If you haven’t already noticed we love the mountains … like a whole awful lot. We have seen first hand how climate change has & continues to affect the beautiful forest and mountains that surround us.

We have been brainstorming on how we can get involved in climate action and then we came across the blue green planet project.

This project aligns with Stay Wild Backcountry’s values and is one small step in the direction of the huge mission to save our planet.

Read below to find out more about the Blue Green Planet Project, what happens when you register for a course with us, how climate change has affected our avalanche cycles and what steps we can take together to create a healthier planet.

The BGPP focuses on reforestation by planting native tree species in areas ravaged by wildfires and pest infestation.

The cool thing about these projects is that they are on degraded lands with no legal obligation for tree planting. Looking back at our record heat and forest fires over the past couple seasons that is a lot of forest that is not required to be planted. Thanks to the Blue Green Planet Project we are now seeing trees go in the ground in these areas.

Alright, I know you are already like ‘rad this project sounds great’… but it gets even better! BGP Projects are planned and implemented in collaboration with First Nations, indigenous groups, forest experts and communities. They work closely with First nations when planning their projects and create jobs and skills training opportunities (such as management positions) for local first nations.

Okay so you may be sold on the Blue Green Planet Project but you are probably wondering why we are telling you about this? Have we quit avalanche training and gone back to tree planting … goodness no, we are getting too old for that!

We have partnered up with the Blue Green Planet Project and are committed to plant one tree for every course registration and swag sale we receive.

We have set a goal to plant 500 trees over the 2022 / 2023 winter season!

Stay Wild will review the number of trees planted at the end of the season and cover the difference between our goal and trees in the ground to reach 500.

That means that you are not only getting educated about the backcountry but also supporting reforestation & being apart of climate action.

We feel extremely grateful to get to recreate where we do and see the magical places that surround us.

We have seen first hand our glaciers shrinking, deforestation and the effects of extreme weather events on our snowpack.

It has certainly made avalanche forecasting a much more challenging task with huge storms coming in followed by unseasonably warm temperatures to unseasonably cold. Our snowpack doesn’t like sudden changes and the last few seasons have showed up with every sudden change we can imagine. Going from +2 to -20 within 24 hours is something that appears to be happening more regularly & is constantly in the front of our minds on how this affects our snowpack.

Wet avalanche cycles only being in the spring time seems to be a myth of the past with regular pineapple expresses rolling in with warm temperatures and heavy precipitation either as snow or rain.

I am sure we have all seen first hand some of our favourite backcountry areas getting hit by wildfires. This creates the perfect environment for Surface hoar growth & we can see once heavily treed areas become sparsely treed as dead trees fall over.

The list of changes we have seen over the years is a long one that could go on for pages. Climate change is something that does affect our snowpack and avalanche cycles. As it continues to change we need to be diligent on adjusting our decision making & taking a step back as we assess how the snow pack reacts to these ever changing weather events.

We have committed to the Blue Green Planet Project as well as being more conscious ourselves. Thinking about the climate crisis is overwhelming and downright depressing.

We are trying to focus on the steps we can take and hope that if everyone does the same we will be better off. Composting, gardening, recycling, conscious of what companies we support and products we purchase are just a few of the personal accountability items we have set forth for ourselves.

We encourage you to do the same! Do some research, set some goals and be conscious of how your decisions affect the environment. We are certainly not over here wagging our finger telling you to stop having fun (we love having fun!), maybe there are some ways you can change your habits to produce less waste, support sustainable brands etc.

We are certainly not experts in this area and by no means want it to appear that way. If you have ideas or collaborations we would love to hear from you! Shoot us a message with your ideas or simply just ways you have been able to green up your life!

To read more about the Blue Green Planet Project click the logo below. We hope that you take the time to breath in the magic and beauty of the mountains & forest that surround us. Think back to those special moments when making decisions that affect our climate & remember what we are fighting to save.