel of fan favorite Paradise Lodge (incl. flush toilets!) as well as the expansion of RED's retail and High Performance centres. This summer we'll see the construction of overnight on-mountain cabins and the investor clubhouse (friends welcome!) as well as continued parking expansion. We've heard from a number of early investors that they were beyond stoked to enjoy the new Paradise Lodge so soon after clicking the BUY button. Hey, ownership has its privileges…On the Lake Louise PassKatkov mentions the “Lake Louise Pass,” which Red participates in, along with Castle Mountain and Panorama. He's referring to the Lake Louise Plus Card, which costs $134 Canadian up front. Skiers then get their first, fourth, and seventh days free, and 20 percent off lift tickets for each additional visit. While these sorts of discount cards have been diminished by Epkon domination, versions of them still provide good value across the continent. The Colorado Gems Card, Smugglers' Notch's Bash Badge, and ORDA's frequent skier cards are all solid options for skiers looking to dodge the megapass circus.On the Powder HighwayRed is the closest stop on the Powder Highway to U.S. America. This is what the Powder Highway is:And here's the circuit:Fairmont is just a little guy, but Kicking Horse, Kimberley, and Fernie are Epic Pass partners owned by Resorts of the Canadian Rockies, and Revy, Red, and Panorama are all on Ikon. Whitewater used to be on M.A.X. Pass, but is now pass-less. Just to the west of this resort cluster sits Big White (Indy), Silver Star (Ikon), and Sun Peaks (Ikon). To their east is Sunshine, Lake Louise, Norquay (all Ikon), and Castle (Indy). There are also Cat and heli-ski operations all over the place. You could lose a winter here pretty easily.On Katkov's business backgroundIn this episode of the Fident Capital Podcast, Katkov goes in-depth on his business philosophy and management style. Here's another:On bringing the city to the mountainsWhile this notion, rashly interpreted, could summon ghastly visions of Aspen-esque infestations of Fendi stores in downtown Rossland, it really just means building things other than slopeside mansions with 19 kitchens and a butler's wing. From a 2023 resort press release:Red Development Company, the real estate division of RED Mountain Resort (RED), in conjunction with ACE Project Marketing Group (ACE), recently reported the sell-out of the resort's latest real estate offering during the season opening of the slopes. On offer was The Crescent at RED, a collection of 102 homes, ranging from studio to one bedrooms and lofts featuring a prime ski in – ski out location. Howard Katkov, CEO of RED, and Don Thompson, RED President, first conceived of bringing the smaller urban living model to the alpine slopes in January 2021. ACE coined the concept as "everything you need and nothing you don't" …An important component was ensuring that the price point for The Crescent was accessible to locals and those who know and love the destination. With prices starting mid $300s – an excellent price when converted to USD – and with an achievable 5% deposit down, The Crescent at RED was easily one of the best value propositions in real estate for one of the best ranked ski resorts in North America. Not surprisingly, over 50% of the Crescent buyers were from the United States, spurred on by the extraordinary lifestyle and value offered by The Crescent, but also the new sparsity of Canadian property available to foreign buyers.As a good U.S. American, I ask Katkov why he didn't simply price these units for the one-percenters, and how he managed the House-Flipping Henries who would surely interpret these prices as opportunity. His answers might surprise you, and may give you hope that a different sort of ski town is possible.The Storm publishes year-round, and guarantees 100 articles per year. This is article 15/100 in 2024, and number 515 since launching on Oct. 13, 2019. Get full access to The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast at www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

