British Columbia Magazine

With the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games in full swing, Ken Seabrook is off to Vancouver to oversee the printing of our Spring 2010 issue. (And if our Art Director should manage to catch a sporting event between press runs, or pose for a photo with a fuzzy Olympic mascot, who are we to judge?)

Here’s what you can look forward to in our latest edition.

“Kootenays: 4 hikes, 4 seasons” provides the answers to your most pressing Kootenay-adventure questions:

* Where can I hike a grand river canyon during the roaring spring run-off?

* Which trail will take me into eye-popping wildflower meadows this summer?

* Which fall month is best to hike among the fiery yellow alpine larch?

* Where can I find a string of cozy warming huts for a backcountry snowshoe trek?

“Slocan coffeehouses” takes you on a short trip up the scenic Slocan Valley, not far from Nelson, with java stops at hip shops including “Pony Espresso” and “Sleep is for Sissies.”

“Desolation Sound” will show you—with gorgeous photography by Saltspring Island photographer Ron Watts—why sailors, boaters, and paddlers sing the praises of this West Coast provincial marine park.

“It’s not easy, being green” explores the environmental issues threatening frogs around the world and examines what B.C. biologists are doing to help amphibians right now.

You’ll also find our regular departments:

Destination: Hippie Kitsilano–Vancouver in the groovy 1960s.

Echoes: Children on the Chilkoot Trail.

Outdoor Advisor: How to protect yourself from lightning in the backcountry.

Due West: Everything from Emily Carr murals and eco-cutlery to a Stonehenge-like site proposed for Barriere, B.C.

It’s that time again. Art Director Ken Seabrook is ferrying over to Vancouver tomorrow to oversee the press run of our Winter 2009 issue. Here is your SNEAK PREVIEW of the new cover:

What’s inside? Here are just a few teasers:

* For our special, 14-page “Do-it-yourself winter games” editorial package, we challenged our writers to try snowboarding, biathlon, alpine skiing, luge, hockey, and speed skating in wintery sites around British Columbia. Their enthusiastic adventures—and misadventures, including inglorious face plants and downhill tumbles—prove that B.C.’s snowscapes, mountains, and frozen ponds are not just for elite athletes, but for every outdoors-loving British Columbia with a spirit of adventure.

* Meet British Columbia’s first Olympic hero, sprinter Percy Williams, who astonished the running world by taking not ONE but TWO gold medals in 1928.

* Sprinting cougars, wrestling bears, salmon swimming marathons! Our photo essay of outstanding wildlife “action photos” showcases athletic feats of strength, speed, and endurance from the animal kingdom.

PLUS

* Dogsledding in the Cariboo. Love those Huskies!

* Backcountry skiing in the Purcells.

* The 2010 Cultural Olympiad. *  A thrill ride on Whistler-Blackcomb’s Peak2Peak Gondola. * Environmental initiatives for a “greener Games.” * The Four Host Nations. * Legacies of 2010. * And more!

It’s time to say goodbye to summer. It’s always a sad farewell, as we fold up our patio umbrellas and relegate our flip-flops and shorts to the back of the closet. But for readers of British Columbia Magazine, there is reason to embrace the change of seasons . . .

A new issue!

A new contest!

SNEAK PEAK: OUR LANDMARK 200TH ISSUE

The Fall 2009 edition has just come off the press. It’s a great package of stories and photographs to rev your engine for fall adventure, beginning with a small-town tour up the Sea-to-Sky Highway from Vancouver to Whistler—literally, the road to the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Associate Editor Jenny Manzer profiles Horseshoe Bay, Porteau Cove, Britiannia Beach, and more! Plus, this issue’s featured travel destination is sporty Squamish, a Sea-to-Sky hot spot for climbing, paddling, hiking, biking, and kiteboarding.

Other highlights of the Fall 2009 issue:

* Biologists working deep in grizzly country.

* Gerry Bracewell, our Annie Oakley of the Chilcotin.

* A visit to Klemtu, land of the “spirit bear.”

* And a paddling trip through the lush Columbia wetlands.

YOU COULD WIN!

Coinciding with the launch of our new Fall 2009 issue, we also launch a new Share Your B.C. monthly prize draw. Visit www.ShareYourBC.com to search our online database of hundreds of B.C. travel recommendations, submitted by travellers just like you.

Contribute your own “Top Thing to Do in B.C.” and you’ll have a chance to win a FREE one-year subscription to British Columbia Magazine. We’ll be giving away one every month for a year.

Later this month, we’ll announce the lucky winners of our 50th-anniversary Share Your B.C. summer sweepstakes draw, which closed September 8, 2009. Stay tuned!

I had an amusing thought this morning. British Columbia Magazine has been in publication longer than I’ve been alive. ☺

It is an honour to be the editor in 2009, the magazine’s 50th year of publication. And I have never been more excited about an upcoming issue than I am about the Summer 2009 edition.

Our editorial team has put together a true collector’s issue for this landmark occasion. I believe that our “50 Things to Do in B.C. Before You Die” editorial package will surprise and delight even those most dedicated subscribers who have been with us since the first issue in Summer 1959. Look for it on newsstands in mid-June.

This 50th anniversary isn’t just about the magazine; it’s also about you, our loyal and enthusiastic readers—the people who know this province, love it, and take every opportunity to explore it. And we want to hear from YOU in our anniversary year, about the places you’ve been and amazing things you’ve done.

That’s why we’ve created our new Share Your B.C. adventure database, a place for readers and travellers to post their favourite B.C. experiences. Visit www.ShareYourBC.com to search the many entries by specific activity or location. Enter your own “Top Thing to Do in B.C.” and you could be eligible to win one of four incredible B.C. travel packages, each ranging in value from $2,300 to $9,500. Don’t miss out!

