Revelstoke Mountain Resort says farewell to winter season, p · 10. POW Canada and Revelstoke businesses chat climate impacts, p · 12.
Creating a ‘dignified shopping experience’ , p · 14. Revelstoke Grizzlies coach Jiri Novak reflects on season, p · 18.
Revelstoke Mountaineer Magazine is a free monthly publication featuring the best of Revelstoke outdoor life, food, style, visitor experiences, lifestyles, entertainment, home style and healthy living.
We are an independent, locally owned publication dedicated to showcasing our amazing mountain town and the great people who create the stoke.
Each issue we distribute 2,000 copies to public venues across Revelstoke, including hotel rooms, shops, restaurants, cafes, community centres — everywhere people meet.
For all inquiries, please contact us at info@revelstokemountaineer.com
For more local news visit www.revelstokemountaineer.com
· 250 571 9525 info@revelstokemountaineer.com Discourse Community Publishing 213-1130 Sun Peaks Rd, Sun Peaks,B.C. V0E 5N0, Canada
PUBLISHER
Brandi Schier info@revelstokemountaineer.com
EDITOR
Hollie Ferguson info@revelstokemountaineer.com
REPORTER
Lys Morton lys@revelstokemountaineer.com
EDITORIAL DESIGN/ADVERTISING DESIGN/ WEBSITE
Chris Payne chris@revelstokemountaineer.com
Introduction
Well, that’s a wrap. The winter season and the election season are both over. To call it a short election would be putting it mildly, and we hit the ground running for election coverage. Thank you to all the folks who replied to our survey. Your questions helped us guide our coverage, and we will work to hold Mel Arnold accountable to his goals, which you’ll find in this issue. I’m so very grateful for the trust you put in the Mountaineer team to report on this election.
In this issue you’ll also find a recap of recent council meetings, insight from a community climate change conversation, a review of the winter season at Revelstoke Mountain Resort and more.
Now, it is time for me to turn my attention towards our upcoming June Bike issue. Give me a shout if you have any bikerelated stories you want to see covered. We will be digging into trails, products, local gems and more.
- Lys Morton, community journalist
COVER AND INSET PHOTO: Spring has arrived in Revelstoke.
Photo by Tom Poole/Tom Poole Photography
SATURDAY, MAY 17
SILVER SCREEN SATURDAY
- NOMOTO: A B.C. TRAGEDY
Revelstoke Museum & Archives, 315 First St. West, 12 p.m. – 12:45 p.m.
Learn how internment of Asian-Canadians during World War II left lasting mental health struggles on B.C. residents sent to an internment camp in the West Kootenay region. Screening held on the second floor, tickets are $10.
TUESDAY, MAY 20
THE POLLINATORS FILM SCREENING
Revelstoke Community and Aquatic Centre, 600 Campbell Ave., 5:30 p.m. – 8 p.m. Celebrate World Bee Day and support Revelstoke Local Food Initiative with a screening of the documentary The Pollinators, following migratory beekeepers as they support bee populations. All ages welcome, entry by donation. Contact info@revelstokelocalfood.com to RSVP.
SATURDAY, MAY 24
BEAR AWARENESS DAY
Outside Rumpus Beer Company, 201 First St. East, 8 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Revelstoke Bear Aware invites you to swing by their booth at the summer farmer’s market and
enjoy some kids’ crafts, games, bear spray demos and more. Learn about the bears that call this region home, how you can keep everyone safe and win a prize or two. All ages welcome, free to participate.
SUNDAY, MAY 25
REVY RE-FEST
Revelstoke Community and Aquatic Centre, 600 Campbell Ave., 8:30 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Back for a third year, Revy Re-Fest is bringing all the creative fun for a jam packed day of arts, repairs, equipment swaps, trunk sales and more. End the evening taking in the Trashion show, hosted by Birch & Lace.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 28
BROWN BAG HISTORY
- CHINESE CANADIAN STORIES
Revelstoke Museum & Archives, 315 First St. West, 12 p.m. – 12:45 p.m.
Celebrate Asian History Month and learn about the Chinese families who moved to early Revelstoke and helped build the town. Bring your lunch to the Revelstoke Museum & Archives for this week’s Brown Bag History event. Talks held on the second floor, tickets are $10.
The Local Food Initiative Summer Farmers’ Market returns to downtown Saturday, May 10.
Photo provided by Revelstoke Local Food Initiative
Get ready for Revy Refest and the beloved Trashion show Sunday, May 25.
Photo provided by Birch & Lace
REVELSTOKE MOUNTAIN RESORT SAYS FAREWELL TO WINTER SEASON
REVELSTOKE MOUNTAIN RESORT’S 2024-2025
SEASON SAW STRONG LOCALS’ DAY NUMBERS AND INCREASED NATURAL SELECTION PRESENCE.
