GUIDES & PILOTS
Our heli guides have been chosen not only for their guiding skills and certification, but also their enthusiastic and outgoing nature. They are professionals who are members of either the ACMG (Association of Canadian Mountain Guides) or CSGA (Canadian Ski Guide Association), and the CAA (Canadian Avalanche Association). They all have advanced first aid training and are trained in mountain rescue.
CHRISTIAN BAK JENSEN
Originally a flatlander from Denmark, Christian discovered skiing on a holiday to Norway and has had the ski bug ever since. While working as an electrician on oil rigs he skied all over Europe, but had Canada on his 'hit list'. Once he hit it in Canada there was no going back. After spending three full winters here he decided to stay and start a new life in Nelson, BC. Christian has guided ski touring and cat skiing locally and is excited to join the Snowwater team this winter. On his time off he likes to explore local valleys on snowmobile for good ski touring.
TYLER TOEWS
Tyler has been roaming and exploring the hills and mountains of BC's interior as long as he can remember. Growing up in Vernon BC he started snowboarding at Silverstar mountain in the late 80's. His love for the mountains brought him to the kootenays 11years ago where he landed in the dream job working for Valhalla Powdercats. Having worked there from the beginning Tyler has done just about everything for Snowwaters sister company. From shoveling snow, answering phones, and cat driving to now, where he is a lead guide.
In the summer Tyler has been building his company Canadian Murals and has painted numerous large scale murals across Canada. CanadianMurals.com
PATRIC MALONEY
For most of his life Patric has been skiing and exploring these mountains. In 1993 he and friends built a small ski touring cabin, which later became Snowwater. As a forester, his mapping and layout skills have greatly contributed to the selection of prime ski runs in the tenure area. He is also a professional tree climber and arborist and has been harvesting seed for reforestation for over 20 years, contributing to our carbon offset.
In November of 2009, Patric became a certified sommelier. Needless to say, the wine selection at Snowwater has take a huge leap forward. Patric pairs every dinner at Snowwater with a selection of fine wines to choose from. Patric is a crowd favorite. When you are skiing with "El Presidente" you will definitely be shown the goods. Recently Patric obtained his pyro-technics ticket. What does that mean for you? FIREWORKS!
MARIA GRANT
Maria (pronounced "Mariah"), has been with Snowwater for 14 years. She is an assistant ski guide and oversees the business management of both Snowwater and Valhalla Powdercats in the off-season. After getting her BA at McGill University, she moved out west where she quickly realized that the seasonal lifestyle of forestry worker in the summer would afford her the opportunity to ski all winter long. She has worked as a canoe trip leader, wilderness first aid instructor, forestry worker, and ski patroller, where she met Patric. Certified by the CSGA and CAA, she is also a telemark and alpine level II ski instructor.
JOSH SLOOTWEG
Josh has worked with Valhalla and Snowwater since the beginning of our inception. Born and raised in the Slocan valley, Josh is as local as you get. Ski touring the Valhallas since his early teens, Josh knows our playground like the back of his hand. Now a lead CSGA ski guide, he knows all the best lines in our terrain. The only thing Josh loves more than skiing - is fishing. A doting father of three, and can be found fly fishing the local rivers with every spare second he has.
HEATH LOCKHURST
Heath moved to Nelson in 1993 in search of more snow then what lake Louse had to offer. Spending the last 20 years exploring the Kootenay Mountains by snowboard, snowmobile, and mountain bike has given him a great knowledge of the areas within. Heath started guiding in 2000 and has worked with many of the top pros in the business. Showing guests a great, safe time is what it’s all about for Heath. He is super stoked to be with the Snowwater/Valhalla team and is looking forward to showing you the goods this winter! In the off-season he is busy with this wife and three kids, coaching soccer, mountain biking and camping.
KEVIN ACRURI
A Born and raised Nelson Boy Kevin grew up skiing at the local Ski Hill Whitewater, has a love for the snow, has spent year’s snowmobiling and ski touring all around Mountains he loves to call home. Kevin started his ski guiding career in 2000 and prides himself on making sure people have an awesome experience in the mountains. He has worked at various cat operations over the years and spent the last 5 seasons as an owner/operator of Retallack Lodge. Kevin is super excited to join the Snowwater/Valhalla Team and can’t wait to go explore the mountains with you.