This podcast hit paid subscribers' inboxes on Dec. 28. It dropped for free subscribers on Jan. 4. To receive future pods as soon as they're live, and to support independent ski journalism, please consider an upgrade to a paid subscription. You can also subscribe to the free tier below:WhoJon Schaefer, Owner and General Manager of Berkshire East, Massachusetts and Catamount, straddling the border of Massachusetts and New YorkRecorded onDecember 6, 2023About the mountainsBerkshire EastClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: The Schaefer familyLocated in: Charlemont, MassachusettsYear founded: 1960Pass affiliations:* Berkshire Summit Pass: Unlimited Access* Indy Base Pass: 2 days with blackouts (reservations required)* Indy+ Pass: 2 days, no blackouts (reservations required)Closest neighboring ski areas: Eaglebrook School (:36), Brattleboro (:48), Hermitage Club (:48), Mt. Greylock Ski Club (:52), Mount Snow (:55), Jiminy Peak (:56), Bousquet (:56); Catamount is approximately 90 minutes south of Berkshire EastBase elevation: 660 feetSummit elevation: 1,840 feetVertical drop: 1,180 feetSkiable Acres: 180Average annual snowfall: 110 inchesTrail count: 45Lift count: 7 (1 high-speed quad, 2 fixed-grip quads, 1 triple, 1 double, 2 carpets – view Lift Blog's inventory of Berkshire East's lift fleet)View historic Berkshire East trailmaps on skimap.org.CatamountClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: The Schaefer familyLocated in: Hillsdale, New York and South Egremont, Massachusetts (the resort straddles the state line, and generally seems to use the New York address as its location of record)Year founded: 1939Pass affiliations:* Berkshire Summit Pass: Unlimited Access* Indy Base Pass and Indy+ Pass: 2 days, no blackouts (reservations required)Closest neighboring ski areas: Butternut (:19), Otis Ridge (:35), Bousquet (:40), Mohawk Mountain (:46), Jiminy Peak (:50), Mount Lakeridge (:55), Mt. Greylock Ski Club (1:02); Berkshire East sits approximately 90 minutes north of CatamountBase elevation: 1,000 feetSummit elevation: 2,000 feetVertical drop: 1,000 feetSkiable Acres: 133 acresAverage annual snowfall: 108 inchesTrail count: 44 (35% green, 42% blue, 23% black/double-black)Lift count: 8 (2 fixed-grip quads, 3 triples, 3 carpets – view Lift Blog's inventory of Catamount's lift fleet)View historic Catamount trailmaps on skimap.org.Why I interviewed himMight I nominate Massachusetts as America's most underappreciated ski state? It's easy to understand the oversight. Bordered by three major ski states that are home to a combined 107 ski areas (50 in New York, 27 in Vermont, and 30 in New Hampshire), Massachusetts contains just 13 active lift-served mountains. Two (Easton School and Mount Greylock Ski Club) are private. Five of the remainder deliver vertical drops of 400 feet or fewer. The state's entire lift-served skiable area clocks in at around 1,300 acres, which is smaller than Killington and just a touch larger than Solitude.But the code and character of those 11 public ski areas is what I'm interested in here. Winnowed from some 200 bumps that once ran ropetows up the incline, these survivors are super-adapters, the Darwinian capstones to a century-long puzzle: how to consistently offer skiing in a hostile world that hates you.New England is a rumbler, and always has been. Outside of northern Vermont's Green Mountain Spine (Sugarbush, MRG, Bolton, Stowe, Smuggs, Jay), which snags 200-plus inches of almost automatic annual snowfall, the region's six states can, on any given day from November to April, stage double as Santa's Village or serve as props for sad brown Christmas pining. Immersive reading of the New England Ski History website suggests this contemporary reality reflects historical norms: prior to the widespread introduction of snowmaking, ski areas could sometimes offer just a single-digit number of ski days in particularly difficult winters. Even now, even in good winters, the freeze-thaw cycle is relentless. The rain-snow line is a thing during big storms. Several times in recent years, including this one, furious December rainstorms have washed out weeks of early-season snow and snowmaking.And yet, like sharks, hanging on for hundreds of millions of years as mass extinctions rolled most of the rest of life into the fossil record, the surviving Massachusetts ski area operators found a way to keep moving forward. But these are not sharks – the Colorado- and Utah-based operators haven't plundered the hills rolling west of Boston just yet. Every one of these ski areas (with the exception of investment fund-owned Bousquet), is still family-owned and operated. And these families are among the smartest ski area operators in America.In October, tiny Ski Ward, owned for decades by the LaCroix family, was the first North American ski area to spin lifts for the 2023-24 ski season. Wachusett, a thousand-footer run by the Crowley family since 1968, is a model home for volume urban skiing efficiency. The Fairbank family transformed Jiminy Peak from tadpole (in the 1960s) to alligator before expanding their small empire into New England (the family now runs Bromley, Vermont and owns Cranmore, New Hampshire). The Murdock family has run Butternut since its 1963 founding, and likely saved nearby Otis Ridge from extinction by purchasing the ski area in 2016 (the Murdocks also purchased, but later closed, another nearby ski area, Ski Blandford).The Schaefers, of Charlemont by way of Michigan, are as wiley and wired as any of them. Patriarch Roy Schaefer drove in from the Midwest with a station wagon full of kids in 1978. He stapled then-bankrupt Berkshire East together with the refuse of dead and dying ski areas from all over America. Some time in the mid- to late-aughts, Roy's son Jon took over daily operations and rapidly modernized the lifts, snowmaking, and trail network. Roy's other son Jim, a Wall-Streeter, helped the family take full ownership of the ski area. In 2018, they bought Catamount, a left-behind bump with fantastic fall lines but dated lifts and snowmaking.None of this is new or news to anyone who pays attention to Massachusetts skiing. In fact, Jon Schaefer has appeared on my podcasts twice before (and I've been on his). But in the four years since he joined me for episode nine, a lot has changed at Berkshire, at Catamount, in New England, and across skiing. Daily, the narrative grows that consolidation and megapasses are squeezing family operators out of skiing. My daily work suggests that the opposite may be happening, that independent operators, who have outlasted skiing's extinction event of the low-snow decades and perfected their mad alchemy through decades of swinging the pickaxe into the same mountain, have never had a better story to tell. And Jon Schaefer has one of the better ways of telling it.What we talked aboutEarly openings for both ski areas; what it means that Catamount opened before Berkshire East this season; snowmaking metaphors that I can guarantee you haven't heard before; letting go of things you love as you take on more responsibility; the power of ropetows; Berkshire East's new T-Bar Express, the ski area's first high-speed quad; why Schaefer finally came around on detachable lift technology; the unique dynamics of a multi-generational, family-owned mountain; the long-term plan for the three current top-to-bottom chairlifts; the potential Berkshire East expansion; yes Berkshire is getting busier; the strange math of high-speed versus fixed-grip quads; that balance between modernizing and retaining atmosphere; the Indy Pass' impact on Berkshire and the industry as a whole; whether more mountains could join the Berkshire Summit Pass; whether the Schaefers could buy another ski area; whether they considered buying Jay Peak or are considering buying Burke; assessing the overhaul of Catamount's lift fleet; talking through the clear-cutting of Catamount's frontside trails; parking at Catamount; expansion potential for Catamount; and Catamount being “one of the best small ski areas in the country.”Below: first chair on the new T-Bar Express at Berkshire East:Why I thought that now was a good time for this interviewIf I could somehow itemize and sort the thousands of Storm-related emails and Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook messages that I've read over the past four years, a top-10 request would be some form of this: get Schaefer back on the podcast.There are a couple of reasons for this. One is that Jon is, in my opinion, one of the more unfiltered and original thinkers in skiing. His dad moved the family to Berkshire in 1978. Jon was born in 1980. That means he grew up on the mountain and he lives at the mountain and he holds its past, present, and future in his vision like some shaman of the Berkshires, orchestrating its machinations in a hallucinogenic flow state, crafting, from the ether, a ski area like no other in America.Which leads to the second reason. Because Schaefer is so willful and effective, it can often be difficult for outsiders to see into the eye of the hurricane. You kind of have to let the storm pass. And the past four years have been a bit of a storm, particularly at Catamount, where Covid and supply-chain issues collided with an ambitious but protracted lift-fleet upgrade.But that's all done. Catamount has five functioning chairlifts (all of which, remarkably, were relocated from somewhere else). Berkshire just opened its first high-speed quad, the T-Bar Express. Both mountains are busier than ever, and Berkshire is a perennial Indy Pass top 10 by number of redemptions. And while expansion and a lift shuffle likely loom at Berkshire, both ski areas are, essentially, what the Schaefers want them to be.Which doesn't mean they are ever finished. Schaefer and I touch on this existential reality in the podcast, but we also discuss the other obvious question: now that Catamount's gut-renovation is wrapping up, what's next? Could this ski family, with their popular Berkshire Summit Pass (which is also good at Bousquet), expand with more owned or partner mountains? There are, after all, only so many people in America who know how to capably operate a ski area. You can learn, sure, but most people suck at it, which is (one reason) why there are more lost ski areas than active ones. While I don't root for consolidation necessarily, if ski areas are going to transfer ownership, I'd rather someone proven sign the deed than an unknown. And when it comes to proven, the Schaefers have proven as much as anyone in the country.Questions I wish I'd askedAt some point over the past few years, the Schaefers purchased a Rossland, B.C.-based Cat skiing operation called Big Red Cats. Their terrain covers 20,000 acres on eight peaks. I'm not sure why we didn't get into it.What I got wrongI said that Indy Pass had 130 alpine partners. That was correct on Dec. 6, when we conducted the interview, but the pass has since added Moose Mountain, Alaska and Hudson Bay Mountain, B.C., bringing the total up to 132.Why you should ski Berkshire East and CatamountWhile age, injuries, perspective, volume, skiing with children, and this newsletter have all changed my approach to where and what I ski on any given day, the thing I still love most is the fight. Riding the snowy mountain, in its bruising earthly form, through its trees and drops and undulations, feeling part of something raw and wild. I don't like speed. I like technical and varied terrain that requires deliberate, thoughtful turns. This I find profoundly interesting, like a book that offers, with each page, a captivating new thing.Massachusetts is a great ski state, but it doesn't have a lot of what I just described, that sort of ever-rolling wickedness you'll find clinging to certain mountains in Vermont and New Hampshire. But the state does have one such ski area: Berkshire East. She's ready to fight. Glades and bumps and little cliffs in the woods. Jiminy and Wachusett give you high-speed lifts and operational excellence, but they don't give you (more than nominal) trees. For a skier looking to summon a little Mad River Glen but save themselves a three-hour drive, Berkshire East goes on the storm-chase list.But unlike MRG, Berkshire is a top-to-bottom snowmaking house, and it has to be. While the glades are amazing when you can get them, the operating assumption here is that, more often than not, you can't. And that means the vast majority of skiers – those who prefer groomers to whatever frolics you find in the trees – can head to Berkshire knowing a good day awaits.Catamount, less-snowy and closer to New York City, gives you a more traditional Massachusetts ski experience. More people (it seems), less exploring in the trees (though you can do this a bit). What it has in common with Berkshire is that Catamount is an excellent natural ski mountain. Fall lines, headwalls, winders through the trees. A thousand vert gives you a good run. Head there on a weekday in March, when the whole joint is open, and let them run.Podcast NotesOn Schaefer's previous podcast appearancesSchaefer was the first person to ever agree to join me on The Storm Skiing Podcast, answering my cold email in about four seconds. “Let's do it,” he wrote. It took us a few months to make it happen, but he joined me for episode nine. While he showed up huge, the episode also doubles as a showcase for how much better my own production quality has gotten over the past four years. The intro is sorta… flat:A few months later, Schaefer became the first operator in America to shutter his mountains to help stop the spread of Covid-19. He almost immediately launched an organization called Goggles for Docs, and he joined me on my “Covid-19 & Skiing” miniseries to discuss the initiative:The next year, I joined Jon on his Berkshire Sessions podcast, where we discussed his mountains and Northeast skiing in general:On historic opening and closing dates at Berkshire East and CatamountWe discussed Berkshire and Catamount's historical opening and closing dates. Here's what the past 10 years looked like (the Schaefers took over Catamount starting with the 2018-19 ski season):On Berkshire SnowbasinSchaefer discussed the now-defunct Berkshire Basin ski area in nearby Cummington. The ski area operated from 1949 to 1989, according to New England Ski History, and counted a 550-foot vertical drop (though the map below says 500). Here's a circa 1984 trailmap:Schaefer references efforts to re-open this ski area as a backcountry center, though I couldn't find any reporting on the topic.Stan Brown, whom Schaefer cites for his insight that skiers “are more interested in how they get up the mountain than how they get down” founded Berkshire Snow Basin with his wife, Ruth.On high-speed ropetowsI'll never stop yelling about these things until everyone installs one – these high-speed ropetows can move 4,000 skiers per hour and cost all of $50,000. A more perfect terrain park lift does not exist. This one is at Spirit Mountain, Minnesota (video by me):On when the T-bar came out of Berkshire EastSchaefer refers to the old T-bar that occupied the line where the new high-speed quad now sits. The lift did not extend to the summit, but ran 1,800 feet up from the base, along the run that is still known as Competition (lift F below):On Schaefer's past resistance to high-speed liftsShaun Sutner, a longtime snowsports reporter who has appeared on this podcast three times – most recently in November – summarized Schaefer's onetime resistance to detachable lifts in a 2015 Worcester Telegram & Gazette article:The start of the 2014-15 ski season came with the B-East's first-ever summit quad, a $2 million fixed-grip "medium-speed" lift from Skytrac, a new U.S.-owned lift company. The low-maintenance, elegantly simple conveyance will save millions of dollars over the years. Not only was it less than half the cost of a high-speed detachable quad, but it also eliminates the need for $300,000-$500,000 grip replacements that high-speed lifts need every three or four years.So what changed Schaefer's mind? We discussed in the podcast.On the potential Berkshire East expansionWhile Berkshire East has teased an expansion for several years, details remain scarce (rumors, unfortunately, do not). Schaefer tells us what he's willing to on the podcast, and this image, which the resort presented to a local planning board last year, shows the approximate location of the new terrain pod (around the red dotted line labeled “4”):While this plan suggests the Mountain Top Triple would move to serve the expansion, that may not necessarily be the final plan, Schaefer confirms.On “the gondola side of Stowe” When Schaefer says that the Berkshire expansion will ski like “the gondola side of Stowe,” he's referring to the terrain pod indicated below:Stowe has two gondolas, one of which connects Stowe proper to Spruce Peak, but that's not the terrain he's referring to. The double chair side of Plattekill also skis in the way Schaefer describes, as a series of figure-eights that delightfully frazzles the senses, making the ski area feel far larger than it actually is:On Indy Pass rankingsBerkshire East has finished as a top-10 mountain in number of Indy Pass redemptions every season:On LiftopiaSchaefer references Liftopia, a former online lift ticket broker whose legacy is fading. At one time, I was a huge fan of this Expedia-of-skiing site, where you could score substantial discounts to most major non-Vail ski areas. I hosted founder and CEO Evan Reece way back on podcast number 8:Sadly, the company collapsed with the onset of Covid, as I documented back in 2020:…the industry's most-prominent pure tech entity – Liftopia – has been teetering on existential collapse since failing to pay significant numbers of its partners following the March shutdown. A group of ski area operators tried forcing Liftopia into bankruptcy to recoup their funds. They failed, then appealed, then withdrew that appeal. Outside of the public record, bitter and betrayed ski area operators fumed about the loss of revenues that, as Aspen Snowmass CFO Matt Jones wrote in emails filed in federal court, “were never yours to begin with.” In August, Liftopia CEO Evan Reece announced that he had signed a letter of intent to sell the company.That new owner, Liftopia announced Friday, would be Skitude, a European tech outfit specializing in mobile apps. “The proceeds from the sale will be used to pay creditors,” SAM reported. In an email to an independent ski area operator that was shared with The Storm Skiing Journal Reece wrote that “…all claims will be treated equally,” without specifying whether partners could expect a full or partial repayment. The message also indicated that the new owner may “prioritize ongoing partners,” though it was unclear whether that indicated preference in future business terms or payback of owed funds, or something else altogether.Whatever the outcome, this unsatisfying story is a tale of enormous missed opportunity. No company was better positioned to help lift-served skiing adapt to the social-distancing age than Liftopia. It could have easily expanded and adapted its highly regarded technology to accommodate the almost universal shift to online-only sales for lift tickets, rental reservations, ski lessons, and even appointment times in the lodge. It had 15 years of brand recognition with customers and deep relationships within the ski industry.But ski areas, uncertain about Liftopia's future, have spent an offseason when they could have been building out their presence on a familiar platform scrambling for replacement tech solutions. In addition to the Liftopia-branded site, many ski areas used Liftopia's Cloud Store platform to sell day tickets, season passes, rentals, and more. While it is unclear how many former partners shifted to another point-of-sale system this offseason, several have confirmed to The Storm Skiing Journal that they have done so.I'm not sure how Liftopia would have faired against the modern version of the Indy Pass, but more choice is almost always better for consumers, and I'm still bitter about how this one collapsed.On CaddyshackMovie quotes are generally lost on me, but Schaefer references this one from Caddyshack, so I looked it up and this is what the robots fed me:On the majority of skier visits now being on a season passAccording to the National Ski Areas Association, season pass holders have surpassed day-ticket buyers for total number of skier visits for four consecutive seasons. Without question, this is simply because the industry has gotten very good at incentivizing season pass sales by rolling the most well-known ski areas onto the Epic and Ikon passes. It is unclear whether the NSAA counts the Indy or Mountain Collective passes as season passes, but the number of each of those sold is small in comparison to Epic and Ikon.On the Berkshire Summit PassThe Schaefers have been leaders in establishing compelling regional multimountain ski passes. The Berkshire Summit Pass has, since 2020, delivered access to three solid western Massachusetts ski areas: Berkshire East, Catamount, and partner mountain Bousquet (on the unlimited version only). It is available in unlimited, Sunday through Friday, midweek, and nights-only versions. An Indy Pass add-on makes this a badass cross-New England ski product.On Burke being great and accessible even though it looks as though it's parked at the ass-end of nowhereThe first piece of ski writing I ever published was a New York Ski Blog recap of a Burke ski day in 2019:Last week, winter seemed to be winding down, with above-freezing temps forecast clear up to Canada before St. Patrick's Day. Desperate to extend winter, I had my sights on a storm forecast to dump nearly a foot of new snow across northern Vermont. After considering my options, I locked onto a hill I'd overlooked in 20 years of skiing Vermont: Burke.I'd read the online commentary: steep, funky, heavily gladed, classic New England twisty with high-quality snow well-preserved by cold temps and a lack of crowds. But to get there you have to drive past some big-name ski areas, most with equal or greater vertical drop, skiable acreage and average annual snowfall.Further research uncovered a secret Burke advantage over its better-known neighbors: unlike other mountains that require a post-expressway slog of 30-plus miles on local roads, Burke sits just seven miles off Interstate 91, meaning it was actually the closest northern Vermont option by drive time.As 10 inches of snow piled up Sunday and Monday and areas to the south teeter-tottered along a freeze-thaw cycle that would turn ungroomed trails to granite, Burke looked like my last best shot at mid-winter conditions.Two days after the storm, on the last day of below-freezing temps, I left Brooklyn at 4 am and arrived at 9:15. Read the rest…On Burke's (mostly) hapless ownership historyWe talk quite a bit about Burke Mountain, one of those good New England ski areas with a really terrible business record. Schaefer refers to the unusually huge number of former owners, which, according to New England Ski History, include:* 1964: Burke Mountain Recreation (Doug Kitchel) buys area; eventually went bankrupt* 1987: Paul D. Quinn buys, eventually sells to bank after his bank goes bankrupt* 1990: Hilco, Inc., a bank, takes ownership, then sells to…* 1991: Bernd Schaefers (no relation to Jon), under whom the ski area eventually went bankrupt (for the second time)* 1995: Northern Star Ski Corporation (five owners) buys the ski area, but it eventually goes bankrupt for a third time* 2000: Unidentified auction winner buys Burke and sells it to…* 2000: Burke Mountain Academy, who never wanted to be long-term owner, and sold to…* 2005: Laubert-Adler and the Ginn Corporation, who sold to…* 2012: Aerial Quiros, who engaged in all kinds of shadiness* 2016: Burke becomes the property of U.S. America, as court-appointed receiver takes control of this and Jay Peak. While Jay sold last year, Burke remains for saleOn media reports indicating that there is a bid on BurkeI got excited earlier this year, when the excellent Vermont Digger reported that the sales process for Burke appeared to be underway:Michael Goldberg, the court-appointed receiver in charge of overseeing Burke Mountain ski resort for more than seven years, has an offer to buy the scandal-plagued ski resort in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom.News of the bid came from a recent court filing submitted by Goldberg, predicting that a sale of the property would take place “later this year.”The filing does not name the bidder or the amount of the bid, but the document stated that Goldberg wants to continue to seek qualified buyers, and if a matching or higher price is offered, an auction would be held to sell the resort. …“The Receiver has received an initial offer, and expects to file a motion with the Court in the next month recommending an identical sales process to the Jay Peak sale – a ‘stalking horse' bid, followed by an auction and a subsequent motion asking the Court to approve a final sale,” Goldberg stated in his recent court filing regarding Burke.Well, nothing happened, though the bid remains active, as far as I know. So who knows. I hope whoever buys Burke next, this place can finally stabilize and build.On the West Mountain expansion at CatamountSchaefer discusses a potential expansion at Catamount. New England Ski History hosts a summary page for this one as well:A lift and a variety of trails are proposed for the west side of the ski area, crossing over the Lower Sidewinder trail. The lift would climb 650 vertical feet from a new parking lot to the junction of Upper and Lower Sidewinder. 6 trail segments would be cut above and below the lower switchback of the Lower Sidewinder Trail. All of the terrain would be located in New York state.Here's a circa 2014 map, showing the proposed expansion looker's right:The Storm explores the world of lift-served skiing year-round. Join us.The Storm publishes year-round, and guarantees 100 articles per year. This is article 113/100 in 2023, and number 498 since launching on Oct. 13, 2019. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

