January 7, 2025
Found in “Community news”
Our annual MEC x POW Season Opener event has always been one of our favourite events, and our celebration this year didn’t disappoint. In partnership with Arc’teryx, our all-out celebration of winter with athletes and climate advocates took place at MEC stores across Canada. We watched epic films and talked with POW athletes, all while enjoying ski waxes, drinks, tunes and prizes from our friends at Osprey and Arc’teryx.
With an epic 1,228 outdoor enthusiasts joining us across nine events across the country, together we raised over $43,000 for Protect Our Winters Canada in the fight against climate change for a better planet.
“Farming Turns” with Chris Rubens
At this year’s Season Opener event, we watched an impactful film by professional skier and POW Canada athlete Chris Rubens called “Farming Turns.” The film explores how a life-changing expedition changed Chris’ perspective on our rapidly changing climate. It follows Chris’ journey in becoming an organic farmer to foster a more sustainable community and connection to the mountains.
We sat down with Chris at the event to chat about the film. Here’s what he had to say:
Q:
Tell us about how and why you got involved with POW Canada?
Chris:
This is the easiest, simplest and possibly most effective way to be a climate athlete. The bigger the membership the more power in lobbying the government for systemic change in our systems. This is by no means the end all be all of environmentalism and I'm personally a huge advocate of individual change but I'm proud to be part of such a great organization.
Q:
What was the driving force for you wanting to change your lifestyle and make changes to reduce your emissions?
Chris:
The outdoor environment that I have had the privilege to play in. I have had so many incredible life experiences and opportunities from a life spent outdoors. I'm a firm believer that spending time in nature makes us better people. All this being said, we are having a drastic effect on nature and I want future generations to enjoy the things that I have. Curbing our carbon footprints is a necessity for this to continue.
Q:
What was the hardest part about changing your lifestyle and remaining a professional skier?
Chris:
The hardest part is the first step of trying to change. The shame spiral that we go down can be pretty dark and depressing which isn't always the best at motivating us to do something. Once I made that first step and committed to some goals, everything got easier. It felt right to be trying to do something better no matter how small it is. This did make me say no to a lot of trips and ideas, but it also gave me opportunities into different trips and ideas.
Q:
What advice do have for others looking to make an impact?
Chris:
I mean the most basic thing that you can do that could have a huge impact is signing up to be a POW member, it is literally free. When they go to Ottawa to lobby for a better environment the more numbers they are representing, the more impact they have talking to politicians. This seems like such a minor thing, but it really is the starting point. From there I would highly encourage making small individual changes no matter how big or small. This starts putting climate change in a positive light instead of always negative. Having positives encourages us to do more instead of feeling negative which often leads to no action.
Q:
How has being a father influenced your values around climate and sustainability? What does living in line with your environmental values look like?
Chris:
My son Huxley is two, and it doubles down on what I want to do here. It’s pretty cool to see the world through a little two-year-old’s eyes. He’s stoked about our farm, as it’s an amazing place to live.
Now I’m invested in the future, and I want him to have as many opportunities as I did, if not more, and bringing him into this world makes me want to work harder.
I have two retirement plans right now. First, Huxley’s going to grow up and he’s going to love the farm and he’s going to take over the farm. Or the second, he’s going to hate farming, get a real job and feel sorry for his parents. Either way, I think it’ll work out.
Q:
Having grown up with a father in the oil and gas industry—an industry that has contributed significantly to Canada’s prosperity and is often seen as a source of national pride—how did this background shape your views on energy, the environment and the urgency of transitioning away from fossil fuels? In what ways did these early experiences influence your journey toward becoming a climate advocate and organic farmer?
Chris:
There’s no doubt that my upbringing, my privilege of being able to ski, came from oil and gas and there’s nothing wrong with that. We’ve also made a movie called “Beyond The Green Veil,” which is all about old growth logging in BC and it’s very much the same idea.
If we go after the workers of these industries, they’re going to fight our efforts to make change, because if you come after my job, I’m going to fight you, because that’s how I put food on the table. I think that villainizing workers is absolutely not the right answer. We need to bring everyone along with us. A lot of that mentality came from my dad and hearing his stories and seeing the other side of it. There are really two sides to this, and we can do better with everybody.
Join the fight
This economic report from our friends at Protect Our Winters Canada highlights the importance of outdoor recreation for Canada’s economy. Dave Erb, Executive Director of POW Canada estimates Canada’s outdoor recreation economy to be at over $101 billion annually and has discussed the need for climate action to protect these vital spaces.
Want to help out? You can send an email to the five Canadian political party leaders and their team to protect our favourite natural (and snowy) spaces that we love.
You can also become a member of POW Canada for free to join the fight.
Shoutout to volunteers and sponsors
We also want to give a great big THANK YOU to our incredible volunteers and sponsors from Arc’teryx and Osprey for helping make our Season Opener event as epic as it was.
Special shoutout to our friends at Backcountry Brewing, Rally Beer, The Straight & Narrow, Eighty Eight Brewing Co. and Boréale for providing tasty drinks, as well as Salomon, Rossignol, Baffin and Smartwool for sponsoring the sweet prizes for attendees.
Catch you on the mountain!
