Abby Wilson

Artist. Author. Hiker. Mountain enthusiast.

Abby Wilson is an artist, author, adventurer, and serious lover of the West Kootenay mountains. She’s the creator of West Kootenay Hiking, a go-to local resource for exploring the trails around our corner of BC, and author of West Kootenay Hiking, a guidebook featuring 77 hikes throughout the region.

Hiking is also at the heart of Abby’s art. She takes inspiration from the landscapes she explores, creating bright, bold acrylic paintings that play with the shapes, lines, and geometry of the mountains. Her work is a beautiful reminder that getting outside isn’t just about where you go—it’s about how you see the place when you get there.

On Saturday morning at 9 AM, Abby joins us for a casual conversation about hiking, exploring, art, and the places that inspire her. Expect stories, local knowledge, favourite trails, and plenty of reasons to get outside and look at the Kootenays a little differently. Pull up a camp chair, grab a coffee, and get to know one of the local voices who knows these mountains so well.

Camp snack of choice: Orange Chocolate Campfire Brownies. Because even serious hikers deserve a good reward at the end of the trail.

Yash and Alsaba are the travel storytellers behind Tanned & How (@tannedandhow). Originally from India, they've also called Tanzania, Sudan, Sri Lanka, and now Canada home, nurturing a lifelong curiosity for discovering places through their people, food, and culture.

After moving to Canada, they discovered camping and road trips as a whole new way to experience their new home. What began as weekend exploring eventually became an 8,500 km RV journey across the country to celebrate becoming Canadian citizens. Along the way, they learned that some of the best travel stories come from slowing down, sharing meals, and saying yes to unexpected adventures.

Today, they share honest stories, practical tips, and lessons from the road - encouraging others, especially newcomers and first-time campers, to explore with confidence and find a deeper connection to the places they visit.

At Backcountry Table, Yash and Alsaba will share that journey as part of our Story Telling Sessions on Saturday with their session: New Canadians to Campfire Stories, exploring how RV travel helped them feel at home in Canada. On Saturday they will also bring their love of food to a camp cooking demonstration, recreating a favourite meal from their cross-country adventure and sharing practical tips for making simple, flavourful Indian-inspired meals while camping or travelling.

Adam Olipinski is a 30-year-old chef originally from Montreal who recently made the move to the Kootenays. He is passionate about everything related to the outdoors and the arts, and spends as much time as he can exploring nature and being creative and active. Cooking over an open fire is one of Adam’s favourite ways to bring those passions together.

Creating memorable culinary experiences for friends and guests is one of the things that brings him the most joy. There's something incredibly rewarding about gathering people around a table, cooking with intention, and sharing food that sparks conversation, connection, and lasting memories.

At Backcountry Table, Adam will take participants from catch to plate in a hands-on tip-to-tail fish session. He’ll walk through what to do once you’ve landed a fish—from gutting and cleaning it, to preparing, cooking and finally plating it up. It’s a chance to learn the practical skills that turn a fresh catch into a great meal, and to make the most of the fish you’ve worked to bring home.

Christine Pearson is a Nelson realtor and former pastry chef who knows a thing or two about making good things from scratch. Before making the move into real estate, Christine built a career around baking and hospitality, including time as Pastry Chef at Seasons in the Park and as the owner of Wild Flour Bakery & Sunfish Cafe.

These days, Christine spends her working hours helping people find their place in the Kootenays, but her love of baking has never gone away.

At Backcountry Table, she's bringing her professional kitchen experience back to the camp kitchen for a hands-on session on Sunday morning celebrating the art of backcountry baking because everything tastes better when it comes fresh from the oven (aka CAMPFIRE) and is enjoyed outside.

Chef Dara Gellman is a lifelong food explorer and enthusiastic outdoors person. She's passionate about creating and cooking plant-based recipes both in the kitchen and out in the world, in her local park, during a mid-hike break, on the beach, or at her favourite provincial park campsite. Dara loves discovering ingredients and inventive ways to use them, and sharing food around a table, a fire, or under a tarp with family and friends. Dara approaches life and eating with gusto, and deeply believes in the magic of food and nature to bring people together. She is the author of DaraEats.com and a regular contributor to publications such as Harrowsmith magazine. You can also find her at @_daraeats on Instagram.