Controversy erupted after a comment about a referee made by Vancouver Whitecaps' coach Vanni Sartini last Saturday. We speak with Jennifer Walinga, Olympic rower, Professor in Communications and Culture at Royal Roads University about the controversy and take your calls. In our second half, our guest is Evan Paul, President - LoLo Soup Co, The Soup Meister's Nephew, talking about his late uncle's beloved soup restaurant, his favourite soups and calls from our listeners with theirs, including a Battle of the Broth in Rossland, B.C. in its fifth year.

In a week where the Manitoba government announced the historic decision that it would formally recognise Métis resistance leader Louis Riel as the province's honorary first Premier, it seems fitting that our latest episode is called "One Nation, Many Leaders."In this episode we're focusing on one specific leader, Métis National Council President Cassidy Caron, two years after she became the first female elected female elected leader of the MNC. In this thoughtful, lively conversation, host Matt Lemay and Caron talk about her meteoric rise to the MNC presidency in her late twenties and the path that took her there. They also get into her childhood in Rossland, BC, the family who grounded her in Métis traditions, her family's deep roots in historic Métis communities of Batoche and St. Louis, Saskatchewan, and those who mentored and continue to advice her in her role as leader, including the acclaimed Métis author Maria Campbell and a group of Kookums who she continues to talk with on a regular basis. They also get into highlights of her time in office, including the Papal visit at the Vatican with Residential School survivors, the ongoing issue of governments recognizing those Métis Residential School survivors, Métis self-government agreements with the federal government and more.Host Matt LeMay is a citizen of the Métis Nation of Ontario, with roots in the Red River, Drummond Island and Penetanguishene. He is a documentary film-maker and co-founder of Indigenous Geographic. Our theme music is "Harry Daniels" by Métis fiddler John Arcand."One Nation, Many Stories" is produced by the Métis National Council, and David McGuffin of Explore Podcast Productions.For more on the work of the Métis National Council, visit metisnation.ca

I'm back! It's been a long hiatus from recording as I focused on studies and self-care.One of the big layers of this year was finding beauty, magic, and awe when life got really full.How do we find the Mystical in life when there's just too much on the to-do list? Here's 6 suggestions for you to explore in your own life.No matter how busy life is, there's always space for the awe, wonder, and the Mystical in life.Consider donating to the podcast: bit.ly/supportthepodcastLocal to Rossland, BC? I invite you to come for a Relaxation Massage, Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy, or a Combination of the two! https://combinationhealing.ca/Grab your free Nourish Your Roots guided meditation here: https://combinationhealing.ca/free/Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/highly-sensitive-soul-podcast-for-hsps/donations

I chat with Robin about her first trail race at Broken Goat 25km in Rossland, BC. We get into her transition from running on city streets to techincal terrain in the backcountry of BC, where there are more bears than people. We also get into her recent experience with a helicopter rescue from the Nelson SAR.  More from me @hilsport55  New podcast instagram @trailrunningwomenpod Discount code TRW15 for 15% off at www.janji.com Go to www.athleticgreens.com/TRWP to get 5 FREE travel packs and one year supply of Vitamin D!  Get free shipping on any order from Goodr at goodr.com code TRW  

Rob of Saskatoon returns to join us on a gripping journey through RJ's recent confrontation with his citizenship, and let's face it, himself. We manage to make a couple of complete meals out of just the titles involved in that process before moving on to other things like what it was like for Rob and RJ and Mike of Rossland to come to Canada as Young Americans around 1970 (hint: discard the notion of Canada's warm regard for our southern cousins), the results of KJ's recent foray into expanding his consciousness even further, the Robson Zoo, and a hearty round of agreement on what a fine fellow Chroner of Duncan is (hear his visit with us in Episode 52). It's a lot of good clean fun with four old good friends—join us! Links: Shed Dogs; the Robson Zoo; portrait mode; the Ascension of Jesus; the Assumption of Mary; the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary; enunciation; Asunción (the capital of Paraguay, originally called Nuestra Señora Santa María de la Asunción (Our Lady Saint Mary of the Assumption); Sucre (the capital of Bolivia, named after Antonio José de Sucre and never confused with Asunción); besmirched; the Second Council of Constantinople, in which anathemas were declared against those who rejected the Perpetual Virginity of Mary; Asuncion (girl's name); the Gospel of Mary; the Lost Gospel (in which Jesus marries Mary Magdalene); renunciation of citizenship; Shed Dogs episode 52, featuring Chroner and Deb.

Over the past few years we've said many times how much we appreciate, even love, the listener mail we get. Many times, the response to a segment generates more interesting conversation than the bit they're commenting on. In this episode we have mail from Leigh of Courtenay (honourary weather Dog), Rustica of Portland, and Joanne of Rossland, covering, among other things, weather wardrobe, simple syrup, Diet Coke, a really bad movie, composting, and (our upcoming) T-shirts! We hope you'll enjoy it as much as we did, and maybe feel inspired to write your first (or your hundredth) letter letting us know what caught your attention.Links: Shed Dogs; weather presenter; In the Name of the King (metacritic); the Burnaby composting facility.

Our special guest this episode is Jenny of Rossland, with whom your Dogs went to school and generally hung out 50 or so years ago. We talk about what she's been up to over the long past and will she will be up to in the near future (Ecuador!), and she helps us out with KJ's Snappers and some bespoke Listener Mail as well. Anecdotes and arguments abound! Links: Shed Dogs; the tarantulas of Ecuador; vegan turkey, Guilt & Company

Welcome to Episode 14 of Offshoot with Howard Katkov, CEO and co-owner of Red Mountain Resort in Rossland, British Columbia. Howard has started and successfully operated seven different companies and has pulled a steady paycheck from them 45 consecutive years. He loves the game of businesses and building successful ventures from vision to execution with the support of strong teams.

