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The home of Kootenay Mountain Culture Magazine and our story haus: Mountain Culture Group. You have to pick them up. So thick you can open your beer with one.

Not just because they’re free, but because they’re so darn good. Honest. So content-rich, they’re kept for years. With 20 years publishing experience, Kootenay Mountain Culture Magazine is
a deeply influential, award‑winning publication coveted for its cutting-edge writing, beautiful design and superlative photography.

26/09/2025

What's an epic? Homer's lengthy poem "The Odyssey" about battling monsters certainly is. Your breakfast sandwich? Not so much.

In "The Epics" episode, we meet 4 Basin adventurers who’ve accomplished incredible feats traversing, walking, and parasailing over great tracts of mountain wilderness. We then dive into the dangerous world of creating the Kootenays’ first-ever sketch comedy series. Interviewees include:

🏔 Dan & T Durston: Thru hikers and owners of Durston Gear in Golden
🦋 Benjamin Jordan: Paraglider and filmmaker
⛷ Douglas Noblet: Long-distance ski explorer
🎭 Amy Bohigan: Producer of Southern Interior
👨‍🎤Lucas Myers: Actor and writer
🤣 Michelle Hart: Actor and writer

🔗 Listen in wherever you get your podcasts or at https://headwaterspodcast.com/episode/episode-32-the-epics/

The Headwaters is brought to you by Columbia Basin Trust and hosted by our own Mitchell Scott.

This episode was reported on by our own Vince Hempsall.

25/09/2025

Did you know skunks eat rats? 🐭

As omnivorous mammals, skunks will eat baby rats as well as any sickly adults they come across.

Consider this the next time you call a skunk a pest. Sure, they can make your dog stinky, but at least they don't carry diseases like Hantavirus, which rats do.

🔗For more about rodents in the Columbia Basin, such as invasive Norway rats, as well as non-rodents, such as skunks and racoons, listen to our "Rascally Rodents" episode wherever you get your podcast or here: https://headwaterspodcast.com/episode/episode-40-rascally-rodents/

The Headwaters is brought to you by Columbia Basin Trust and hosted by our own Mitchell Scott.

24/09/2025

This is the trailer from “Fly Monarca,” a film about Benjamin Jordan’s epic paragliding journey from Mexico to Canada.

Benjamin was living in the Slocan Valley when he completed this world record feat: he travelled 150 days and covered 2,800 kilometres, spending over 2,000 of those in the sky and about 700 walking between launch sites. The trip was inspired by, of all things, monarch butterflies.

We caught up with Benjamin to talk about his incredible journey for our “Epics” episode, which you can listen to wherever you get your podcasts or here: https://headwaterspodcast.com/episode/episode-32-the-epics/

The Headwaters Podcast is brought to you by Columbia Basin Trust and hosted by our own Mitchell Scott.

The “Epics” episode was reported by Vince Hempsall.

19/09/2025

In the "Heritage Heroes" episode of the Headwaters Podcast, we visit the community of Moyie, located about 30 kms south of Cranbrook.

Founded in the 1890s when a significant galena deposit was found, Moyie was the site of the St. Eugene Mining Company, which operated for about two decades. Today it's a popular recreation spot with a particularly active volunteer group called the Moyie Community Association. In fact, the association has more members than the town's 266 permanent residents.

Steve Rogers (seen here) is the president of the association and he tells us about the various landmarks they've been refurbishing such as the original firehall and the Catholic church.

▶️ To hear more about Steve, the Community Association, and the tiny town of Moyie, listen to our "Heritage Heroes" episode wherever you get your podcasts or at https://headwaterspodcast.com/episode/episode-33-heritage-heroes/

The Headwaters is brought to you by Columbia Basin Trust and hosted by our own Mitchell Scott.

Basin Trustand hosted by Mitchell Scott of Mountain Culture Group.

11/09/2025

It’s virtually impossible to live in the hinterland without furry encounters of the unwanted kind. So how do we live harmoniously with what feels like booming populations of mice, skunks, raccoons, squirrels, and the ever-encroaching rat? To find out, we burrow in with homeowners, bush dwellers, experts, and eradicators in our last episode of Season 4.

Listen in wherever you get your podcasts or at https://headwaterspodcast.com/episode/episode-40-rascally-rodents/

The Headwaters is brought to you by Columbia Basin Trust and hosted by our own Mitchell Scott.

10/09/2025

The “Rock Talk” episode of The Headwaters Podcast not only explores new outdoor rock climbing developments around the West Kootenay area, we also go inside to learn what’s happening with Cube Climbing Centre.

