Speaker Series at Red Mountain

We’re excited to launch our new event this year with our friends at Red Mountain! Our speaker series brings presenters from the adventure sport industry to bring and share their experiences with Rossland. To start things off we’ve got local legends Brain Coulter with Basia Siedlecki and Kirsty Exner who will be joined by Nat Segal and Zoya Lynch to present their film, Beyond Begbie. Head to the Flying Steam Shovel after for Bitter Washed, free cover with a stamp from Film Fest!
Tickets are only $15 and available online only at https://www.brownpapertickets.com/profile/3711692

View the presenters bios below and a synopsis of their presentations.

Brian Coulter is our photographer and is responsible for most of the images in the presentation. He brought a wealth of experience to the hike having pioneered ski traverses-descents in the Selkirk mountains along with creating mountain bike epics in the Coast Mountain Ranges. His trade as a timber framer has enabled him to share this
knowledge base with First Nation youth through the Story Trails Program.

Layton Coulter is Brian’s 15 year old son. He attends grade 9 at RSS in Trial and lives in Rossland. He has adventured with his dad – from local mountaineering trips into the Valhalla mountains to canoe trips in the Bowron Lakes.

Basia Siedlecki is a locum physician. She splits her professional life between Castlegar ER and various communities in Nunavut and northwest Territories. She also brought a long history of backcountry travel – on foot, on bicycle and in kayaks – to the trip, and
decades of living, researching and working in Canada’s far north.

Auyuittuq National Park: Baffin Island
Akshayuk Pass in Auyuittuq National Park: dreams, myths, landscapes, wild, remote and sacred. In August 2022 3 Kootenay denizens hiked through the Akshayuk Pass on Baffin Island. This is
the story of why we went, how we got there, what we experienced and what we learned. Akshayuk Pass is part of the last true remote wilderness on the planet. Situated on Baffin Island,
this place is defined by tundra, stark landscapes, the tallest rockfaces on the planet and harsh unpredictable weather. Even the best-planned hike through the valley can turn sour at a moment’s notice. Impatience or overconfidence have led to injuries and death in the valley. The closest rescue team with a helicopter is in Jasper, Alberta, 3,255 km away. The area is a nexus for adventurers from all over the world. Rock climbers, mountaineers,
hikers, ski tourers, fat bikers, all sorts of adventurers have travelled to this remote corner of the world to test themselves and try their limits in this harsh and unforgiving but most beautiful ofplaces.
We came with the modest but still challenging plan of hiking the pass from north to south – approximately 100 km of travel by foot through bog, over moraine, across icy rivers – over the
pass. We were treated to the spectacular landscape of the massive rockfaces, cascading waterfalls, glaciers and mountain slopes covered with flowers and blueberries. We were
challenged by icy glacier-fed rivers and bolder-strewn climbs. We learned about the value of being on this land – connected with the unique tensions
between abundance and scarcity. We gained a deeper understating and respect for the Inuit people who call this place home and who were our hosts as we trekked on their territory. We
learned to appreciate the rigours and challenges of life in that beautiful and forbidding place.

Kirsty Exner:
I am a long-term local Rosslander who grew up skiing Red Mountain, which turned out to be an amazing
stomping ground and pivotal part of where and how my life’s path unfolded. In my 20s, I competed on the Freeskiing World Tour, achieving two silver medals in World Freeride Finals in Alaska. After a major crash leading to a big injury, I then judged a few subsequent freeskiing competitions and started up my own Women’s Freeride Camps at Red Mountain that I hosted and coached for 10+ years. I currently coach private high-end adult ski lessons through the Red Fall Line Sports. I am an avid ski mountaineer and enjoy the big, long adventures that involve getting to the top of big peaks and skiing big technical
mountain lines. I am also physiotherapist running my own practice in Rossland and I am the proud
mother of two ripping shredder daughters!
I am honored to be a part of this year’s Film Fest and be presenting a slide show on the recent adventures I have been on. I’ll be showcasing some slides from a few of the trips that have really stood out to me. There was an article written by Val Rossi on one of the bigger descents – the North Summit chute of Mt Brennan. We skied the sustained 45-50 degree 1500m chute in Apr 2021. I am the first woman known to ski this line
and we were the 4th group ever to ski it. There are some other equally exciting big lines we’ve skied in the last few years that I’ll be showing as well.
See the article published in “Freya” magazine called “45-50 degrees” in the Fall 2021 edition on me
skiing the North Summit Chute of Mt Brennan