Welcome to Episode 14 of Offshoot with Howard Katkov, CEO and co-owner of Red Mountain Resort in Rossland, British Columbia. Howard has started and successfully operated seven different companies and has pulled a steady paycheck from them 45 consecutive years. He loves the game of businesses and building successful ventures from vision to execution with the support of strong teams.

Eva Gifford grew up in Rossland, BC and has been crushing endurance sports since she was a kid. She's now a Chiropractor, run coach, and leader in her local running community. She's only 30 years old but working to change the way Chiro can be used to keep atheltes playing in the mountains for as long as possible. More from her @evagiff  FREE Spartan Race ENTRY! All you need to do is  post a video or photo of yourself training for your SpartanRace and use the hashtag #spartantrail tag @spartan and @hilsport55 and I'll DM you the code :D  For a backlog of episodes find us on Patreon HERE Use discount code TRW at Naakbar.com for 15% of Naak Nutrition!  Use code TRW15 at goodr.com/trw for 15% off your fav sunglasses!   

It has been an incredible year with you!! This episode marks the first anniversary (of many) for the Highly Sensitive Soul Podcast.I share some of my personal and entreprenurial learnings from the year, tune in to some of the highlights of my own inner jounrey of building a conscious and intuitively-led life!-----------------------------------------------------------------Connect with your host, Lisa Matthews at: www.combinationhealing.ca5 S's to Soothe Your Spirit https://bit.ly/sootheyourspiritBook a complimentary 30 minute Highly Sensitive Tea Chat (Meet & Greet) https://www.schedulicity.com/scheduling/CH5DTZ--------------------------Link's mentioned in today's showVisioning the New Year: Amethyst Crystal Class: https://combinationhealing.ca/events/Monika Smutny: Crystal & Reiki Practitioner in Rossland, BC https://madhucollective.janeapp.com/#/staff_member/28/bioEmbodied Business Podcast (with Yarrow M.): available wherever you listen!5D Business Collective: https://www.5dbusiness.co/---------------If you've enjoyed the show this year and would like to support it, you can donate amount here:https://app.redcircle.com/shows/f7565dde-aefb-4d4e-a845-1d93f14fb2cb/donationsSolstice Blessings to you!Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/highly-sensitive-soul-podcast-for-hsps/donations

My guest today and I worked together in Club Med Paradise Island in 2002/2003 where he was Resp. of the Tennis team. I first met him in Columbus Isle in 1997 while he was on the way to his first season in Club Med Paradise Island in Winter of 1997 as a Tennis G.O. Everyone, please help me welcome from beautiful British Columbia, Petri Raito! I distinctly remember meeting Petri at the bar in Columbus Isle in 1997 and when he told me he was a Tennis G.O, I laughed (you will understand why at the start of the episode and if you know this G.O, then you already know why). Before Club Med, Petri was teaching tennis in New York and Connecticut and met someone that had worked for Club Med. He has so many stories that cover about 7-8 years that I don't even want to mention them in this description so I don't spoil them. Petri is also the co-founder and GM/CEO of Rossland Beer Company, an award-winning craft brewery tucked away in the glorious mountain town of Rossland, British Columbia (we will talk about how he founded his beer company at the end of the episode). Please check out his website below and give him a follow on Instagram (@rosslandbeerco). Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts. http://rosslandbeer.com/ https://www.instagram.com/rosslandbeerco/  

Founded in 2019 and located in Rossland, BC Alkeme Foods is the realised manifestation of two dreamers and doers - Todd and Melinda Kopet.  Their Gluten Free Sourdough Bread takes centre stage within their bakery, featuring a crisp, rich crust and a taste that balances the fresh, earthy, sweet flavours of their GF grains with some light lactic and acidic flavours from the fermentation. Made using certified or tested gluten free flours, their bread is processed in a dedicated gluten free facility and baked-to-order in small batches. Their delicious bread and other baked products are available online via their website and in 36 retail locations around BC.   ________________________________________________________________________ On this episode Todd and Melinda share their Alkeme story - beginning well prior to uprooting their lives from Seattle, WA after they began to take note of life around them.  They noticed the abundance of quick, easy, cheap and disposable convenience. Together they made lists and notes, determined what they cared about and what they valued. When the time was right in 2016 they took the leap of faith and moved away from the security of their corporate careers and city-lives with their two children, to a slow and quiet life nestled in the mountains of BC. Fast forward to today and their life is anything but slow operating and tending to Alkeme Foods.  Most recently Alkeme was recognised as the gold winner of Outstanding Product of the Year at the “From the Ground Up” conference and trade show held in September by Andrea Gray-Grant and her team at Good to Grow. Web: https://thisisalkeme.com/  Instagram : @thisisalkeme  Contact:  hello@thisisalkeme.com  ________________________________________________________________________ Please support this podcast by checking out our show sponsors FoodPak: https://www.foodpak.com/ Brad Bodnarchuk : ​​https://www.bradbodnarchuk.com/new-strategy-session  Futurpreneur Canada : https://www.futurpreneur.ca Leave a review, rate the show and if you have any questions or feedback I would love to hear from you : hayden@thepackheavypodcast.com

What started off as a casual drive with Amanda updating Jenn about the ceiling sparks coming out of the light in the kitchen, they spotted a cute dog and … Shail?!We've picked up our first Road Trip friend!  On the drive today, our squirrel brains cover all kinds of things, from roommate dramas, Shail's experience as the Bachelorette of Rossland, wine and grape varieties, meat and cheese sticks (obviously), relationships, things that interest us, and wrap up with some astrology talk!This drive is super dynamic with the perfect balance of hilarious and serious, so buckle up! ---LINKS:Come follow along! @roadtripbuckleupWebsite: thesafehaven.coInstagram: @thesafehavenpodcastFrequency Podcast Network: The Safe HavenFacebook: The Safe HavenAll the good stuff: linktree/thesafehavenpodcastEmail: hello@thesafehaven.co

This week, the GM of The Flying Steamshovel in Rossland, Dan D'amour joins the show (4:42) to chat about upcoming shows and the allure of the famed hotel, restaurant and music venue. Rosy from WildBC joins (23:30) to help answer some burning questions about city bears, their garbage diets and poops. Listen through to the mailbag where I read your emailed complaints (35:38). There are some absolute doozies in there, looking at you Bobby. Tune in at the end to guess where the audio is from. Could be anywhere in the West Kootenays and you could win one helluva prize. Email wkinthewk@gmail.com with your complaints, concerts and guesses. There are also some event listings like the Zolas on Nov 20 and more.

David Stubbs is from Rossland, BC and is currently riding his old hunk of junk bicycle from Rossland to Dawson City, Yukon and back. - Sean Ennis, our foreman, also from Rossland and good friends with David invited him to stop by our bush camp since we were camped right on the Alaska Highway as he was riding by. He came right in time for our contract end night off. - The next morning in the midst of camp take down, David, Sean and I took a break to chat in the Anal Prowler Linx.

Ryan Lachapelle—Amazing Race Canada brother, avid skier, and adventurer extraordinaire! He—along with best friend Kenneth McAlpine—competed on season 5 of the Amazing Race Canada as Team GIVE'R… and promptly won the hearts of Canadians. Devastatingly, Kenneth passed away in a hiking accident on August 26, 2019. Ryan is open about how this loss impacted him, and how he continues to live every day to the fullest and channel his GIVE'R energy. Ryan is the events coordinator at RED Mountain Resort in Rossland, BC, but we caught up with him while he was visiting his hometown of Collingwood, Ontario. We had a blast learning more about Ryan, and of COURSE we also had to sneak in some Amazing Race chit chat! Enjoy! Support the Team GIVE'R Foundation that Ryan founded in memory of Kenny here: https://www.teamgiver.ca/ Ryan's Instagram handle: @ryangiver Episode art created using photo by Ashley Voykin (@ashvoykin on instagram) :)

The following was first broadcast on our sister page -- The Next Phase with Steve Kee Podcast -- but it has some great ideas for travel as well. In this episode we speak with Brian Pallock of Dive Source Scuba in Durham Region.A third generation Whitby resident and 24 year Whitby Chamber of Commerce  member, Brian grew up working at "Pallock Orchards'' the family's farm, but also had the usual part time jobs at Canadian Tire, General Motors and the Whitby Parks department. Attending Durham College he earned a diploma in Mechanical Engineering and certificate in Adult Training, subsequently working in process engineering for Shawflex Wire and Cable. During this time Brian also became a certified scuba diver, motivated by a love of the water and the explorer Jacques Cousteau.The 1990's spawned a serious recession in Ontario and he found himself back in farming, expanding the farm market and crop production in both their Whitby and Courtice farms. During this time he also had the greatest success of his life, marrying his wife Tanya and starting a family. Then in 1996 Brian took his passion for scuba diving and became a scuba instructor, while also opening Dive Source in part of the farm market at Rossland and Brock, before expanding and moving to its present location in Oshawa.Dive Source is now in its 25th year of operation teaching scuba diving, selling and servicing scuba equipment and offering adventure dive travel locally and abroad. This experience base and passion to learn, grow and adapt to change has made Brian a respected business person in Durham, who strongly believes  "You never stop learning "  and that Whitby is a very special place to live, work and raise a family.To learn more visit: https://www.divesource.com/Also, do you have an interesting story to tell me?  Drop me a line at stephen.e.kee@gmail.com and we can chat on the podcast. 

Grey Moon from Rossland, BC - lush and deep dubstep selectionsPlaylist: HUSKIE - EverknowDe-Tu - When Will WeSkeptical, featuring DRS - Paper HouseEVA808 - ChildhoodEscapism Refuge - Wet Wipes (Biome Remix)epoch - No WarningTrashbat - $hawtyAgo - I GotBenga & Coki - Night (11th Hour Bootleg)epoch - The MaskS E E N x goldwire - PeepinEVA808 - Rainy MoodHeadland - LoopoSicaria Sound - It's Down, RightYoufee - Make You BelieveKromestar - MissingEVA808 - Too LateA.CHAL - MatrixOkiro - Ninfu's LullabySicaria Sound - Caved InGoopsteppa - SelektaOakin - Coming HomeSicaria Sound - LourFiend - Jah Hear MeRareman - TributeMax Ulis - I Don't Like You

Evan Solomon discusses the National Advisory Committee on Immunization's message that mRNA vaccines are "preferred' and the accusations that they are causing vaccine hesitancy.  On today's show:  We play Evan's full interview with Dr. Caroline Quach-Thanh, chair of NACI. Infectious diseases doctor Isaac Bogoch weighs-in on NACI's messaging.  Kathy Moore, Mayor of Rossland, B.C., apologizes for travelling to the U.S. to receive a vaccine and explains the negative reaction she is receiving.  Daniel Bryan, senior advisor to New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, talks about a new program that offers free beer to New Jersey residents who get vaccinated.