As Jayme Moye reports, The Cube Climbing Gym is looking to expand...in a big way! The Kootenay Climbing Association, which runs the non-profit gym in Nelson, has secured the land for a 10,800-square-foot building that will have 15-metre-high walls and the first Olympic-caliber climbing centre in the interior of BC. It will also be built using mass timber, a more sustainable, lower-carbon alternative to concrete and steel.

This reel shows an artist’s rendition of what the new gym could look like. For more info about the endeavour, listen to the latest episode wherever you get your podcasts or here:

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

05/09/2025

In the latest episode of The Headwaters Podcast, we meet brothers Nic and Ryan Williams who are putting the West Kootenay region on the map for rock climbing.

The duo have been using LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology to find cliffs. The remote sensing technology uses pulsed laser light to measure distances and create precise 3D models of the environment, which has allowed them to discover rock that’s hidden from the naked eye by the surrounding valleys and forests.

For more about the tech, and the booming climbing scene in and around Castlegar, listen to “Rock Talk” wherever you get your podcasts or here: https://headwaterspodcast.com/episode/episode-39-rock-talk/

📸 Nic Williams

📍High Society boulder area near Castlegar

🎤 Reporter: Jayme Moye

The Headwaters is brought to you by Columbia Basin Trust and hosted by our own Mitchell Scott.

04/09/2025

"Our Skies" episode, out now, features Tim McIntosh, director of the Kootenay StarDome Foundation in the hamlet of Edgewater, just north of Invermere.

The Foundation's mission is to create a dark sky reserve in the East Kootenay, which is a designated area that protects the quality of the night sky, usually by minimizing light pollution. The proposed reserve is a 4,200 sq km zone between Fairmont and Parson that stretches into Kootenay Park as well as the Bugaboos.

These photos of light painting were taken at the Foundation's event called "Night Without Lights," in which attendees looked through telescopes at the stars and planets, did light painting like the examples seen here, and learned about why dark skies matter, not only to bats and other creatures, but also to us.

To learn more about the proposed dark sky reserve, listen to the latest episode wherever you get your podcasts or at https://headwaterspodcast.com/episode/episode-38-our-skies/

The Headwaters is brought to you by Columbia Basin Trust and hosted by our own Mitchell Scott.

03/09/2025

New for the Headwaters Podcast this season is a regular segment dedicated to tiny towns across the Columbia Basin. We stop by the places we usually pass by.

For example, in the Epics episode, we visit the unincorporated community of Ymir (population 420) tucked in between Nelson and Salmo. We chat with our buddy Ronnie Haws about the annual that takes place there, and hear some fun stories, such as the time a biker peeled so much rubber INSIDE the Ymir Hotel you couldn’t see the patrons for the smoke.

Epic.

Check out that Tiny Town and all others we visit this season wherever you get your podcasts or here: https://headwaterspodcast.com/episodes/

The Headwaters is brought to you by Columbia Basin Trust and hosted by our own Mitchell Scott.

29/08/2025

Ash Voykin is one of our favourite night-time photographers. Check out our latest episode called "Our Skies" to find out why.

26/08/2025

Have you met Lisa and Brian Pochnavy, the owners of the Trout Lake Windsor Hotel?

For the past 14 years, the duo have been restoring and maintaining the iconic hotel, which was built in 1897. To learn about all their trials and successes, listen to the Headwaters Podcast episode "Heritage Heroes" wherever you get your podcasts or at https://headwaterspodcast.com/episode/episode-33-heritage-heroes/

📷 Greg Nesteroff

The Headwaters Podcast is brought to you by Columbia Basin Trust and hosted by our own Mitchell Scott.

23/08/2025

In the latest episode of the Headwaters Podcast we meet legendary volunteer Jim Webster who is responsible for the long-standing Round the Mountain , Kimberley’s iconic, community-run festival that turns competition into celebration.

Jim is the first person we see speaking in this video, which is a trailer for “The Spirit Of The Event,” a feel-good tribute to the volunteers who bring Round the Mountain to life. It was created in conjunction with Kootenay Outdoor Recreation Enterprise Initiative - KORE, an organization we featured in Season One’s “The Innovators” episode.

You can listen to our interview with Jim and other volunteers from around the Kootenays in our “Volunteerism” episode, available wherever you get your podcasts or at https://headwaterspodcast.com/. There you’ll find 4 seasons of great listening, including “The Innovators.”

The Headwaters is brought to you by Columbia Basin Trust and hosted by our own Mitchell Scott.

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Kootenay & Coast Mountain Magazines

You have to pick them up. Not just because they’re free, but because they’re so darn good. So thick you can open your beer with one. Honest. So content-rich, they’re kept for years. With over 15 years publishing experience, Kootenay Mountain Culture Magazine and Coast Mountain Culture Magazine are deeply influential, award‑winning publications coveted for their cutting-edge writing, beautiful design and superlative photography.