By Lys Morton
Revelstoke Mountain Resort (RMR) wrapped its 2024-2025 winter season Monday, April 21 with one extra Locals’ Day Friday, April 18 and live music at the Paul Mair Plaza. While early spring weather closed lower chunks of the resort leading up to closing day, over 1,100 centimeters of snow kept the resort from cutting the season short.
“A snowy December set the tone early, laying the perfect foundation for the months ahead,” Laura Meggs, RMR communications manager told Revelstoke Mountaineer. “Consistent snowfall paired with stretches of bluebird days made for unforgettable turns all season long.”
With Locals’ Day raising over $26,000 for Revelstoke Community Foundation, free Valentine’s Day weddings helping over 20 couples tie the knot and a host of other activities at the resort, the season was filled with highlights.
“We’re proud to look back on a winter marked by deep snow, unforgettable events and a strong sense of community.”
The YETI Natural Selection Tour international snowboarding competition once again brought the
finale to Revelstoke’s mountains but kept the action on the resort instead of heading out to the deeper backcountry. With a week filled with events around town and the entire finale taking place at the Montana Bowl, Meggs said YETI Natural Selection highlighted Revelstoke for a worldwide audience.
“The Montana Bowl venue now stands as a lasting legacy, open for riders to explore and enjoy.”
Training programs and competitions for the next generation of winter sport ambassadors were also a point of pride for RMR this year, Meggs said. With She Patrol 2025 booked solid days after registration opened, Grom Con highlighting youth riders from near and far and International Freeskiers & Snowboarders Association qualifier events showcasing rising stars, RMR stayed in the news as a spot for growing talent.
It wasn’t just the next generation taking advantage of the snow this season. Revelstoke local Hans Travnicek earned a shout out from Meggs for the most days skied in the season, with the 74-yearold racking up 143 days on the mountain during the 170-day-long season.
Revelstoke Mountain Resort’s 2024-2025 season kept the mountain buzzing with activity.
Photo provided by Revelstoke Mountain Resort
Nicola and Wil Brooks celebrated their new marriage at the Valentine’s Day free wedding event.
Photo by Lys Morton/Revelstoke Mountaineer
“There was a change in the attitude then. When we had big forest fires and smoke a couple years ago, that was a big change in attitude. That's a direct impact on people and myself, and we're not alone. When I talk to other people, other retailers in town and other businesses in town it's pretty much a universal reaction.”
Through her research for the POW Canada Outdoor Recreation and Economic Report, Nat Knowles, climate scientist said over 1,000,000 jobs and $101.6 billion annual economic contributions from outdoor recreation is a lowball number.
“It doesn't represent all of the activities out there,” Knowles said, noting that statistics didn’t account for other indirect impacts the outdoor recreation industry has on other businesses such as ones catering to outdoor recreation tourism.
One of those categories of businesses connected to the outdoor recreation industry is having an oversized impact on the industry’s climate impact, Knowles said.
“When we look at outdoor recreation communities, 75 per cent of the emissions comes from transportation, people coming either to the community to recreate or travel within the community. The next highest percentage is 20 per cent for our infrastructure, our buildings and facilities like this. About five per cent of emissions comes from the activities themselves.”
That 75 per cent means that the outdoor recreation industry needs to explore who to cater to and how to get them to location, Knowles said. That might even mean focusing tourism advertising closer to home instead of larger overseas campaigns.
Still, POW Canada’s report wants more support provided to tourism-heavy municipalities to help reduce emissions.
“A lot of outdoor recreation communities have small resident populations – 7,000 people on average. But we're servicing over 10 times that in terms of visitors to the community. It's really difficult, especially for a municipality often given the resources based on our resident population to then provide the services or the emissions reductions or the waste management that's sustainable for this massive population.”
It’s that sort of advocacy work for municipalities and local businesses that Revelstoke’s Chamber of Commerce is spearheading, Maggie Spizzirri, chamber president shared on the panel.
“How can we prepare our communities for [climate change impacts], instead of being so reactive to what happens with wildfires or the lessening of the
snowpack, what actual impact can we do? What changes can we make here, and how can we move that forward?”
You can register with POW Canada to keep up to date future panels, initiatives and campaigns.
Revy Outdoors owner Steven Cross. Photo by Aaron Orlando/Revelstoke Mountaineer
A partnership between Community Connections Revelstoke Society (CCRS) and local consignment store Forage & Fill is providing clients with high quality clothing options while also diverting gently used items from the landfill. During foodbank hours clothing racks with donated items are set up for clients to select from in a process that mirrors the, “shop what you will use” approach the foodbank uses.
“It’s meant to be as low-barrier as possible,” Laura Larson, CCRS emergency shelter coordinator said. “It also just makes sense in this sort of circular fashion and economy sense.”
Items from Forage & Fill are vetted by staff as being higher quality without major damage to them and either then directly passed along to CCRS or spend time on the shop floor before being reevaluated.