Dave MacLeod is the CEO of Rossland-based Thoughtexchange, best known for developing a platform that crowd-sources ideas from groups ranging from 10 to 100,000 people. It's one of the B.C. tech companies experiencing huge growth amidst the pandemic. MacLeod is also the author of Scaling Conversations: How Leaders Access the Full Potential of People. He joins BIV Today to discuss how the book, which comes out Tuesday, ties into his company’s mission. Tyler Orton hosts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As an interesting turn to the guests I have on the podcast, Dave MacLeod is not a technologist by trade. He is a serial entrepreneur, and an old school face to face facilitator, who cares a lot about what people have to say and feel. He came out of college having taken every course under the sun, and getting zero degrees.. which prepared him perfectly to be a consultant. He lives in a small ski town called Rossland, in British Columbia. And it's important to him to be a good Dad, a good Son, and a good member of his community. Along the way, he got to do some interesting and complex work, where he heard voices representing many different viewpoints. In doing this, he picked up some facilitation techniques to figure out what was important within the diverse groups of people he was working with. He got hooked up with some people building software to solve a similar problem. This is the creation story of ThoughtExchange. Sponsors ProdPerfect ( https://prodperfect.com ) Links * Website: https://www.thoughtexchange.com/ * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-macleod-te/ ( https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-macleod-te/ ) * https://www.amazon.com/Scaling-Conversations-Leaders-Access-Potential/dp/1119764459 * https://www.diversityinc.com/ Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts ( https://ratethispodcast.com/codestory ) Amazing tools we use: * This podcast is hosted on RedCircle ( https://redcircle.com/ ) , a FREE platform for podcasts and brands to scale their message. * Want to record your remote interviews with class? Then, you need to use Squadcast ( https://squadcast.fm/?ref=noahlabhart ). * Code Story uses the 1-click product ClipGain ( https://clipgain.io/?utm_campaign=clipgain&utm_medium=episode&utm_source=codestory ) , sign up now to get 3hrs of podcast processing time FREE * If you want an amazing publishing platform for your podcast, with amazing support & people – use Transistor.fm ( https://transistor.fm/?via=code-story ) Credits: Code Story is hosted and produced by Noah Labhart. Be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts ( https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/code-story/id1466861744 ) , Spotify ( https://open.spotify.com/show/0f5HGQ2EPd63H83gqAifXp ) , Pocket Casts ( https://pca.st/Z1k7 ) , Google Play ( https://play.google.com/music/listen?pcampaignid=MKT-na-all-co-pr-mu-pod-16&t=Code_Story&view=%2Fps%2FIcdmshauh7jgmkjmh6iu3wd4oya ) , Breaker ( https://www.breaker.audio/code-story ) , Youtube ( https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgjZsiUDp-oKY_ffHc5AUpQ ) , or the podcasting app of your choice. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/code-story/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In this episode, Dr. Amanda Chay – a naturopathic physician and my amazing cousin – shares evidence-based insights into HPA axis dysregulation and stress, diet-related health issues including SIBO and fungal dysbiosis, and female hormone regulation. Her expertise comes from a combination of her medical training, experience treating thousands of patients, and a passion for health, happiness, and performance.Currently, Amanda is the owner of The Natural Path Clinic in Rossland, BC, owner of her own supplement company, Enliven Naturals, and a business consultant helping wellness providers diversify income and help more people. Her work has been featured in Medium, Thrive, and The Female Hustlers. And finally, in addition to her Naturopathic medical training, she also has advanced training and certifications in the following:- Pharmaceutical prescription rights- Acupuncture - IV & chelation therapy - Advanced cardiac life supportNeedless to say, this episode offers a wealth of knowledge and her personality and enthusiasm is infectious. I personally guarantee that you will enjoy this episode with Amanda!TOPICS: [3:45] What is naturopathic medicine? [8:50] HPA axis dysregulation and its role in health [19:12] The role of diet with IBS, SIBO, fungal dysbiosis and more [25:15] The two foods that cause 95% of gut issues [33:23] Building the best diet with whole foods [42:34] Most common factors that contribute to hormone imbalances [45:27] Functions of progesterone and estrogen in female menstrual cycle [51:43] The lifestyle habits of a naturopathic physician [57:08] Where to learn more about Amanda [1:02:41] Amanda's best advice for optimizing health, happiness, and performanceFull Episode with VideoLearn more and follow Dr. Amanda Chay:InstagramNaturopath Clinic – WebsiteNaturopath Clinic – InstagramEnliven Naturals – WebsiteEnliven Naturals – InstagramHormone Harmony Master ClassGET ONE MONTH FREE ON A NEW WHOOP MEMBERSHIP:join.whoop.com/learniiperform For more information on Learn II Perform and Braeden, please visit:Website Instagram LinkedIn Facebook  Thank you all for joining me on this journey to lifelong health, happiness, and higher performance. And remember, always be grateful, love yourself, and serve others.

Matt Mosteller, @powdermatt is a co-founder of The Kootenay Outdoor Recreation Enterprise (KORE) Initiative, a project managed by the Kootenay Outdoor Recreation Society, incorporated in February 2019, and is based in Kimberley, BC. KORE is a nonprofit, grassroots organization dedicated to makers and creators in the outdoor manufacturing sector.The Kootenays encompass portions of four major mountain ranges: the western Rockies, Purcells, Selkirks and the eastern Monashees. Within these ranges are hundreds of lakes, rivers, glaciers and 10,000-foot peaks. The region includes four national parks, 75 provincial parks, and countless year-round, winter and summer recreation resorts, backcountry lodges, hot springs, championship golf courses and far-out destinations renown for world-class hiking, skiing, snowboarding, kayaking, mountain biking and climbing.Kootenay communities like Golden, Invermere, Fernie, Nelson, Rossland, Kimberly and Revelstoke are rapidly becoming recognized as having some of the planet’s most outstanding and untouched mountain wilderness.The KORE initiative wants to bring creators to the region and stimulate the economy of these small mountain towns. What better place than the Kootenays to set up shop and create awesome gear tried and tested in some of the most beautiful and rugged terrain on the planet!In this podcast, Matt shares a little about himself as a young boy and the events that inspired him to live his best life in the outdoors. We discuss the importance of moving through nature and the positive impacts that communities of outdoor enthusiasts bring to the region. We also chat about the value that these communities bring to the region and how KORE is making it a no brainer for future companies to set up shop here in the Kootenays.Save 50% off a consultation at Cycling 101 when you use the code VIP50 at checkout.Save 25% at Dynamic Cyclist when you use the promo code MB40 at checkout.Visit Rollingdale CycleThanks to Rebound Cycle for supporting me!

Christine Lydon is an Ivy League educated American Medical Doctor (MD), Author and Attorney (JD) living in Rossland, British Columbia, Canada. Ms. Lydon moved to Canada, with her son, to attend law school. Both Ms. Lydon and her son began to exhibit classic symptoms and were diagnosed with Lyme disease by the well know Lyme Literate Doctor (LLMD) Daniel Cameron. Unfortunately, Ms. Lydon’s Lyme disease diagnosis was questioned by the Canadian medical and legal communities and her son was temporarily placed in the Canadian foster care system which prevented him from receiving Lyme treatment. If you would like to learn more about how a doctor-lawyer suffering from chronic Lyme disease was failed by the Canadian medical and legal systems, then tune in now!

After a short break of settling back into bush work life, I am now brush cutting near 100 Mile House, BC. - My co-workers are adrenaline junkies! - Rossland, BC power couple Sean Ennis and Alice Newman hang out and we talk about their life skiing and paragliding around the mountains. For questions and comments and feedback about Stumped email:lichtijosh@gmail.com

759: Richard Zokol’s PGA Tour career spanned over 20-years, winning twice while competing in 412 PGA Tour events. As he treats us to great stories about his career, he also shares the Ah-Ha moment in the final round of the 2000 US Open when, after shooting a 30 on the front nine, he was no longer emotionally tied to his score. The result is a fabulous free (iOS only so far) app called MindTrakGolf that shifts your focus away from stroke scoring and offers simple tracking of your shot assessments and shot executions. Listen for details. Congratulations to Joye M-S of Essex Ontario Canada, winner of a Golf Fitness Assessment and Customized Fitness Exercise Program courtesy of Par4Success.com Our next giveaway is for a High Heat 257+ Fairway metal from KnuthGolf.com. Deadline to enter is Sunday, October 4, 2020 at Midnight PDT/3a EDT. Enter at GolfSmarter.com/giveaway2020. Listen for details.We recently congratulated Gwen C of Rossland, BC, Canada who won the Full Access Pass to the Consistent Golf Summit courtesy of SchoolOfLifetimeLowRounds.com but she informed us that she’d already purchased the Full Access Pass and wanted to release her prize to another Golf Smarter listener. So CONGRATULATIONS to Cynthia C of Chandler, AZ who was selected for this prize. This is a unique week for Golf Smarter and Golf Smarter Mulligans in that both episodes feature conversations with former PGA Tour players. In episode #75 of Mulligans, we sit down with Aaron Oberholser at a press event for the 2009 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am to talk about life on the Tour and that Pros are working when they play, but amateurs need to remember that golf is a game and is supposed to be fun.

Guest mix by Alex Moon from Rossland, BC Downtempo to fuel that new moon magic.Playlist: HUSKIE - EverknowThe Soil - Unspoken WordsAtYyA - Ancestors Speak (CloZee Remix)Sidecar Tommy, featuring LYNX - AtmosphereV.I.V.E.K - GalacticCongi & Occult - Same KindEnigma Dubz - All On YouSepia - Down by The CreekCartridge - Back WhenFiend - AfterlifeJafu - No MoreVesky - FallingPhaeleh - The MistFour Tet - Parallel JalebiDjrum - On The Road 2010Pushloop - GypsyMystic State, featuring Astrid - SocietySubmotion Orchestra - All Yours

Chris Finn returns to discuss how your body can be the biggest problem to improving your golf game. His group of TPI Instructors at Par4Success.com have developed on online assessment that will allow them to get a distanced look at your flexibility. Once reviewed they can create a customized exercise program for you that will give the gift of greater power which leads to more distance. We also talk about how many years Tour players like Bryson DeChampbeau can still be effective after transforming his body. Our next giveaway is a Golf Fitness Assessment and Customized Fitness Exercise Program courtesy of Par4Success.com Deadline to enter is Sunday, September 20, 2020 at Midnight PDT/3a EDT. Enter at GolfSmarter.com/giveaway2020. Listen for details.Congratulations to Gwen C of Rossland, BC, Canada. She’s the winner of the Full Access Pass to the Consistent Golf Summit courtesy of SchoolOfLifetimeLowRounds.com This week on Golf Smarter Mulligans #73, we talk about how understanding golf course architecture can improve your course management skills with Architect Tripp Davis in an episode we call “Insights on How Golf Course Architecture Can Determine Your Playing Strategy”.

