Visiting our Newest Partner in Revelstoke. Meet Selkirk Tangiers Heli Skiing.

Remember that other journal post where we talked about our time at the Arc’teryx Climb Academy in Squamish? While Jess returned home after the event, Don continued his adventure by traveling from Squamish to Revelstoke to meet with the team from Selkirk Tangiers Heli Skiing.

Revelstoke is home to Selkirk Tangiers, our newest partner when it comes to supporting mountain athletes. As it turns out, many of those athletes are guides who tour other athletes on mountain adventures. It was a great performance fit and relationship right from the start.

In late August 2024, Don spent a number of days performing pre-season assessments with a dozen of STHS's heli-guides. The partnership with STHS was formed based on a strong relationship with long-time STHS guide and Arc'teryx athlete Joey Vosburgh.

Joey's long-term outcomes from working with the Ibex Project were casually relayed to Operations Manager Dave Pehowich. His interest was piqued and he trialed the program himself in early 2024 with great results. This work led to the Ibex Project setting up a presentation to the guide team in April 2024, highlighting the value of a focused intentional training program to gauge interest in this type of relationship. It turns out that the interest from the guide team was there and the partnership was formed. You can read about it over on the STHS blog as well.

This is all background to set up Don’s latest adventure to meet up with the STHS team as an official partner for some great hikes, conversations, athlete assessments, and a great hang with wonderful people. And hitting Squamish and Revelstoke in the same trip? Damn Don!

Day 1: Sunday, August 25

After heading out from a great time in Squamish, Don arrived in Revelstoke after an 8-hour drive through the gorgeous interior. Don took advantage of the rest of the day to go for a hike which was his first hike post-calf tear. The tear maybe have been a result of a tennis injury but no one will confirm that LOL.

Looking for a good hiking route, Don reached out to Joey who put him onto a perfect short uphill hike with panoramic views of the Columbia River, Mt Mackenzie and the town of Revelstoke. it was a great call by Joey!

The night ended early with a visit to the sauna at the Coast Hillcrest where STHS put Don up for the week.

Day 2: Monday, August 26

With a good night’s sleep behind him, Don kicked off his first full day meeting many of the guides, filling his schedule with four new assessments.

Don followed up the day of assessments with his second hike in Revelstoke. This time he turned his sights on a hike up the Mt Revy Summit Trail but time got the best of him and he had to turn around 2/3 of the way to get back. It was a challenging enough hike for Don to feel out the calf and see how far it had come in the past 3 weeks. It was feeling good. See, we go through the same things as the athletes we work with. We only preach what we practice!

Day 3: Tuesday, August 27

Day 3 was a rinse and repeat with another five STHS guide assessments followed by the third hike in a row. For this hike from the upper lot of Mt Revy into Miller Lake, Don was joined by local Ibex Project athlete Liam Kuipers.

This may have been Don’s third hike since his injury but it was Liam’s first significant hike post-injury and it went exceptionally well. Liam is working with Don and is mid-rehab for bilateral ACL repairs. With a successful hike behind them and feeling good about, Don and Liam celebrated the achievement with a dinner before Don went back to the hotel for the sauna. That is how you spend a day!

Day 4: Wednesday, August 28

The trip was unfortunately coming to an end. The last day included another 4 STHS guide assessments and then Don jumped in a car for a quick drive into Kelowna for a red-eye flight home and some sleep before waking up and getting back to work in Ontario.

Getting to work with all of the guides was a real pleasure and we are super happy about our new partnership with Selkirk Tangiers Heli Skiing and are already looking forward to seeing everyone in person again. For now our relationships and work together will be virtual as we continue to work with the guides.

We look forward to seeing everyone in the mountains and thanks for reading this far.