Headwaters Podcast

30/08/2024

🚴‍♀️ New episode drop! Check out our “Beautiful Bicycles.”🚵

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.

➡ This long weekend, as you're driving to the campground, lake, or party, have a listen to our Beautiful Bicycles episode wherever you get your podcasts or here: https://headwaterspodcast.com/episode/episode-25-beautiful-bicycles/

The Headwaters is brought to you by Columbia Basin Trust.

29/08/2024

Most Columbia Basin residents, and mountain bikers across the planet, remember the 2010 movie "Life Cycles." Filmed primarily in the Kootenays, it forever changed action sports filmmaking and launched the careers of local athletes, filmmakers, and even a voice actor.

In our "Beautiful Bicycles" episode, which drops today, we revist that film and the people behind it. We also learn about adaptive mountain biking, gravel grinding, and trail building.

➡ Listen to our latest episode wherever you get your podcasts or at https://headwaterspodcast.com/episode/episode-25-beautiful-bicycles/

The Headwaters is brought to you by Columbia Basin Trust.

26/08/2024

John Vaillant is the Vancouver, BC-based author of the 2023 award-winning book "Fire Weather," which chronicles the disastrous wildfire in Fort McMurray.

In our latest episode "Knowing Fire" we interview John about wildfire and how we are seeing its power unleashed in previously unimaginable ways.

➡ Listen to the episode wherever you get your podcasts or at https://headwaterspodcast.com/episode/episode-24-knowing-fire/

The Headwaters is brought to you by Columbia Basin Trust.

23/08/2024

What's the future of wildfire management in the Columbia Basin?

Listen to our latest episode "Knowing Fire" for interviews with experts including John Vaillant, the author of Fire Weather, renowned ecologist Robert Gray, and Ashley O'Neill, founder of the East Kootenay company ashfirewear.

➡️ Find it wherever you get your podcasts or at https://headwaterspodcast.com/episode/episode-24-knowing-fire/

The Headwaters is brought to you by Columbia Basin Trust and is hosted by Mitchell Scott of Mountain Culture Group.

Photo courtesy of BC Forest Service.

22/08/2024

🔥 New Episode Drop!🔥

Like rain or soil, fire is a crucial part of a healthy forest ecosystem. But as warmer temperatures and longer periods of drought have become the norm in the Columbia Basin—along with the fact that we have suppressed fire to protect trees as a valuable natural resource—we now face bigger, hotter, and more dangerous megafires.

Listen in to our "Knowing Fire" episode as we meet experts who are creating a better understanding of what we’re up against and helping us safeguard our homes and communities.

➡️ Find it wherever you get your podcasts or at https://headwaterspodcast.com/episode/episode-24-knowing-fire/

The Headwaters is brought to you by Columbia Basin Trust and is hosted by Mitchell Scott of Mountain Culture Group. This episode features Jayme Moye, Ashley O'Neill of ashfirewear, wildland fire ecologist Robert Gray, author John Vaillant and more.

20/08/2024

In our “Young Dreamers” episode, we meet Kootenay local Tula Sherkat who is as talented on the ivory keys as she is on plastic holds and hard rock.

She’s been performing piano and competitively rock climbing since a very young age and although she’s retired from the sanctioned climbing comp circuit, she’s still climbing (and falling) at various gyms throughout the province.

➡️ To learn more about Tula and other young Columbia Basin locals making an impact, listen to our “Young Dreamers” episode wherever you get your podcasts or here: https://headwaterspodcast.com/episode/episode-8-young-dreamers/

The Headwaters Podcast is brought to you by Columbia Basin Trust and hosted by Mitchell Scott of Mountain Culture Group.

16/08/2024

Question: What is the Columbia Basin's oldest ghost town?

Answer: Fisherville was the first town settled by non-natives and it was located near the current site of Cranbrook in the East Kootenay. In 1864 a group led by Jack Fisher discovered gold along the banks of Wild Horse Creek and once word got out about the discovery, miners flocked to the area.

By the fall of that year, over 1,000 miners lived in the town. Within a year the town had ballooned to 5,000 inhabitants and it boasted 6 general stores, 4 saloons, multiple restaurants, a brewery and hundreds of miner shacks. But, by the end of 1865 the easily accessible gold had been depleted and many of the miners in the area moved on. Nowadays you can walk the trails of the past through a well-signed interpretative trail through the remnants of Fisherville.