“I let our consigners know that it’s maybe an item that isn’t going to sell, or I haven’t seen items like this move, or we have eight turtlenecks already,” Jenise Lamoureux, Forage & Fill owner and operator told Revelstoke Mountaineer. “They’re more than welcome to try and sell it through us as consignment or they can donate it through us to the racks at the food bank, and they know that someone is going to get a lot of love and use out of that piece.”
By Lys Morton
Forage & Fill’s vetting process reduces the effort CCRS needs to coordinate and sort, allowing the outreach centre to instead keep focusing on the programs and resources they offer. The partnership also means a little less pressure on Revelstoke’s local thrift stores, giving Forage & Fill consigners a chance to pass along clothes to new homes without adding to the overwhelming amount of donations created by a growing city.
Owner Jenise Lamoureux and staff outside Forage and Fill.
Photo by Charlotte Smith/Revelstoke Mountaineer
Within rural communities like Revelstoke, healthcare can be increasingly inaccessible. How can your government support provinces in increasing healthcare resources and reducing wait times?
Arnold: As a party, we would implement a blue seal program for the recognition of health care workers, whether they're doctors, nurses or care providers so that they can quickly be certified in Canada and actually go to work in the healthcare field where they're so desperately needed right now. We will continue the healthcare transfers to the provinces so that the provinces can administer what is legislated under their purview.
What will your party do to help Canada through the current housing crisis?
Arnold: We will remove the GST from new homes that are valued at up to $1.3 million. We're going to sell off federal buildings to create thousands of acres of federal land to build on. The other piece that was announced is we're going to work with municipalities to reduce development cost charges that go on to every lot that is developed. We're going to reduce the red tape by 25 per cent, requiring any new legislation that comes in to be matched with two pieces of old regulation that need to be removed before the new regulation can be brought in. It's removing those barriers to building and incentivizing investors to build either rental homes or apartments, condo units, whatever it is we need to host people. We simply need to create more inventory.
What’s one more thing you would like to share with readers?
Arnold: I look forward to carrying on the work that I've been doing over the last nine and a half years representing the people of the north Okanagan shuswap. With the new riding 50% of the population has changed. I enjoy meeting new people and facing new challenges. I'll continue to work across this massive, beautiful riding that’s as diverse as the people in it, and I look forward to representing that.
BEAR AWARENESS DAY
SATURDAY MAY 24, 2025 8am-1pm 1st Street (near Rumpus)
The Bike Issue
FUN AND EDUCATIONAL FOR ALL games, crafts, educational booths and demos, prizes free!
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TUESDAY
7:00 - 8:00pm @ Fire Hall
FIRESMART™ FUNDAMENTALS
Join us for an informative presentation, where our local FireSmart Coordinators will take you through the steps to create a fire-resilient environment that can help protect your home and our community from wildfires. Light snacks and refreshments will be provided and everyone who attends will be entered for a chance to win $250 gift card!
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THURSDAY
7:00 - 8:30pm @ Revelstoke Performing Arts Centre
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WEDNESDAY
5:00 - 6:00pm @ Nichol Rd
WALK & TALK WITH BC WILDFIRE
Join our local BCWS Wildfire Technician for an interactive walk through a local forest. Learn about the science of wildfires and what you can do to make your home more resilient. Sign up today to secure your spot (max 25 participants) Everyone who attends will be entered for a chance to win $250 gift card!
FACING THE FLAMES: A CRITICAL CONVERSATION ON WILDFIRES
Join us for an insightful evening with special guest speakers, as we confront the topic of wildfires. Learn about what’s happening, what’s to come, and what can we do to take action and reduce the impact of these devastating events. Doors open at 6:30pm with the panel starting at 7pm. Lots of prizes available to be won throughout the night, so come early and stay late for a chance to win. Reserve your tickets today before seats run out!
COMMUNITY CLEAN-UP (NEIGHBOURHOOD BINS + PREREGISTERED PICKUPS)
Clean up your yard and drop off FireSmart related materials at your nearest neighbourhood bin! Check out more information on the next page...
ADOPT-A-NEIGHBOUR
Got some spare time on your hands and want to help out a neighbour in need of support? Sign up as a volunteer with our adopt a neighbour program and lend a hand!
COMMUNITY BBQ
Join us for a FireSmart Community BBQ hosted by Revelstoke Fire Rescue. Come out to meet your neighbours and enjoy a burger on us as a thank you for participating in this year’s Wildfire Week. Everyone who participated in events throughout the week is welcome. *First come first serve, while supplies last.
01 SUNDAY
Workshop #1 - 10:00am, Workshop #2 - 1:00pm
BUILD AN AIR PURIFIER WORKSHOP
Sign up for this fun, family-friendly workshop where you can build your very own air filtration unit to use during the smokey season! This workshop is perfect for kids and adults alike, so sign up fast to secure your spot and help create healthier living spaces for all (only 40 spaces available)
