British Columbia Magazine

To contributing editor Larry Pynn, this grainy colour slide from 1986, taken in remote northwestern British Columbia’s Mount Edziza Provincial Park, is proof that outdoor equipment has come a long way, baby.

“I’m shown wearing a tasteless yellow-and-white baseball hat, bold-striped shirt, wool army-surplus pants and, gather ’round kids, an external-frame backpack.” With every step he took, that aluminum frame knocked against his head.

“I remember a lot about the first big hiking trip,” he adds. “My sleeping bag rolling down into a crater, a July snowstorm so thick we had to make camp where we stood, and wading through a chest-high swamp because we took the wrong valley coming down off the Mount Edziza plateau. But you know, I can’t remember a thing about that crappy little external frame backpack [aside from the head bumping]. Maybe gear isn’t the be-all and end-all of a great hiking trip, after all.”

Agreed. Though dare I suggest that our intrepid “Outdoor Advisor” might have looked just a bit happier in this photo had he been sporting a modern internal frame pack with cushy straps, ventilated panels, and weight-transfer technology?

Larry examines such modern features as applied to the day pack–which has evolved alongside multi-day packs–in the Fall 2011 issue. See “Day pack buying basics” for his tips on choosing size, panel configuration, hydration compatibility, material, and more.

In May, Associate Editor Shanna Baker and I took a road trip to the Tofino/Ucluelet area, travelling up over the beautiful ‘Hat (Malahat) on Hwy 1 from Victoria, then over to Port Alberni and onward to the west coast of Vancouver Island.  As we drew closer to Ucluelet, a relentless rain began, forcing us to slow down and enjoy the drive on the winding mountain roadway. To our left, vestiges of the winter’s snowfall remained, while streams rushed with spring runoff to our right.

Our first stop was the new Kwisitis Visitor Centre at the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve of Canada. If you are in the area, I encourage you to stop in and check out this facility, formerly known as the Wickaninnish Interpretive Centre.  The timber structure, which also houses the Wickaninnish Restaurant, is perched on the edge of the Pacific Ocean, on one of this country’s most beautiful white sand beaches.

Writer Elizabeth Nolan profiled the centre in our Summer 2011 issue, but we wanted to show it to you in one of our Editor’s Videos. Interpretive designer Donald Gunn trekked over from Saltspring Island to show us the 20 brand-new exhibits, most of which were developed in close collaboration with the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations.

Click here to watch the video. Note: Keep your volume on high: the sound quality isn’t the greatest, and our outdoor scenes are pretty windswept!

We hope the video will give you a taste of the beauty of the park and a preview of the interesting new exhibits on display at the Visitor Centre.

Visitors to Gowlland Tod Provincial Park in Saanich on southern Vancouver Island can now take a break, on us.

British Columbia Magazine recently became the first organization to sponsor a bench in BC Parks’ “100 Benches for 100 Years of BC Parks” program. Our park bench, complete with commemorative plaque, overlooks the beautiful Tod Inlet.

Fun facts about the bench:

-it looks like it’s made of wood, but the “cedar” planks are actually comprised of recycled plastic.

-the planks are ergonomically arranged for optimum relaxation.

-the first 50 people to visit our bench will win a lifetime subscription to the magazine. (Just kidding, but we do hope you’ll visit).

To sponsor your own bench see the BC Parks website. Benches are available at various parks around the province and cost $1500.

In a small magazine team, staffers often have to step way outside their regular job descriptions to get a task done. So I didn’t flinch when Art Director Ken Seabrook asked me to put on workout gear and pretend I was surfing, to help him plan an illustration. It was only when I had climbed up on my makeshift surfboard — a thin, very pliable piece of foam-core laid across a couple of wobbly stools — and tried to “pop up” that I started to have some serious doubts. Luckily I didn’t break my neck and Ken completed an interesting illustration. You can check it out on page 62 of the Winter 2010 issue (”Surfing essentials,” Outdoor Advisor).

Do you see a resemblance? Ken did take some liberties — I never ride “goofy” foot, but his surfer does have better style.

Each year, the International Regional Magazine Association (IRMA) hosts its own version of the Academy Awards. This year, we were called to the podium nine times at the association’s 30th annual awards ceremony, held September 26 in Branson, Missouri.

Our awards for excellence in magazine publishing included Finalist of the Year, Gold for Nature Feature, and Gold for Special Focus for our Summer 2009 issue (our big 50th anniversary issue that featured the full-length special feature “50 Things to Do in B.C. Before You Die”).

With a mere month under my belt as editor here at the magazine, all I could say was, “Wow!”
Thanks and heartfelt congratulations to our talented staff and our fabulous contributors who worked so hard on these issues!

The awards are selected by a panel of independent writing and design judges across more than 20 magazine categories.  Our nine awards included:

• Finalist, Magazine of the Year
• Gold, for Nature Feature (GSI: Grizzly Site Investigators, Fall 2009, by Dave Quinn)
• Gold, for Special Focus (50 Things to Do Before You Die, Summer 2009)
• Silver, for Illustration (50 Things to Do Before You Die, Summer 2009)
• Bronze, for Profile (Annie Oakley of the Chilcotin, Fall 2009, by Danielle Egan)
• Bronze, for overall art direction of a magazine over 40,000 circulation (our own art director, Ken Seabrook)
• Award of Merit, for Art Direction of a Single Story (Nick Bantock’s Saltspring, Spring 2009 (again, our art director,  Ken Seabrook)
• Award of Merit, for Travel Feature (Itcha Ilgachuz, Spring 2009, by Larry Pynn)
• Award of Merit, for Culture Feature (Secrets of Klemtu, Fall 2009, by David Leach)

The editorial team at British Columbia Magazine is pleased to introduce our new Editor-in-Chief, Jane Nahirny!