At Backcountry Table, Dara will bring her love of simple, delicious outdoor cooking to two hands-on sessions. In Vegetarian Tapas for the Outdoors, she’ll put a plant-forward spin on classic Spanish small plates, sharing easy recipes designed for cooking and sharing outside. In Outdoor Cooking Helpers: Ingredient Show & Tell, Dara will dive into the clever pantry and shelf-stable ingredients that can make backcountry meals faster, more flavourful and a whole lot more exciting. Come hungry, curious and ready to steal a few ideas for your next adventure.

Her recent favourite camp snack/meal is a vegetarian "cubano" sandwich. Come to Dara’s session to ask her about it!

Denis Leblanc is the founder of No6 Coffee Co., a boutique roastery and tasting bar in Nelson built around exceptional coffee, thoughtful roasting and community. A creative and designer at heart, Denis is passionate about making things and making them work well.

At Backcountry Table, Denis will bring that same curiosity and hands-on approach to the backcountry, teaching you how to roast your own coffee beans using simple camp materials, dial in your perfect roast, and brew a seriously good cup wherever the trail takes you.

If you love coffee, you’re going to want to pull up a chair for this one.

Josh and Vanessa are the husband-and-wife duo behind Destined for Wild, a BC-based adventure and storytelling project inspired by their love of travel, the outdoors, and life on the road.

Their adventures have taken them far beyond the familiar, including an epic journey down the Pan-American Highway from Canada to Argentina and back. Along the way, they’ve learned plenty about travelling slowly, living simply, navigating the unexpected, and finding ways to make a life built around adventure actually work.

For their Saturday Storytelling Series session, Josh and Vanessa will share the stories behind the miles: the highs, the challenges, the lessons learned, and the realities of making life on the road happen. Expect an honest, entertaining look at what it takes to trade the conventional path for a life of exploratio and what they’ve discovered along the way.

And because no good road trip happens without good food, they’ll also share a taste of life on the road. Their go-to meal? Veggie quesadillas with refried black beans. Josh is all about Nutella, veggies and hummus, while Vanessa leans toward chips and salsa or a classic PB&J.

Storyteller Jayme Moye is an award-winning adventure journalist and one of the outdoor industry’s most recognizable voices. She has written more than 1,000 stories for leading print and online publications, earning dozens of awards along the way. Her work focuses on mountain sports and culture, adventure travel, and environmental conservation.

Jayme has co-written two books about mountain sports, and her stories have appeared in several anthologies, most recently The Best Women’s Travel Writing, Volume 13, published in June 2026.

Nelson locals may know Jayme from the Headwaters Podcast, where she tells stories about the creative people, spectacular places, unique issues, and innovative thinking that flow through British Columbia’s Kootenay region. She also hosts Whitewater Mountain Resort’s annual Stories to Tell event and founded the Nelson Adventure Speaker Series, which brings outdoor luminaries to town to share stories that inspire, entertain, and connect the community.

At Backcountry Table, Jayme will lead our Storytellers workshop and competition, helping participants find and share the stories behind their adventures. She’ll also host a Sunday morning coffee & talk with Marianne Abraham, backcountry chef and contributor to the Whitewater Cooks book series, exploring the stories, people and food culture that make mountain communities so special.

Jayme’s fav camp meal is a wood-fired pizza!

With a background in Forestry and Biology Lindsay Bunce is the adventure-seeking, nature-loving, botanical-minded, cocktail enthusiast behind Bitters & Purl. With each carefully crafted concoction, she focuses on fresh flavours, simple ingredients, and drinks that feel a little more connected to the forest and a little less like a bar menu. When she's not mixing delicious drinks, Lindsay facilitates strategic sustainability and climate action projects at Simon Fraser University. She is a fan of delicious food, clever design, and good dogs.

At Backcountry Table, Lindsay will lead a Forage & Cocktails / Mocktails session, inviting you to connect with nature and discover how the plants and flavours around us can inspire a great drink. Learn how to turn simple foraged ingredients into a camp-friendly cocktail or mocktail guaranteed to impress your camp buddies at happy hour.

Lindsay’s fav camp go to snack: CHEESE CHEESE CHEESE!

As an outdoor educator and enthusiast, Lauren Kessler (aka Lolo) is passionate about the natural world and the sense of connection, peace and rejuvenation it can provide. Growing up, she spent much of her free time skiing, biking, hiking, camping and gardening, eventually realizing that being outside wasn’t simply a hobby—it was fundamental to how she connects with herself, others and the world around her.