KAURI HOWELL
Born and raised in the Kootenays of beautiful British Columbia, Kauri has spent most of his life in the great outdoors. Skiing the bottomless Kootenay powder in winter, rock climbing and mountain biking in the summer keeps him busy year-round. After 10 years as a Ski Patroller at Red Resort, he moved on to Ski Guiding, and he has worked as a guide for the last 10 winters. Kauri is a certified faller, and makes his summer living glading ski terrain, or other bush-work. Also a keen traveller, Kauri has seen most continents and has climbed in Europe, guiding and mountaineering within South and North America.
JEFF BROWN
Jeff comes to us from Blackcomb helicopters as a heli ski pilot with over 11 years of heli ski specific experience. He has been a pilot since 2000, having worked and lived in the Yukon for 8 years. He has a wife and two young daughters and when he’s not flying – he’s fishing. He has been a fly fishing guide/pilot at Nimmo Bay for years. We are excited to have him on our team.
ANDREW MURDOCK
Andrew joins us from Whistler this season. Andrew has been flying for 15 years. 7 of those full time with Blackcomb Aviation where he flew for Heli-skiing, SAR, Ski Hill Operations, Fire Suppression and Power Line work.
Andrew is also an avid skier. He worked full time as a Blackcomb Mountain ski-patroller for 7 years and is still a part-time patroller in his free time and has been since he began full time work with Blackcomb Aviation.
Staff
JAMIE HUYNH
Jamie grew up in the suburbs of Toronto, Ontario. In his early 20's he made the journey out west to beautiful Bristish Columbia. Upon his completion of the Culinary Arts program at Vancouver Community College, Jamie was recruited by Fairmount Hotels. He was an opening team member of the new luxurious Fairmount Pacific Rim located in downtown Vancouver, BC. He then went to work at Hawksworth Restaurant, Vancouvers gem of fine dining. Here he would learn the foundation of his cuisine, and acquire the skills needed to excel in his chosen profession. Jamie has worked in the U.K. following his dream to work in a Michelin Star environment. He has followed his sense of adventure and moved to Australia to work and explore the world. He has spent multiple months eating his way through South East Asia, here he made a deep connection to his Vietnamese heritage. He was also a contestant on Food Network's Chopped Canada were he competed on national television. He has experience working in some of the most remote and beautiful places in BC. Most notably Nimmo Bay Wilderness Resort and Clayoquot Wilderness resort. Now Chef Jamie brings all those experiences and is passion to SnowWater to provide our clients with his unique style.
THOMAS RENDER
We are thrilled to have Thomas back as our corporate chef at Snowwater. Thomas comes to us with years of high experience at notable places like the naramata Hertiage Inn and Spa,Hastings House, Relais and Chateaux, saltspring Island and Langdon Hall, Relais and Chateiax Cambridge Ontario. He is not only a certified Red Seal chef, but a certified Chef de Cuisine as well. His specialty is using local ingredients, organic meat and produce, and bringing flavours to the forefront of every meal. DO ao few extra sit ups this fall - you'll want to eat everything put in front of you this winter!
LINNEA TOURNEAU
I worked with Jamie about 5 years ago while in the kitchen at Hawksworth restaurant and again this past summer at Clayoquot Wilderness Resort. I love the outdoors and travelling, which has taken me to live abroad for the past 3 years, working in kitchens in France and Australia. Now I am looking to see what beautiful BC has to offer and what better place to do so than in the Kootenays.
MILES PUNDSACK-POE
Miles grew up in Ontario where his passion for good food started from cooking around the camp fire. Miles further developed an inquisitive love for sustainably grown food from working in community gardens and on organic farms. He went to the Stratford Chefs School and after working under some of the best chefs in Ontario decided to expand his knowledge with work abroad. Miles spent a year in Spain before settling in Northern California’s, Napa Valley. After chaising his Michelin dreams for 5 Years, Miles is ready to see what the Britch Columbian wilderness has to offer and is excited to be working with such a passionate team at Snow Water.
SEAN NOBILI
I was born and raised in Rome, Italy, I moved to Canada about four years ago and for the last two I have been in BC.