For more about Fisherville and a number of other abandoned towns in the Basin, listen to our "Ghost Towns" episode, out now. Find it wherever you get your podcasts or at https://headwaterspodcast.com/episode/episode-23-ghost-towns/

The Headwaters is brought to you by Columbia Basin Trust.

15/08/2024

👻 Season 3 Continues With Our Ghost Towns Episode 👻

Over a century ago, pioneers from around the world rushed to the Columbia Basin in search of riches hidden in the mountains.

The discovery of galena ore profoundly changed the region’s landscape, creating booming resource towns overnight. But as quickly as these bustling centres of commerce were built, they were gone. In this episode, we go back in time to explore some of the Kootenays more legendary ghost towns.

You’ll find the “Ghost Towns” episode wherever you get your podcasts or at https://headwaterspodcast.com/episode/episode-23-ghost-towns/

The Headwaters is brought to you by Columbia Basin Trust and hosted by Mitchell Scott of Mountain Culture Group.

13/08/2024

Born and raised in Cranbrook, Ben Rutledge has won three world championship gold medals in the men's 8 rowing as well as a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

In our "Finding Freshwater" episode, Ben talks about what he loves most about travelling at high speeds over the water and the unique feeling of fluidity.

Find it wherever you get your podcasts or here: https://headwaterspodcast.com/episode/finding-freshwater/

The Headwaters is brought to you by Columbia Basin Trust

09/08/2024

Wow. The "Finding Freshwater" episode saw 306 listens on launch day alone. That's a record! We're glad you're all enjoying our third season so far.

Did you know you can listen to episodes from all our seasons on YouTube as well as your favourite podcast platforms? Check it out: https://youtu.be/oh75nqfIHhk?si=QyIu0Mi2wPjZBasb

Everywhere you look in the Kootenay region of British Columbia, there’s water. Lakes, streams, rivers, springs, wetlands, snowfields, and glaciers—this regio...

08/08/2024

What does Canada's national animal (the beaver) have to do with the health of the Columbia Basin's freshwater supply?

Find out by listening to our interview with conservation biologist Marcy Mahr in our latest episode called "Finding Freshwater," which drops today. Listen in wherever you get your podcasts or at https://headwaterspodcast.com/episode/finding-freshwater/

The Headwaters is brought to you by Columbia Basin Trust and hosted by Mitchell Scott of Mountain Culture Group.

07/08/2024

Mia Noblet is a Nelson-based athlete and world-record highliner who travels the globe to walk long slacklines that are, sometimes, hundreds of metres in the air.

We featured her in our episode “The Adventurers,” which is dedicated to female adventurers from the Kootenays. She was also part of the team that included Jayme Moye and Douglas Noblet, which summited a mountain near Ymir and then attempted to have the peak named. That story is part of our "To The Trailblazers" episode, which dropped last week.

You can listen to "The Adventurers" and "To The Trailblazers" wherever you get your podcasts or at https://headwaterspodcast.com/

The Headwaters is brought to you by Columbia Basin Trust and produced in association with Mountain Culture Group.

03/08/2024

⚡Did you know the walkie-talkie was invented in Rossland, BC?⚡

Donald Hings was a telecommunications pioneer who was born in the UK in 1907 and who moved to Rossland when he inherited a piece of land. Although he never got a college degree, Hings was the originator of more than 55 patents including his best-known invention of the radio frequency system commonly known as the “walkie-talkie.”

While you're on your long-weekend road trip, load up the latest episode of the Headwaters Podcast to learn more about Hings and other trailblazers of the Columbia Basin. The episode can be found wherever you get your podcasts or via the link in our bio.

The Headwaters is brought to you by Columbia Basin Trust and hosted by Mitchell Scott of Mountain Culture Group.

01/08/2024

💥 Season 3 Drops Now! 💥

The Columbia Basin has always been awash with pioneers, free spirits, explorers, adventurers, and innovators.

We kick off season three with stories that celebrate the trailblazers among us. You’ll hear about inventions that changed the world, the process of naming a peak, legendary mountain ascents, and harrowing river descents. Grab your pack, your favourite pair of boots, and let’s hit the trail!

You’ll find the “To The Trailblazers” episode wherever you get your podcasts. It’s even on YouTube! Or you can listen along at https://headwaterspodcast.com/episode/episode-21-to-the-trailblazers/
where you'll discover other stories about your fellow trailblazers.