In this episode, I talk with Leah Evans about activism, skiing, allyship, meditation, and the importance of sport. Leah Evans started Girls Do Ski in 2008 while also attending university and working to become a professional skier. Since then, her business, her ski career, and her activism have become the cornerstones of a super diverse and fascinating life. Originally from Rossland, British Columbia, Leah has lived in Revelstoke, home of some of the most epic backcountry lines, for 12 years. In the summer, she's an Association of Canadian Mountain Guides (ACMG) hiking guide, and in the winters she's fully hands-on with all-women backcountry and resort skiing clinics she creates with Girls Do Ski. Leah is a champion of wild places and was deeply involved in the Jumbo Wild project–one of a growing list of successful land protection stories–which helped protect natural grizzly habitat and Ktunaxa Nation land, from the development of a ski resort. Earlier this year, the Ktunaxa Nation, with Federal and Provincial governments, declared the Qat'muk Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area, forever protecting Jumbo. She's also a native seed keeper, avid reader, and volunteer with Wildsight. “Make a decision and go for it. Don't waste time thinking about it.”–Leah Evans Rent Jumbo Wild Learn more about Jumbo and the Ktunaxa Nation Girls Do Ski Girls Do Ski Instagram Page Get involved with Wildsight Map of Indigenous Land Natives Outdoors Follow Leah Evans on Instagram Snow Drifter Pant on Backcountry.com The Rosie Project Book The Dovekeepers Book Outro music: Resilient by Rising Apalachia --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/caroline-gleich/message

Leah Evans grew up in Rossland, British Columbia skiing at RED Mountain Resort but she calls Revelstoke her home today. She has competed in freeride and big mountain competitions and has been featured in video projects like the satirical film “Dream Job”. Most notably, Leah is the founder of Girls Do Ski, which hosts multi-level freeski camps and facilitates mentorships for women looking to grow on and off the mountain. Tune in to hear Leah talk about women working together as enablers rather than competitors, music in nature, what connecting youth to wild spaces can look like and why passing her ACMG guide exam was so empowering. Big thanks to our sponsors Protect Our Winters, OpenSnow, SKI Magazine, the IKON Pass. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jared and Bethany Salte joined us in The Old Firehall in Rossland, BC to talk about life, love and how that translates into great music. They played two gorgeous acoustic version so their songs Never have time and All we have.

My dad relives his past on a farm in Rossland, BC, Canada, and the secret to success (which involves women)...

Dear Spinning Circle ~This month, I was so pleased to be able to get on the phone with Sarah of Sarah Elizabeth Fibre Works from Rossland, BC. Sarah is increbibly passionate about her business, building it and loving it, as well as her making and role as a parent. I really enjoyed listening to her ideas, thoughts and reflections. She's a pleasure to chat with and I hope you enjoy our conversation!To find more about Sarah, please check out her website here and her Instagram feed here.Music used as part of the Creative Commons Licensing; Scott Holmes, "Storybook"  Patreon Link hereThank you for listening!Happy Spinning!Rachel

Longtime friend and listener Candace of Kanata, Ottawa, Edmonton, Resolute Bay, Vancouver, and Rossland joins PJ & KJ in the Shed to catch up on where the decades went and what’s going on these days. We hear about KJ’s new GP assistant and PJ’s favourite ever tax consultant as well as how canny car owners like Candace deal with gas tanks that leak but are just too expensive to fix. In an episode that flirts with explosion the whole way, we manage to just stay warm!Link: Shed Dogs; The Polar Continental Shelf Program, O Canada.

In a Listener Mail special episode the Dogs dig deep into their musical past via Glen from Oak Bay’s vintage 1970’s vinyl collection as compiled by Ken from Edmonton via Johnny Mac from Vancouver or environs. We also look into the UN’s note to PJ and prepare to leave the dual-fire Shed for our first World Junior Championship experience (courtesy of Absolute Specialized Training). Vivian Stanshall, trumpet!Links: Heather at Absolute Specialized Training; try out Fresh Prep (Metro Vancouver, up to Squamish, out to Chilliwack, plus Victoria and environs); Nancy Kato and the Mexican mannequin; the Foggy Goggle Boys play the Old Firehall in Rossland; Eaton’s catalogue house; Rocky Mountain Way: Wikipedia; the song itself on YouTube; The Chris Isaak Show; Rare Earth (from Wikipedia: “Their 1973 album, Ma, written and produced by Norman Whitfield, is considered one of their best overall works… Unfortunately, it didn't sell all that well and produced no hits.”); Goose Creek Symphony; Bob Ezrin (search for the third occurrence of “Berlin” to get to the relevant section); Strawbs Nomadness; Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo; Steve Miller Band: The Joker (Wikipedia, YouTube, The Pompatus of Love), Anthology; Tubular Bells liner notes; the making of Tubular Bells; producer Simon Heyworth on Tubular Bells; Viv Stanshall; this YouTube track is a great way to watch and listen to the The Intro and the Outro, a Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band classic; 10cc Sheet Music, Jay Dilla (Jay Dee) Donuts; Last Tango by Esperanto; Eleanor Rigby (Esperanto’s version and the Beatles’ version) whatever happened to Triumvirat?; was 1971 really the best year for music?; Biko (Peter Gabriel)

There's a lot of excitement building around the Red Mountain Ski Resort in Rossland, BC as they're prepare for the opening of a new Ski-in-Ski-out Hotel so we're going to learn about that. Then we'll head to the beautiful Caribbean island of St Kitts. But first we're going to get some ideas of what kind of travel bags work best when we're heading on vacation from Jim Broadhead of Pipestone Travel Store. Support the show: https://www.theinformedtraveler.org/

There's a lot of excitement building around the Red Mountain Ski Resort in Rossland, BC as they're prepare for the opening of a new Ski-in-Ski-out Hotel so we're going to learn about that. Then we'll head to the beautiful Caribbean island of St Kitts. But first we're going to get some ideas of what kind of travel bags work best when we're heading on vacation from Jim Broadhead of Pipestone Travel Store. Support the show: https://www.theinformedtraveler.org/

In this episode the Dogs complete their European trip reports, with special guest Mike from Rossland. Also, RJ gets a purse, Dick's just isn't Dirty any more, poetry corner, and the effects of adenosine on lock-up torque converters.Links: Dirty Dick and his dead cats; Tintern Abbey; coffee naps

RJ's brother Mike from Rossland joins us in the Shed for the first of two episodes. RJ returns with gifts from Great Britain, and PJ and the Johns o' Groats view the Orkneys for the first time. We hear about RJ's encounters with British celebs (see photo!) and catch up on some Listener Mail while trying out new MooT words!Links: Planet Money episode on self-driving cars, Under the Influence episode on self-driving cars, Word PodcastLinks: Planet Money episode on self-driving cars, Under the Influence episode on self-driving cars, Word Podcast

Jonathan Quarrie, originally of Blackpool England, and now calling Rossland, BC had a desire to create a snowboard that perfectly matched the conditions and riding style of his home mountain. That is what has been driving the development of his new company Starlight Snowboards. Grow up snowboarding the dry slopes of the UK, develop a passion for the sport that would lead you to the powder filled slopes of British Columbia’s Kootenays and start your own snowboard manufacturing company on the side while working full time in the hopes of launching something bigger? You Can Do That Here!

If you are an investor, patient or citizen - listen now to know where Canada's Cannabis Legislation currently is and what changes will be happening on October 17, 2018. Data. Fiber. Networks. Lifetime SFP Modules www.tenfouroptics.com

After graduating University in the UK, Amanda moved to Whistler in 1997 to ‘do a ski season'. Working first in ski retail, in Whistler and Vail, then at the BC SPCA in Greater Vancouver, a brief stint as a Vet Nurse and a Bank Teller, in human resources for a drug company and finally realizing she should work for herself, Amanda moved to Rossland, BC and opened her first business. Eleven years later Amanda is still in Rossland and owns 2 Pet Supply Stores, a doggy daycare with dog walking services and is about to embark on a new career as a Dog Trainer and Behaviourist. Always at home outdoors, Amanda has been known to dabble in triathlon, road biking, skiing, running and hiking & agility with her dogs. Amanda was involved in a bike crash that resulted in a brain injury. It took a great deal of patience, determination & research for her to overcome the accident, and begin to repair herself. We talk about her journey back here this morning. Enjoy!  In this episode, Peter and Amanda discuss: 0:45- Welcome and introducing Amanda Hamilton! 1:40- Tell us your story- what's this about a brain injuring wreck you were in? 3:14- You wrote: ‘As you started to find more & more of your brain as it recovered, you started to lose your mind'- tell us more about that please? 4:16- The beginning of the rest of the recovery and finding more/better treatment 4:49- Brain injury acquired ADHD? 6:00- A wake up call. A newfound respect for patience. 6:30- So tell us about the difference between then & now, and more about your journey? 7:40- Dr. Michael “Micky” Collins.  Exertion therapy.  8:28- Let's talk about Positive Reinforcement Training. (Aka Clicker Training or R+) 8:57- Marker Training 10:22- Positive Reinforcement Training in humans too(?) 11:16- So, is working with animals your one true love? 12:10- How can people get in touch with you Amanda?  DogNerd250 Facebook & her business Tails Pet Supplies & Services at http://www.tailspets.ca   12:28- Thank you Amanda! 12:47- Faster Than Normal Podcast info and credits As always, leave us a comment below, PLEASE drop us a review on iTunes and of course, subscribe to the podcast if you haven't already! The more reviews we get, the more people we can reach. Help us to show the world that ADHD is a gift, not a curse! Know of anyone you think should be on the FTN podcast? Shoot us a note – We'd love to hear!

The Dogs reveal terrific yet hidden culinary skills, opinions, and even semi-sponsored product recommendations. We also go back in time to validate some of the old stories from Rossland's early history. For hockey fans there's a discussion of Bob Cole's wit, and a look into just a couple of the famous people that Shed Dog KJ McNulty has worked with. All that and more in another action-packed half hour in the Shed!Fresh PrepMixed Doubles Curling, explained by the CBCMooT, the etymology, grammar, and semantics gameB.C.'s Apology ActThe Flying SteamshovelPowell's Books in Portland

Ski Thrill follows Jacques Sportsman as he travels around the world finding the best Ski Thrills and Ski Chills. This week: Jacques heads to Rossland, Canada.

