Kain’s legacy lives on in book reprint

By Pat Morrow

Conrad Kain Society

The name of mountain guide Conrad Kain is no stranger to those living in the Columbia/Kootenay valleys, and to much of the mountaineering community across Canada.

Thanks in part to the efforts of the Conrad Kain Society (based in Wilmer), and the fourth edition printing in 2009 of his biographical book “Where The Clouds Can Go,” Kain’s legacy of exploration in the local Purcell and Rocky Mountain ranges has provided an insightful glimpse into the past not commonly found in other sources about our region.

Kain’s book sold out a few years ago, and in May of this year its publisher Rocky Mountain Books will issue a reprint. Four Points Books, the store in Invermere that carries tomes about nature and outdoor adventure in addition to a range of other subjects, will be stocking the book once available. 

Owner Grant Hofer says, “Books like this from local authors help us to learn more about the beautiful place that we live in – both the history and how to enjoy it (and care for it) today.”

To help promote the reprint, on April 28 at 7 p.m. at Edgewater Community Hall, Pat Morrow (chair of the Kain Society) will be giving a revised version of the audio visual show he has shared over the years with audiences in Invermere. He has also presented the show to teenagers in high schools from Creston through Golden during recruitment for the Bugaboos Teens climbing program offered through the Society.

Admittance will be by donation, and proceeds will be shared by the community hall (Edgewater Recreation Society) and Edgewater Seniors. A nice local tie-in is that organizers of the slide show, Barb Neraasen and her sisters, are grand-nieces of Kain’s wife Hetta. And Barb served as secretary to the Kain Society since its inception.

Physical reminders of Kain’s contribution to the geographical knowledge of our mountains can be found in stylish interpretive panels at overlooks near Brisco, Radium, Invermere, in the Wilmer Community Hall, at the Conrad Kain Climbing Wall at J.A. Laird school, and inside the Conrad Kain Hut in the Bugaboos (with thanks to Brian Patton for the text). They can also be admired in a permanent display of artifacts and photos housed in Invermere’s Windermere Valley Museum, in geocaches in Wilmer, Invermere, Radium, the Bugaboos, Banff and Canmore (several thousand visits to date), and on the website conradkain.com.