Lolo has spent her career helping others learn and grow, from working as a nanny and daycare employee to becoming a summer camp counsellor, ski instructor and public-school teacher. She brings that same spirit of curiosity, play and connection to her work in the outdoors.

At Backcountry Table, Lolo will invite participants to slow down and connect with nature in a new, calming way. Through a meditative nature walk and guided meditation, she’ll encourage us to leave the go-go-go at the campsite, tune into our surroundings and make space to simply be.

Come ready to wander and reconnect with the forest in a whole new way.

Originally from the UK, Marc Ramis spent much of his career in the health and fitness industry, developing a deep understanding of exercise for health, performance and strength while mentoring fellow trainers and coaches. Since moving to Canada in 2013, he discovered yoga and quickly came to appreciate its ability to build flexibility, mobility and balance in ways traditional training never could.

For Marc, yoga has been a practice of healing, mental clarity and—occasionally—humbling reminders that there’s always room to grow. Today, he brings that blend of strength, mobility and mindful movement to his work and life in Nelson.

At Backcountry Table, Marc will lead morning yoga in the forest on Saturday and Sunday, offering a chance to stretch, reset and start the day feeling good. Bring your mat, or simply show up ready to move.

Marianne Abraham has been cooking in beautiful places for 25 years, with a particular love for the Kootenay mountains and the wild BC coast. Her cooking journey began in the film industry before she started her own catering company in Nelson, eventually finding her way into the backcountry, where she’s spent more than 20 years cooking in remote lodges and aboard charter boats.

She’s also been part of the team behind the beloved Whitewater Cooks cookbook series, helping bring the flavours and spirit of the Kootenays to kitchens far beyond the mountains.

A true Kootenay girl, Marianne spends her time outside whenever she can, enjoying the endless ways to explore the region year-round. She lives on Kootenay Lake with her dog Moose and cat Max, and loves having her extended family close by.

Marianne will be joining Jayme Moye for a Sunday morning coffee side chat to talk recipes and cookbooks.

Her favourite place to cook? Somewhere beautiful, preferably with a little adventure required to get there.

Lil’ Mikey

Mountain driver. DJ. Comedian. Radio host. Professional instigator of good times.

If you’ve ridden a Whitewater shuttle, caught a ride around Nelson, heard Lil’ Mikey’s Cry Bébés on Kootenay Co-op Radio, or stumbled into one of his DJ sets, chances are you already know Mikey. A familiar face in the West Kootenay community, Mikey has a knack for bringing people together, making them laugh, and turning an ordinary gathering into something a little more memorable.

For Backcountry Table, Mikey is putting that particular talent to work as the creative mind behind Saturday’s “Mmm: Morsels of the Moment” … a mountain-top appetizer hour and potluck-style mingler designed to celebrate the weird, wonderful and delicious things people make when they get together.

Expect good food, questionable puns, unexpected morsels and plenty of reasons to raise a glass. Because when Mikey is involved, the gathering is always at least 20% more fun.

PS - it’s also his BDAY weekend so don’t be shy to say happy birthday!

Shiree Worden is a lover of the outdoors, a librarian, and someone who is always planning her next meal. When she’s not working with information—organizing it is genuinely her jam—you’ll likely find her out on a motorcycle adventure with her partner, camping in the Kootenays, enjoying a good meal, or curled up with a book.

She loves gathering with people, whether it’s around a campfire, at book club, sharing a snacklebox with friends at the beach, or simply hanging out and goofing off. For Shiree, good food, good conversation, and community are what make time outdoors even better. You can find Shiree wrangling our speakers, volunteers and hosts throughout the weekend.

Her favourite camp treat? A salty snack and a glass of wine, especially after a long motorcycle ride.

Simon Barna is the Head Brewer at Nelson Brewing Company, where he spends his days turning hops, malt, yeast, and a little Kootenay magic into award-winning beer.

Born in a mountain town and inspired by the adventures around him, Simon knows that beer somehow tastes even better after a day outside. At Backcountry Table, he’s bringing that brewing knowledge into the backcountry for a relaxed beer tasting and a few brewer’s tricks for making your camp beer experience even better. Check out his brewers talk & tasting 530pm on Friday Sept 11.

He’ll share his favourite tips for enjoying and pairing craft beer with camp-cooked meals, plus a little insider knowledge from behind the brew kettle.

His perfect camp pairing? Good food, cold beer, and a mountain view.