The Headwaters is brought to you by Columbia Basin Trust and hosted by Mitchell Scott of Mountain Culture Group.

25/07/2024

Hockey star Dryden Hunt was born in Cranbrook and raised in Nelson and like many other Kootenay youth, he had dreams of playing in the NHL. He went through the junior leagues and did well but when it came time to showcase for the recruiters, it didn’t go according to plan. Things were looking grim until… hat trick after hat trick after hat trick!

We share his story in our "Young Dreamers" episode which you can find wherever you stream your podcasts or at: https://headwaterspodcast.com/episode/episode-8-young-dreamers/

The Headwaters is brought to you by Columbia Basin Trust and hosted by Mitchell Scott of Mountain Culture Group.

23/07/2024

In our episode called "Newcomers," we explore what it's like to immigrate to the Columbia River Basin.

In a related story, Mountain Culture Group writer Louis Bockner interviewed Kaslo, BC resident Shayna Jones of about a multimedia project she's created that explores narratives of race in the face of rural living.

To read that article, and to listen to the episode, visit: https://headwaterspodcast.com/episode/episode-9-newcomers/

The Headwaters is brought to you by Columbia Basin Trust.

19/07/2024

Meet the man who competed Alone.

In the History Channel's hit show "Alone," 10 people are left in solitude in the remote wilderness. With no camera crews or producers, they have to survive using only what they can stuff into a backpack. They hunt, build shelters and fend off predators as they face extreme isolation, psychological distress and the terrifying plunge into the unknown.

Canal Flats resident Greg Ovens was on Season 3 of the show and this is a clip from the intro reel before boarded a plane and survived without human contact for over seven weeks in the remote wilds of Patagonia, Argentina. He had to be evacuated after 51 days because hypothermia set in. The winner of that season lasted 87 days alone.

Jeff Pew recently caught up with Greg to discuss the show and learn some survival tricks. He will be sharing his story in the upcoming season of the podcast.

The Headwaters is brought to you by Columbia Basin Trust and hosted by Mitchell Scott of Mountain Culture Group.

17/07/2024

Cute? Nope. Invasive? Yep.

Did you know those wild turkeys wandering beside our highways and across our properties are not native to the Columba Basin region? Learn more about these interlopers gobbling up our gardens in the "Saving Species" episode.

Have a listen wherever you get your podcasts or at https://headwaterspodcast.com/episodes/

The Headwaters Podcast is brought to you by Columbia Basin Trust and hosted by Mitchell Scott of Mountain Culture Group.

10/07/2024

In our “Changing Landscapes” episode, we dive in to the topic of fish habitat restoration and meet the people who are working to save the Kootenay white sturgeon.

Big Bertha is the nickname of this 10-foot-long sturgeon caught and tagged by provincial wildlife biologist Sarah Stephenson in 2016. Because of the fish's size, it was estimated she had lived for about a 100 years and had witnessed the creation of the dams that have affected the areas she prefers to lay her eggs. Her species is now threatened and multiple government agencies in Canada and the US are helping bring them back.

➡️ Listen to the “Changing Landscapes” episode wherever you get your podcasts or here: https://headwaterspodcast.com/episode/episode-18-changing-landscapes/

The Headwaters is brought to you by Columbia Basin Trust and hosted by Mitchell Scott of Mountain Culture Group.

28/06/2024

Did you know Canada's deepest cave is located near Fernie, BC?

For the third season of our podcast, Jeff Pew joined Katie Graham to discuss her decade-long exploration of Bisaro Anima, a 683-metre-deep cave that's 6.4 kilometres long. Stay tuned for more highlights from the depths.

The Headwaters is brought to you by Columbia Basin Trust and hosted by Mitchell Scott of Mountain Culture Group.

26/06/2024

We're excited to announce our third season will drop later this summer!

Upcoming topics include biking, caving, and survivalist adventures; ghost towns; young people with big dreams; and how the Columbia Basin is dealing with pressing issues, like wildfire and housing. Season three of The Headwaters picks up where seasons one and two left off—taking listeners on unexpected journeys into the stories, issues, and ideas that make the Kootenays so unique.

For more about the upcoming season visit: https://kootenaymountainculture.com/headwatersseason3/

The Headwaters is brought to you by Columbia Basin Trust and hosted by Mitchell Scott of Mountain Culture Group.