See the full prize list and complete contest details at www.ShareYourBC.com/contest

As snow continues to swirl around many parts of British Columbia, we’re eagerly awaiting the first copies of our Spring 2009 issue—hot off the press this week!

It’s a terrific issue to help you start planning for warmer days and outdoor adventures. We’ve pulled together three inspiring “joy rides” to get you dreaming of the snow-free months to come.

* A horseback journey through British Columbia’s spectacular volcanic backcountry in Itcha Ilgachuz Provincial Park—a place few have heard of, much less visited.

* A mountain-biking exploration of Taylor Basin and Spruce Lake Protected Area, where the explosive colour of the subalpine wildflower meadows rivals a Jackson Pollock canvas.

* An offbeat motoring tour around Saltspring Island with resident author/artist Nick Bantock—creator of the magical Griffin & Sabine books.

Don’t despair, dear readers: those first green tendrils of spring will be poking above ground before you know it.

That’s right: you’re the first to set eyes on our new Winter 2008 cover.

Well, ok, technically the pressmen in Vancouver who watched over our print run last week were the first, along with Art Director Ken Seabrook—who stayed up all night on the press check to make sure our readers will receive the best-looking issue possible!

As I write this, copies of the new magazine are en route  to our subscribers around the world. British Columbia Magazine is mailed to more than 150 different countries. There are readers in Germany and Japan and Thailand who look forward to learning more about British Columbia with every issue.

With the winter issue, they’ll discover:

* Some scandalous secrets about Victoria’s 100-year-old Empress Hotel, including tales of lechery, thievery, and murder.

* How to read animal tracks in the snow to identify the wildlife in our winter landscape.

* Some of the most beautiful—and most beastly–creatures beneath the Pacific Ocean.

* Two great reasons to head North for a snowy holiday: incredible backcountry skiing in Sugarbowl-Grizzly Den Provincial Park and a zany winter carnival in the nearby city of Prince George.

* And much, much more. Welcome to winter!

It is a very special issue our readers will be picking up in the next couple of weeks. Our Summer 2008 edition marks the 150th year since British Columbia was founded as a Crown colony in 1858.

As I write this, the printers are wrapping this striking celebratory cover around our 100-page summer issue—our largest issue since the magazine was launched in 1959!

A special tip of my editor’s hat goes to all of the editorial staff for their work on this issue, particularly on the remarkable “Our history in pictures” photo essay, which takes readers on a visual journey over the past 150 years. Hundreds of hours of research went into the selection of photos and the accompanying text in this one-of-a-kind 18-page photo essay.

Other articles in the issue include:

* “Fast boat to Hell”: In which award-winning Vancouver writer Daniel Wood plunges into history on the Fraser River, daring to run Hells Gate exactly 200 years after explorer Simon Fraser wisely dodged these deadly rapids. Features a beautiful double-page Fraser River map.

* “Opening doors”: A profile of the exceptional new Haida Heritage Centre in Kaay Llnagaay, near Skidegate in the Queen Charlotte Islands, which is playing a key role in the spiritual, cultural, and economic revitalization of the First Nations of Haida Gwaii.

* “The enchanted Incomappleux forest”: Explore a Tolkienesque Interior rainforest in the Kootenays, complete with a waterfall-powered eco-hostel, gargantuan old-growth trees, secrets springs, and goblin’s gold.

* And much, much more!

Check back soon to our magazine’s website to view the new Photo Gallery, where we’ll be posting more than a dozen wonderful historical photographs from times gone by in British Columbia.

As the editor of a quarterly magazine with long production lead times, I often have my head in the next season while my body lags behind in the current one. This week, as British Columbians are kicking up powder on downhill slopes and mushing huskies on northern dog-sledding adventures, I’m sending our Spring 2008 issue off to press.

Throughout the chilly winter months, the editorial staff here have been preparing the articles that will bring our readers the bright optimism of spring in B.C. The issue is a diverse mix of travel, science, parks, and wildlife content, including:

* A deluxe safari adventure in Clayoquot Sound.
* The comical dances of Columbian sharp-tailed grouse.
* Stunning photography of a proposed new national park.
* The mysterious workings of the soil in supporting all life in this province.

Our cover story profiles the remarkable Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Sanctuary, the only park of its kind in Canada created specifically to protect these remarkable large predators. Check back soon to our magazine’s website (www.bcmag.ca) to view the Photo Gallery, where we’ll be posting more than a dozen spectacular grizzly bear images. 

From editor Anita Willis:

Our latest issue profiles the wild grandeur of the Cariboo-Chilcotin, a fabled frontier of ranchlands and grasslands, ancient hoodoos and river-carved gorges. We are proud to showcase the photography of Chris Harris, who lives in the Cariboo near 100 Mile House. His work showcases the splendid and subtle beauty of this region’s diminishing grassland areas, vividly described in the cover story by Vancouver writer Brian Payton.

Also in the region, we introduce you to the restored Cariboo mining town of Wells. This great little-known getaway is often overlooked by travellers hot-footing it to historic Barkerville. Those who take the time to stop in will find a rich network of mountain trails to hike and bike, and in town, a colourful influx of artists who are literally painting the town red–and pink, and purple, and yellow, and sky blue.

The North is also highlighted in this issue, with a paddling trip on the Nation Lakes chain–the best paddling trip you’ve never heard of! And two secret gold-mining villages in the Omineca region: Manson Creek and Germansen Landing.

Plus: endearing sea otters, Vancouver’s historic Avalon Dairy, and wilderness first-aid advice that could save a life–maybe even your own. A great issue: don’t miss it!