Jane officially took the Editor’s chair on August 23, but she’s no stranger to the magazine. Jane first joined us in November 2007 to fill a maternity leave. One of her first tasks was writing the 18-page sesquicentennial feature for our special B.C. 150 issue.

Further assignments followed, and, one year later,  Jane returned to serve as promotions coordinator to market the magazine’s 50th anniversary. During that time, she developed the master plan for our popular “Share Your B.C.” campaign, in which participants contribute their favourite B.C. places and activities to a searchable, permanent database. For our current issue, Fall 2010, she explored and wrote about the charms of Nelson, available to read here.

Jane’s editorial background includes more than 20 years of experience as a writer and editor with such publications as Canadian HomeStyle, Hamilton Magazine, Golf Canada, and Wedding Bells Magazine. Most recently, she worked as Communications Director for the Montreal-based Canadian Sporting Goods Association.

“I truly feel honoured to guide this iconic publication into its next era,” says Jane. “I look forward to continuing to provide readers with the high-quality articles and inspiring photo spreads they’ve come to expect from British Columbia Magazine, and to creating editorial features that meet the needs of a new generation of readers.”

We’re all thrilled to have Jane here: for her numerous editorial talents and her infectious enthusiasm.

Watch for Jane’s first Front Lines column in our upcoming Winter 2010 issue, out on newsstands in early December.

At British Columbia Magazine, we spend a great deal of time thinking about you, Our Readers. Would Our Readers prefer to see this stunning scenic photograph, or that one? Would Our Readers enjoy an article on Topic A—or is Topic B the better choice? Will this caption (or headline or sentence) be clear to Our Readers? Have we provided all the information Our Readers will require to fully understand the topic? And on it goes.

So when we get letters from you, telling us that you’re enjoying the magazine, it makes our day! We share them around the office and then get back to work with renewed vigour. Your constructive criticism is just as valuable as your praise—we take all feedback seriously.

In each issue, we include a selection of letters we’ve received from Our Readers, but there is never enough space to run them all. That’s where our website becomes useful. To see a full array of recent letters to the editor, visit www.bcmag.ca/issue.

While you’re online, click to our Contact Us page and take a moment to let us know what YOU think of the magazine. Include the subject line “Mailbox” and we might include your comments in an upcoming edition of the magazine.

Photographer David R. Gluns, whose work is featured in “Kootenays: 4 treks, 4 seasons” in our Spring 2010 issue, is a man with multiple interests. He’s a forest hydrologist, a pilot, a world traveller, a hiker, skier, all-round outdoorsman—even a former trekking guide in the Himalayas.

It’s not surprising then, that when it comes to photography, this sharpshooter prefers not to limit himself to any one type of subject matter. The downside to being a generalist? He needs a lot of gear—so much, in fact, that Gluns has devoted 2.5 rooms in his Nelson home to his photography! The contents of his camera bag on any given day depends on what he’ll be shooting, and where.

So just what does he pack in his camera bag for a day hike into the Kootenay wilds around his home? Click here to read our full web-exclusive article and find out!

[photo: Dave Wagg/Off Piste]

There are perks to being the designated photographer on a backcountry ski trip: the right to lay the first tracks in fresh powder. For our Winter 2009 article “The powderful Purcells,” David R. Gluns got to work and play in the mountains just outside his home in Nelson.

Between runs (and the occasional face-plant) Gluns snapped some breathtaking shots of the Purcell Mountains and of skiers at play on the snowy slopes. See our “Powderful Purcells” photo gallery for a selection of his best images.

For more on our Winter 2009 issue, click here.

Karen Davies of Victoria, winner of our Saltspring Island Getaway Contest, recently travelled to the southern Gulf Island with husband, Dai, to claim her prize. Karen and Dai met with resident artist/author Nick Bantock, creator of the bestselling Griffin & Sabine series of books, and subject of our Spring 2009 “Nick Bantock’s Saltspring” feature article. At Bantock’s airy Ganges studio, the threesome quickly fell into conversation about life, art, and politics.

“We were really surprised at Nick’s down-to-earth nature and lack of ego,” said Karen. “He’s very stimulating to be with.”

The gallery has a “happy feel” that invites discovery, Karen observed. “We loved the texture of Nick’s work,” she added. ”He creates the sort of pictures you want to be involved with, rather than just look at. . . . Nick was also very generous in the way he told us about how he works.”

The winner’s prize also included a stay at the Harbour House Hotel and $50 in Saltspring currency. Karen used the colourful bills to buy herself two of Bantock’s out-of-print Griffin & Sabine books, which, of course, Bantock personally inscribed.

The next morning, the couple visited Saltspring’s famous Saturday market, then kayaked to nearby Chocolate Beach.  All in all, it was, Karen sighed, a “wonderful getaway.”