COMMUNITY

by KRISTA TURCASSO

Our home is located in Parkland Terrace, overlooking Mount Fernie, the Three Sisters and Mount Proctor. Ascent Helicopters is just down the road from us. I am also an avid trail user and sit on the Fernie Trails Alliance Board.

All of these things are central to my knowledge and understanding of how busy Fernie Search and Rescue (FSAR) is, and how this grows with each year. As a volunteer and a fan of ‘type two fun,’ I have immense respect for these individuals who dedicate their time to rescue those who need help in the backcountry. And like Simon Piney, Head of Operations at Fernie Search and Rescue says, as an active community that regularly explores the backcountry, eventually something is not going to go according to plan.

Simon Piney grew up Geneva, Switzerland and spent a lot of time in the mountains and outdoors in his youth. “My dad was a big trail runner,” he says, which doesn’t surprise me as I know Simon continues to enjoy running up mountains to this day (as do his two sons!). He attended an English Boarding School, and with an interest in economics ended up at the London School of Economics. “Then, you go down that trail,” he tells me. “It led to International Finance, which was pretty fun. I worked raising money for companies around the world and was on a plane five days of the week.” But as you can imagine, this lifestyle can become tiring. Simon’s wife, Anna was also in finance and they decided that when they had kids, they would make a big change.

“We didn’t have any great plans, but knew we loved the mountains, trail running and skiing. I had instructed when I was younger and was looking into instructing courses. We had initially planned to go to Whistler but came across the Non-Stop Ski program in Fernie and thought, ‘we’ll do a season there and carry on.’ Like a lot of people, we didn’t make it further west.”

Simon and Anna enjoyed the shift to Fernie. Simon was back doing the things he enjoyed as a kid, and Anna having grown up in the English countryside was happy to be somewhere more relaxed. They had just had their first son, Mac and Anna found engaging with the community of younger moms fulfilling and welcoming. Simon started working as a ski instructor, and also got set up with Search and Rescue right away.

Photo by K. Vlasic

“I joined as a board member, there were six or seven of us back then who did everyone. We had a few Canadian Tire radios and a truck. We had no technical teams - it was based on individual competencies and ‘let’s see what we can do.’ We’ve changed the whole structure and have an independent board who we report to. I am Head of Operations, and work with a Leadership Team. The five of us are responsible for day-to-day operations. We have technical rescue teams – Swift Water, Avalanche, K-9, Helicopter Long-line, Rope Rescue and Ice Rescue. And we have to maintain professional accreditation.”

These changes were necessary, as when Simon started with FSAR, they would have maybe 10-12 rescues a year. Now, they are north of 40, sometimes with more than one in a day. They’ve seen a big shift seasonally, with summer becoming busier than winter. “It used to just be winter!” he says. The rescues are a wide range of things, but on the whole Simon recognizes that typically in our area people are experienced and prepared. “But sometimes, stuff goes wrong and calling us isn’t a failure. If you spend enough time doing these things, something is going to happen,” Simon says adding that when FSAR is responding, it’s always people who can’t walk out. He also wants to be clear that there is absolutely no charge for rescue in BC.

“This is deliberate. If people are scared to call for a rescue, they don’t call until the conditions are more extreme. It increases mortality rates and is a risk to SAR.”

Simon shares that one of the challenges are people’s expectations, and a lack of understanding of the terrain.

“People get frustrated help didn’t come quicker, mostly urban people. It’s hard to emphasize how different it is here. If you break your ankle on Heiko’s trail, you are literally in the middle of nowhere… on the side of a mountain. It’s difficult to get to these places, and we don’t have a helicopter sitting on a pad outside of our building,” he says. “It’s important to moderate your behaviour based on where you are. If you want to practice a back flip, consider doing it at the ski hill vs. at Tunnel Creek.”

One accolade important to acknowledge is that Fernie is a regional centre for long-line – from the Alberta border to Invermere.

“It took a lot of years to set up and fund and it’s been a huge success. Our ability to help people in need quickly and safely has improved dramatically with long-line. It’s life changing, and we’re super fortunate to have two amazing pilots here in Fernie - Dave and Greg.”

Where does FSAR hope to go from here? “We continue to try to increase the level of professionalism. The team itself, 30 people is a pretty amazing group from all walks of life… patrollers, paramedics, fire fighters, outdoorsy folks. We see people come out at 2am to help someone, then go to work. Or come off day shift and do a rescue. We are fortunate in Fernie to have a lot of professional rescuers interested in getting involved in the back country.”

