Publications

The plains of passage as you come up the Sea to Sky highway would without-a-doubt be the amazing granite walls of the Stawamus Chief. For a climber, this place is the gem of gems. There are enough routes on these walls to keep anyone busy for a lifetime. There isn’t a time I’m not stoked to scale up the spectacular walls that line the Chief massive… except maybe on a weekend. When the crowds arrive in the Sea to Sky it’s time to look beyond the Chief to the many other wild walls waiting to be explored in the area.

West Coast Vibes. Listening to the sounds of the waves crashing onto the beach. The kids playing in the sand and building sand castles for endless hours. Watching the sun go down, and catching waves into the sunset. Cooking yummy dinners and sharing stories around the campfire. Sleeping under the stars. Stepping out into the great outdoors, embracing the moments with family and friends.

NINA CAPREZ REFLECTS ON HER TIME SPENT ON A TINY ISLAND IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN

I dream a lot. Almost every morning I wake up and remember, for a moment, dreams from the night before. Some say it’s a way for the subconscious to process. Maybe I don’t have enough down time to do it any differently.

I had dreams my first days in Makatea, then they disappeared. I guess, there, I was living the dream.

Climbing, like many outdoor pursuits, brings you to places you couldn’t imagine existed.

Makatea is one of those. A tiny island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, it’s a mere 6 km by 4 km and part of the French Polynesia.

“We paddled across the Squamish River before hiking 4 hours up to Lake Lovely Water. Unpacking the boards, we paddled across the lake before beginning the quest of climbing 5 peaks in the Tantalus. Traversing yet more amazing peaks connected us to the incredible Echo Lake from which there’s another trail back down to the river which we used to paddle to the ocean and home – which was the dream!

I was hoping do take on the whole challenge in a day but brought bivvy gear just in case it got dark…which it did. The whole journey took two full days. Hiking and paddling around 15 hours each day enabled us to cover over 50km, 10km of which was on the water.”

Perception, concept, a dream with much preparation comes reward once you step out into the elements of the great outdoors.

Concept coming together with good friends with a plan, thoughts of Suping down a beautiful river system, linking mountains, river’s and then exploring out into the vast ocean in search of surf. A place where it all can happen, our idea and plan, takes our crew to the Wild West coast of British Columbia where our dreams become reality with a little hard work and soul, passion to step out and get after it.

The Mountain River is one of the most sought-after whitewater journeys in Canada. The river is a tributary of the mighty Mackenzie – Canada’s largest and longest river system. Due to its extremely remote location, relatively few paddlers over the years have challenged the Mountain River, but nobody has ever attempted it on SUPs.