When you have been doing something you love for so long, eventually it becomes second nature. You no longer have to think about every little detail as you do it. It’s just natural.It just happens.   Like the experienced carpenter who’s tools have become extensions of himself, to the skier who rips down the steepest of slopes with ease and nary a second thought.   Yes to truly achieve ultimate success in a particular skill or ability, it must transcend from being something you actively do, to being something of pure instinct.   Al Eagleton of Rossland, BC grew up as a builder, and as a prairie kid was infused with a longing for deep snow and big mountains. He turned carpentry into a career, and chased the snow for decades until making his home in Rossland,BC.   Naturally, he let his two passions grow until they merged into the launch of Instinct Skis.   Grow up in the prairies, chase the snow to BC, develop your woodworking skills into a career, ski as much as possible and ultimately launch your dream job running a ski company? You Can Do That Here!

Howard Katkov is doing something that’s never been done in the ski industry with his “Fight the Man, Own the Mountain Campaign.” He started as a surfer then became a student, lawyer, developer, manufacturer, corporate executive and for over a decade, he’s   been the owner of RED Mountain.  Now, he’s creating the opportunity for everyone to own a piece of what he and many others think is the best skiing in North America.  Find out his story and all about owning RED. Howard Katkov Show Notes: 2:15:  Growing up and surfing 5:15:  High School without his parents and skiing 6:35:  College, Law School 10:00: Evo (listen for special offer) and Diecutstickers.com (Listen for 10% off your first order with DCS 15) 11:34:  Starting a Law Firm right out of Law School and then starting a development firm and doing huge deals and then the 1990’s hit 14:09:  The Makeup business, selling to Estee Lauder and going to work for them 17:40:  Skiing and life at that point 19:24:  How did he hear about RED Mountain, going there and buying property 20:51:  RESQWATER and Sierra At Tahoe 22:00:  Rossland and the community and the mountain 25:26:  What made him buy RED Mountain? How did the locals react? 31:04:  What projects has he completed at RED since he bought it? 33:20:  The consolidation of the ski industry and how they make their money 38:33:  Fight the Man, Own the Mountain

Community. Websters describes it as a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals. One of the beautiful things about being connected to and part of a community is that it tends to reward those who put energy and effort into to improving the community. Help out a friend, and they tend to want to help you out when you’re in need. Get in with a bunch of folks that all share similar passions, love similar things and pretty soon helping each other out becomes great fun, and everyone rises together to a better place. Think of what the perfect customer looks like…. It probably sounds pretty similar I bet? Now think, just what would that perfect customer look like for your product or service? It’s probably someone that wants to help you out and wants to support you, all because you’re part of the same community. Knowing that, the secret to success starts to appear relatively easy at least at a base level and it all comes down to something we’ve all been taught as kids. The golden rule. Help out others and they will be happy to help you out back. Ryan Arnaud and Petri Raito of The Rossland Beer Company get this in a big way, and it’s been the number one factor to their success…. Along with great tasting beer of course. They moved to Rossland because they loved the community, its people, beauty, values and shares passionate love of life. This is the kind if place they always wanted to live and so they felt a deep urge to give back and support the community. 3 years after we last talked to then way back in episode 10, as they were first opening, they’ve worked that magic formula to success. If you need any more proof of their strategy’s efficacy. Their recent 400% expansion in capacity should be proof enough. Move to a new community, start a business you love, give back to your customers and community, and in term feel the love, grow and expand your Brewery in a small market all with an eye to keeping things local? You can do that here!

Plastic. It’s everywhere. Everywhere we want and need it, and everywhere we don’t. From the Pacific Garbage Patch to the nano-plastics that now inhabit our own bodies, the wonder product of the middle 20th century has grown to be a plague on humanity. The downside? It’s also really handy useful stuff, and if we shut off all plastic production tomorrow, we’d be in a pretty difficult spot. So how we solve the problem? We’ve been coming it at it through demand management, trying to promote less use, re-use, recycling and the like. As we all know of course trying to plug the pipe at the end never truly works. Moving to a supply management where rather than using less plastic we aim to use better plastic would seem to be a better route. Plastic that is both more advanced than what we have now, and that was truly biodegradable and non-garbage-patch-building sounds like part of the solution. Darrel Fry of Rossland, BC and his company Advanced Bio Carbon 3D is trying to do just that. In fact, it’s their second go at it. 10 years ago, the market wasn’t ready. In this episode we dive in and find out how and why he’s looking at going bigger by going smaller, and helping solve man’s most pressing challenges in the process. Create a better plastic by working with nature, turn it into a better product for the market, and create better environmental and business solutions in the process? You Can Do That Here.                                          

San Francisco, Vancouver, Rossland... It sounds more like a fundraising bumper sticker than a natural career path progression. That is.... unless you change the values and goals you're seeking out. Sure you'll find a much greater concentration of talent, experience, customers and money in the larger centers, particularly in the tech sector... but, thanks to the fruits of the tech industry, living and working anywhere has fully become a reality for many.  Darin and Summer Recchi made the leap just over a year ago. They had both worked their way up through the tech industry and were succeeding in all of the traditional work and business metrics. What they lacked was time. Making the geographical and lifestyle move from bigger centers to Rossland, BC turned traffic time into family time, and allowed them to enjoy life on a new level while maintaining their tech careers.

  On June 23rd, 2017 Chelsea of Brewtiful British Columbia and Mike of Mike's Craft Beer stopped in to Rossland Bee Co.  We discussed their beginnings in a different town, to their original system and the brand new system going in now. Bloggers / Podcasters involved include: Chelsea of http://brewtifulbc.ca/ Mike G of http://www.mikescraftbeer.com Episode … Continue reading Episode 19 – Rossland Beer Co

On this episode of the "Sponsored" podcast, Colston VB talks to host Mike Powell about the struggle to make it as a professional skier. The two discuss Vb's role on Bravo's reality TV show, Timber Creek Lodge, which he was conflicted about appearing on. "Within skiing I really focused on not selling out," he says. "I really focused on staying super core and not doing the cheesy Instagram stuff and not compromising myself and I wanted to be talent first. A part of it was funny and part of it was to take a break and enjoy it. I'm really happy I did it." 2:00: Growing up in Rossland, BC, in a ski bum home 6:00: Colston's career 9:55: Overcoming money issues and living life to its fullest 11:30: Sponsors and Jeff Schmuck helping him out 12:55: Being a professional, getting an agent, and learning lessons 16:10: The biggest moments of his ski career 18:25: How did he get into reality TV? Does it kill skiing? 22:30: Being semi-famous in a digital world 23:45: Questions from fans of the show 26:00: Money in reality TV and what’s next in skiing, TV, and life

Colin grew up in "The country," in the north of Scotland, an area very much like the Kootenays. From the age of four he can recall a strong bond between himself and nature. After an injury just prior to the 1988 Calgary Olympics derailed his ski racing career, Colin put his talents towards making the world a cleaner, greener and leaner place. His noble goal was to make sure his son could grow up in a world where he could tell the seasons by the snow starting the fall and the salmon spawning up river. He recently moved to Rossland,BC where he as co-founder he heads up sales and strategy. Figbytes, a robust, industry leading business that is helping everyone from countries to airports to universities achieve their sustainability goal. If he is successful in that, he may just get his lifelong goal of a cleaner and still snowy planet for his son.

Dirk Lewis is the mosquito guy. He fell into the field while searching for a summer job in high school. A quarter century later he's moved up the ranks, taken over the company and moved it to Rossland. He's now putting his own spin on the company expanding it's capabilities and markets with the addition of some innovative new technology. This episode is a beautiful example of how to take a traditional business or service business and up your game with technology while opening up new markets and moving up the value chain. Turn a semi-random summer job into a lifelong career doing something you love, buy the company, take control and chart a new innovative course forward, all while living the dream lifestyle in small town BC? You Can Do That Here.

Idle. Webster’s defines it as being not active, as well as being without purpose. Many folks could well say that being idle is one of the leading causes of the climate change challenge we all face together. Whether it’s  governments failing to take action fast enough, corporations not stepping up to improve their environmental game, or just everyday people sitting idle, not being active, or finding their purpose on how they can assist in the efforts. Most all of us have ideas, big or small on what could be done to help protect the air we breathe, water we drink, land we live on and plants, animals and humans we live with, but few of us actually find our purpose and take action. Kim Klassen is not among that group. This week’s Sustainability Action Hero has identified one purpose that she has gotten active on, and has taken her idea and put it into action. Not sitting idle on the issue of idling cars and trucks in Rossland, Kim has already achieved success on the first steps of her current purpose with more to come. Here what she’s up to, how she’s taken her ideas and put them into action and how you can too.

Snakes and Ladders. The business world can often feel like and adult version of the popular game, especially when trying to invent a brand new product. For every two steps forward there are often one or more steps backward to follow. Just when you think you’re on the right path, another emerges. Yes it’s really all just a big game of choose your own adventure really. By setting out a clear end goal, having enough perseverance, a belief that your idea is indeed a winner, and the confidence that you will get it to the end line whatever it takes with perhaps a little bit of luck sprinkled in, you might just luck out and get more ladders than snakes. Rob Barden is nearing the end of his version of the game with the finish line in site.  We last spoke to Rob back in episode 30 in March 2015, just over a year ago. At that time, the former photocopier tycoon from the prairies was just embarking on his journey. The goal: invent a remotely releasable ski binding to keep skiers safer, and get it into the market. I sat down with Rob at the KAST office in Rossland, to hear how things have gone since, and how he’s almost completed the task of taking an idea to real product, to the market. If this episode teaches us anything however, there may just be a few more snakes and ladders before they get there officially.

Climate Change. Most likely the biggest threat to mankind in our short history on the planet. The technology and ability to avoid and reduce its impact has been around for decades. What has been missing is a broad agreement on the true impact of mankind on climate change, and getting broad buy in on global level to do something about it. Imagine future where any disagreement on the subject would be impossible. Imagine a future where mankind’s impact on climate change could be measured accurately around the globe?  Pilar Portela and Bryan Fry o Rossland, BC have combined their talents to make this happen and take it a big step further. Combining her Enterprise Resource Planning software development and Bryan’s Internet of Things and  mass data storage experience, they intend to measure all of the emissions data on earth using big data, paint a clear picture of the image, and offer in depth analytics on solutions. No big deal right? Just a couple of Kootenay entrepreneurs combining talents to save the world through Big Data.