And Simon? Even though it can be overwhelming, he is happy to continue with FSAR for the time being.

“If I was no longer physically fit, or a new group was coming in I would move on. But for now, I want to continue doing more of the same. We love living in Fernie, it’s a great place to live with kids.”

One last tip from Simon.

“You can’t eliminate risk. What is your plan if it goes wrong? Do people know where you are? Do you have equipment to stay alive and a means of communication? That’s the big difference. We push out further and further into the backcountry, thinking we’re not far from town, but the terrain is as extreme as it gets.”

Thanks, Simon and the team at FSAR! I know I’m not alone in feeling deeply grateful for your service to our community and its visitors.

2005, and we came for the snow.

Dave Richards!

Oh, we immediately fell in love with how big and close the mountains were.

Like most people, family, friends, the community and the outdoors.

pastime? Changes with the season, but my favourite, favourite thing is mountain biking.

I actually think mid-winter when it’s snowing a lot at night. I still get too excited to sleep.

That’s a tough one. I just hope it doesn’t change too much. I think it will keep growing, but I hope it doesn’t lose its soul.

I am not a coffee person. I get up and have a cup of tea, look at the world news and figure out what sport I am going to do that day.

I once dropped a brief case on George Michael’s head!

10. Quote to live by: No one died wishing they had spent more time in the office.

by ANGE QUALIZZA

It’s UBCM week, a week that I look forward to all year long. Just like so many organizations that were looking forward to being together in person, we had to move through the disappointment of one more virtual convention. Somehow though -despite online fatigue -we have 900 delegates online with us!

Resolutions are one of the more important things we do at UBCM, it is what informs the Executive of our direction annually and shows us the areas of importance to our membership. This morning the executive asked for support for three Special Resolutions; SR1 CARIP Replacement Funding, SR2 Forest Management in BC and SR3 Strengthening Responsible Conduct.

The Climate Action Revenue Incentive Program has provided local governments across BC with funding to achieve their commitments under the Climate Action Charter that helps us build staffing capacity, develop policy and plans, and leverage capital to achieve projects that help us advance local climate action plans. When the government cancelled this meaningful program without offering to replace it, and without consulting local governments the UBCM Executive took this issue on. We are asking for a new non-competitive fund to be implemented immediately that supports local governments as we try to advance climate action.

We felt strongly as an Executive to bring forward a consolidated resolution that asks for greater engagement and consultation with local governments and Indigenous communities on forest policy, which includes matters related to old growth designations and deferrals. BC local government have been calling on changes to ensure sustainability of the resource, protect old growth and improve accountability in tenure management. Fernie is the perfect example of a community that is vulnerable to forest policy.

The third special resolution was about strengthening responsible conduct of elected officials. Over the past several years we have heard from local governments that they want tools and resources to assist them with responsible conduct, and ensuring all elected officials have a safe and inclusive opportunity while they take on the important work of community service is incredibly important. Not just to those serving, but to those thinking about running for public office.

Resolutions take more than one day; we receive hundreds of them. They are where

Submitted Photo

we meet in debate and it is absolutely where I learn the unique perspectives of my colleagues. The heat dome this summer is the perfect example, how it impacted Fernie was fundamentally different than how it impacted New Westminister. In New West, one of my colleagues told us that within five minutes of his family home, thirty people passed as a result of the heat. Resolutions are where we really learn from each other. Coming together to appreciate and support our colleagues around the province is what makes UBCM such a powerful organization.

We considered Parental Leave for Elected Officials, RCMP costs, funding for Fire Services, 911 Dropped Calls. We supported the policy paper and recommendations for the Ensuring Local Government Financial Resiliency Report. We supported a resolution important to all cycling communities, a Safe Passing Law. If anyone would like to see the Resolutions past and present, please take a look at the online library. Please visit UBCM.ca and search Resolutions. There you will find a wealth of supported and not supported resolutions, and direction UBCM has taken. If you are going to bring an issue forward to your local government for consideration, an excellent first step is to look at the database to see what potentially has already been done in advocacy.

As I write this, I have just finished greeting Sonia Furstenau Greens, and she is sitting next to me waiting for the opportunity to address UBCM.

Right now, Shirley Bond is on stage speaking about the challenges local governments faced this year.

The truth is, local governments are the work horse of this province. Baring the cost of policing….

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11th Annual 2020

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