18/06/2024

Did you know one of the first acts of terrorism on Canadian soil happened in the Kootenays on a train similar to this one? Peter Verigin was an influential leader of the Doukhobors and was killed by a bomb planted on a CPR passenger train near Castlegar. His death is still unsolved today.

For more about this story, check out Season One's episode called “Doukhobor Lore” and learn amazing facts about this historical figure and the culture in general.

➡️ Listen to the episode on your favourite podcast platform or at https://headwaterspodcast.com.

13/06/2024

Kootenay historian Greg Nesteroff, author of Lost Kootenays, joined us in studio recently to record an upcoming episode for our third season that’s all about Kootenay ghost towns. In it, Greg shares a lot of amazing info, such as the fact the first town in the Columbia Basin is also the first ghost town. What do you think it is?

Stay tuned for the third season to find out. Episodes will start dropping later this summer.

The Headwaters is brought to you by Columbia Basin Trust.

11/06/2024

In our “Living Alternatively” episode, we meet West Kootenay local Jazmine Lowther, aka “the Gazelle,” who recently got into the fringe sport of ultrarunning and who now competes amongst the world’s best on 50-100km courses around the world as a member of The North Face team.

Learn more about what inspires her to run so far by visiting Episode 14 here: https://headwaterspodcast.com/episode/episode-14-living-alternatively/

07/06/2024

Did you know anyone can name a mountain in BC?

Granted, there’s an extensive process involved and journalist Jayme Moye set about to discover exactly what it is and in so doing, scaled a peak near the community of Ymir.

These shots were taken on that journey by Douglas Noblet.

To learn how you too can name a BC peak, listen in to our third season dropping later this summer.

05/06/2024

In our second season, episode 13, we interviewed Hank Pronk of Fairmont Hot Springs about his homemade submarines. He planned to take his latest iteration, seen here, into Kootenay Lake to find the gold boulder lying in the depths near Crawford Bay.

What gold boulder you ask?

Listen to the episode to find out.

The Headwaters can be listened on your favourite podcast platform or at headwaterspodcast.com. It’s brought to you by Columbia Basin Trust.

31/05/2024

We're baaaaaaack.

The Headwaters crew have returned to the studio for Season 3 of the podcast, which will roll out later this summer.

Stay tuned for more updates and in the meantime, brush up on the past 2 seasons wherever you listen to your podcasts or at https://headwaterspodcast.com/

Season 3 of The Headwaters is brought to you by Columbia Basin Trust and hosted by Mitchell Scott of Mountain Culture Group.

30/05/2024

May is Invasive Species Action Month so we’re looking back at our inaugural episode of the Headwaters podcast, which features a story about the American Bullfrog; an invasive frog with a voracious appetite that is endangering other native 🐸 species in the Columbia Basin.

A multi-year project has attempted to stem the tide of these invasive bullfrogs crossing the border from Idaho into BC and you can learn more about it by listening to Episode 1 wherever you get your podcasts or here: https://headwaterspodcast.com/episodes/

Ckiss Kootenay

The Headwaters is brought to you by Columbia Basin Trust and hosted by Mitchell Scott of Mountain Culture Group.

31/08/2023

What’s it take to make people laugh? In our “Kootenay Comedy,” episode, we interview Revelstoke, BC-based , seen here, about what it means to be a "leisure athlete." We also discuss her movie “Weak Layers,” which she recently filmed in California.

➡️ You can find the “Kootenay Comedy” episode wherever you get your podcasts or here: https://headwaterspodcast.com/episode/episode-15-kootenay-comedy/

The Headwaters is brought to you by and hosted by Mitchell Scott of

29/08/2023

Castlegar is hosting an Invasive Species Fishout Derby on the Columbia River this week.

The intent is to catch as many northern pike and walleye (in accordance to regional guidelines) as possible because both species were introduced to the waters here and are detrimental to the native species of trout, Kokanee, and others.

More information can be found at https://www.destinationcastlegar.com/out-about/fishout-derby-2023/

In our "Saving Species" episode, we tell the stories of other interlopers in the Columbia Basin, which other agencies are working hard to keep at bay. Take the American Bullfrog for example, which is hopping its way across the border from Idaho and threatening native frog species here.

For more about invasives, listen to the "Saving Species" episode wherever you get your podcasts or here: https://headwaterspodcast.com/episode/episode-1-saving-species/

Photo by Chillbilly Sportfishing Charters.

The Headwaters is brought to you by and hosted by Mitchell Scott of Mountain Culture Group.