Home is what gave me the passion for cooking and Canada is what gave me the opportunity to learn and evolve. Like most people in the restaurant business I started as a dishwasher and made all my way up to where I am now. Working in such a great environment under a knowledgeable chef like Jamie it's almost like a dream coming true and I take a lot of pride in that, the same pride that will push me to do better and better every day.
ALEXANDRIA STEELE
Alex has now become an inextricable part of the snowwater administration team. She is in charge of all things financial - and we couldn't do it without her! Alex came to us from Ontario where she worked at a family owned golf course. As an avid snowboarder, she is stoked to be a part of our team! She has a business degree and a diploma in accounting - she is the perfect fit for our office in guest services and administration.
CALLI CHATTEN
"Callie from the Valley" is excited to join the team at Snowwater and apply her skills as a massage therapsit. With a passion for playing in the mountains, she is stoked to get steeper and deeper in the back yard and join the Snowwater team. Callie has a background ranging from pottery to industrial construction, and loves rock climbing, rafting, and traveling.
JEFF KENNEDY
Born and raised in Edmonton Alberta, Jeff has followed his love for the backcountry into the heart of the Kootenays where he is on his way to graduating from the Ski Resort Operations & Management program at Selkirk College. After graduating in the spring, he hopes to continue on following his passion for deep snow for many years to come.
JULIA CAMPBELL
Originally from Ontario, Julia has followed her passion for snowboarding and has returned to the Kootenays after recently graduating from the Ski Resort Operations and Management course at Selkirk College. When off her snowboard, Julia enjoys riding her horse through the mountains and finding new adventures. With her outgoing personality and goofy sense of humour Julia is excited to start her first season with Snowwater and meet all of you!
STEPHANIE HAINES
Originally from Montreal, Steph made the move out west when she was 19, and never went home. After spending a couple of winters in Lake louise, she made the move to Kelowna. Over the last 10 years Steph has worked as a CASI level 3 instructor, the BC provincial development slopestyle coach and a competitive snowboarder. During the summer she works at Cedar Creek winery. Snowwaters combined reputation for excellent terrain, top notch hospitality, and their diverse wine collection is what lead her to join the team. Steph spends all of her free time, snowboarding, touring, climbing and riding motorcycles.
STEPHANIE DACRE
Stephanie grew up in the suburbs of Vancouver, but spent every weekend of her childhood chasing interior powder at her family cabin in Sun Peaks BC. She works as a freelance web developer while travelling as much as possible between seasonal jobs. She’s spent the last two summers at Clayoquot Wilderness Resort just outside of Tofino, and is incredibly excited for her first season at Snow water. She’s been hearing of ‘Kootenay powder’ for years now...and can’t wait to get a taste of it in Snow waters backyard!
MARIE-FRANCE
Marie-France grew up in Montreal, but has been calling BC home for some years now. She has a bachelor’s degree in archaeology from Simon Fraser University, and has been enjoying the seasonal lifestyle that allows her to split her time between snowboarding in Jackson Hole, and surfing in Tofino. Besides those passions she enjoys traveling the world, trying her hand at guitar, working on her van which she often calls home, and dreaming of one day living on a ranch. She is looking forwards to working in Nelson this winter.
MELISSA CATAFORD
Melissa Cataford, is a Nelson born and raised local with an eccentric list of experiences with her massage work ranging from pets to palliative care and everything in between. Most of her work started as volunteer studying under RMT Christine Sutherland in the area. She's ecstatic to be blessed with a blissful winter job in the mountains covered in snow crystals. Travelling for three years with her massage work, Melissa has adapted to and adopted many forms of massage and energy work. She also has a line of elixirs working with plant medicines and loves to spend her time in the forest rain or shine for the views and wild plant foraging.
Cody Odie
Born in the small hamlet of Sherwood Park Alberta, Cody made the move out to the beautiful town of Nelson BC in 2014. When he's not exploring the vast mountain ranges or enjoying the white sand beaches you can find him creating unique hand crafted cocktails behind the bar. Being a life time snowboarder his job at snowwater is a dream come true, his big smile and high energy seem to make you feel comfortable the second you walk in the door.