Water. It's at the very core of life itself. We need it to sustain our bodies, minds and environment. Wildlife needs it, and our City is obligated to both deliver clean water to our doors and take away our dirty water on the way out. It's safe to say we can't live without it, and working with it as a City can be both expensive and challenging to the local environment. What if there was a way to clean up our water, create healthy habitat for ourselves and wildlife, and reduce the City's cost to manage our water as well? Rachel Roussin and Eva Cameron of Rossland took up that challenge. What started as a weekend workshop became a beautiful pilot project on what can be done to better manage the water in our City environment. Using energy, passion and a grant these two citizens pulled off a great project all on their own. Learn how they did it and how you can too.

The exit.  It’s the dream that every tech entrepreneur dreams of. That magical day where someone decides that idea you’ve come up with, nurtured and grown is worth something to them, and they write a fat cheque to buy it from you. Whether selling the next big thing to Google for billions of dollars or simply selling your shares for a decent profit, the Exit is what we’re all working towards. Few businesses survive however and even less have that big exit. What does it take to get there? Once you get there how do you execute and sell that business? Brian Fry of Rossland, BC has launched, run and sold several big tech companies throughout his career. In Part one we learned how he transformed from a downhill ski racer to a tech entrepreneur, from selling computers to fellow students in the 80’s to building the largest cloud provider in the nation. In Part two we look at the second half of the picture, selling the businesses he worked hard to help create. I sat down with Brian at his home office in Rossland, BC to dig under the surface of his companies sales to learn how he did it.

Go faster. Look ahead. Visualize yourself on the podium and get to the finish line as fast as possible. All of these pieces of advice are perfect for the ski racer standing in the start gate of a gnarly downhill course. They could also be the personal mantra of an entrepreneur seeking to stay at the forefront of technology and dominate a new sector. Brian Fry played both of those parts at various times in his life. Starting out as a downhill racing Crazy Canuck from Rossland, BC, injuries lead him to seek out a new field. The trend of going faster continued as he shifted into the technology industry. From selling computers to fellow students in the mid 80’s, Brian went on to co-found the largest cloud provider in Canada. In this episode we’ll hear his tale from start gates to Bill Gates, and how a couple of guys launched the biggest cloud network in the country.

What is the first thing any person does when they get an award, achieve something great or succeed in their pursuits? Ok probably they say thank you first to whoever gave them award, but immediately after they tend to heap gratitude upon those who help them get there. Successful people, among many others are, are often the first to admit that they couldn’t have done whatever they did to succeed without the help and guidance of others. Yes, whether an athlete, an entrepreneur, or simply someone wanting to make the most of life, coaching is a critical element to realizing your full potential. There is an ever growing trend, and it is a trend that podcasting has ridden in a major way of people seeking advice, tips, and how tos from others who have made it in their chosen field. Indeed the self-help industry has perhaps never been bigger than it is today. It seems many of us are looking for others who have done it to tell us how they have done it in such a way that we can simply follow their success manual and reproduce what others have done. Yes there is a massive market searching for, and indeed a very wealthy industry providing answers. Answers. Are answers really what we need though? A great coach is a person who has the ability to help someone be the best they can be, not by giving them answers but by asking the right questions. Yes questions are the key to great coaching, and coaching is the key to great success. So the true path to success lies not in discovering answers, but in seeking the right questions to unlock your ability to be the best you possible. In today’s podcast, I sat down with Lesley Beatson, a coaching expert from Rossland, BC. Through asking the right questions she has helped coach numerous athletes to high performance, CEO to business success and average everyday people to a better, happier place. Lesley walks u through what she loves about coaching, and provides a few tips, questions, not answers, that we can all use right now to help self-coach ourselves to being the best us we can be.

What is it you really love doing? I mean really love doing to the point that you could do it for days on end and not get tired of it? What if you could turn that into your full time job and career? What if you could tell all of the nay-sayers and folks telling you that you can’t do that, you have no training or formal education, “No! This is what I love to do. This is what I am awesome at, and I am going to do what it takes to follow my dreams!” Sean Smillie grew up in Rossland, letting his imagination run wild, being inspired by the beautiful surroundings and awesome skiing, snowboarding and mountain biking that surrounded him. At an early age he fell in love with comics, books and movies, anything that fit with his imagination, creating new worlds, fantasies and adventure.  When he ran out of things to read he began writing his own stories and continuations of comics and stories he loved. That love of writing, untameable imagination and love for gaming stayed with him into his adult life. With perhaps a stroke of luck or just a recognized opportunity he was introduced to a big time gaming company through a snowboarding buddy and ended up getting hired on as a game tester. It was a unique and bold move thereafter that led to the rise of a prolific writing career, developing and designing big time video game titles. Now coming full circle he has moved back to Rossland and launched his own creative design / writing studio to push out more of his ideas, and is also teaching the next generation of writers from his home in the Kootenays.  I sat down with Sean in the AZcreative studio in Rossland to hear his amazing tale.

An exclusive behind-the-scenes investigative report taking an in-depth look into alleged local food fraud. With the rapid rise in interest among North Americans to support locally produced food and with the premium people are willing to pay for that food, it leaves open an attractive opportunity for food-based businesses to take advantage of this new and growing lucrative market, either honestly or not. In May 2010, Deconstructing Dinner received a tip from a farmer in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia who alleged that a local business who sells eggs to 18 retailers and restaurants and who was marketing their product as being predominantly from their own farm, was not true. According to the tip, the "farm" was not a farm at all, and housed no chickens on the property! The business has also been marketing their product as originating from neighbouring farms in the Creston Valley, however, Deconstructing Dinner received yet another and very strong tip, this one in July 2010, alleging that that too might also not be true. As luck would have it, the property on which the business operates was up for sale, and on August 23, 2010, Deconstructing Dinner's Jon Steinman scheduled an appointment! Guests/Voices Jeremy Lack, farmer/chairman, Mad Dog Farm / Kootenay Local Agricultural Society (Tarrys, BC) - Mad Dog Farm is a small farm of 28 acres in Tarrys, not far from the City of Castlegar. Run by Jeremy and Nette Lack, and aided by their daughters, two dogs and three cats, the Lacks have a passion for growing, local agriculture and preserving heritage varieties of vegetables and other food crops. The Kootenay Local Agricultural Society is non-profit organization dedicated to the production and promotion of local agriculture and products. They are the owner and certifier of the Kootenay Mountain Grown label. Heide Stang, co-owner, Eggs R Uz (Wynndel, BC) - Eggs R Uz has been operating for many years as a registered egg grading station and supplier of eggs to 18 businesses in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia. Bonny Kavaloff, co-owner, Nature's Den (Rossland, BC) - Bonny and her husband Sid operate this small health store in Rossland, BC. Cindy King, warehouse manager, Kootenay Country Store Co-operative (Nelson, BC) - The Kootenay Co-op is the largest independent member-owned co-operative grocery store in Canada. In business for 35 years, the store prides itself on supporting local producers whenever possible. Matt Lowe, busted backyard chicken enthusiast (Nelson, BC) - In the summer of 2009, Matt Lowe began raising four chickens in his urban backyard. The City of Nelson does not permit such a practice, and in June of 2010, Matt's household received a visit from a Bylaw Enforcement Officer! Other voices of people wishing to remain anonymous...

Over the past month, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (the CFIA) has embarked on a concentrated effort in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia, threatening area businesses with fines unless they remove their ungraded farm-fresh eggs from store shelves. Close to a dozen businesses that Deconstructing Dinner is aware of have received such a visit This episode hears from a number of those businesses including comments on the issue from the BC Egg Marketing Board, the CFIA and the regional health authority Interior Health. While the availability of eggs from local farms in the region has been significantly curtailed following this "crack" down on local eggs, the increasingly popular alternative to store-bought eggs (backyard eggs) is too being met with a crack down of its own. In December 2009, Nelson B.C. resident Monica Nissen was paid a visit by a local bylaw enforcement officer who demanded that Nissen remove her chickens from her backyard, or too face a fine and the possible confiscation of her birds. The City's bylaw enforcement officer was acting on two supposed complaints... and we say "supposed" because according to all of Nissen's immediate neighbours, none of them took issue with the chickens... leaving Nissen and Deconstructing Dinner wondering just what constitutes a valid complaint if it clearly didn't come from an immediate neighbour? We'll also be joined by Nelson city councillor Kim Charlesworth, who recounts the past year's efforts to revise the local bylaw that prohibits backyard chickens within city limits and we'll hear from Ian Fraser - a senior animal control officer for Victoria Animal Control Services - a city that does permit backyard chickens and hence, backyard eggs. Join us for this important broadcast as we explore what Kootenay businesses and residents are calling an afront to food sovereignty following these latest efforts by local and federal authorities who appear determined to ensure that the only eggs easily accessible to Canadians are the factory-farmed options. Guests/Voices Kevin Smith, farmer/baker, Old World Bakery (Balfour, BC) - The Old World Bakery produces a line of baked goods for their own retail customers and many local businesses. Kevin Smith and his wife Darla also farm in the community of Ainsworth. Bonny Kavalov, co-owner, Nature's Den (Rossland, BC) - Bonny and her husband Sid operate this small health store in Rossland, BC. Wayne Popoff, owner, Kootenay Liquidators (Castlegar, BC) - Wayne is a hobby farmer just outside of Castlegar and operates a store that sells feed products and farm-fresh eggs among other things. Amyn Alibhai, board member, BC Egg Marketing Board (Kamloops, BC) - Since its inception in 1967 as the first egg marketing board in Canada with quota, the British Columbia Egg Marketing Board (BCEMB) serves as a non-profit, producer organization financed solely by its Registered Producers through a levy system. The BCEMB is one of eleven provincial and territorial egg marketing boards that meet under the umbrella of the Egg Farmers of Canada (EFC) to address industry issues of regional, national and international importance. Amyn owns Sunshine Eggs - a large producer of graded eggs. Deanna Zgrablic, food processing specialist inspector , Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) (Abbotsford, BC) - The CFIA is Canada's government agency which seeks to "safeguard food, animals and plants, which enhance the health and well-being of Canada's people, environment and economy". Ron Popoff, environmental health team leader, Interior Health (Cranbrook, BC) - IH is one of five geographically-based health authorities created in 2001 by the Government of British Columbia. It is responsible for ensuring publicly funded health services are provided to the people of the Southern Interior. Monica Nissen, former backyard chickener (Nelson, BC) Kim Charlesworth, city councillor, City of Nelson (Nelson, BC) Ian Fraser, senior animal control officer, Victoria Animal Control Services (Victoria, BC)

The 7-Summits trail offers over 30 kilometres of rolling single track with awesome mountain views, gruelling climbs and sweet descents.

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