Beyond Boarding has set off on another adventure – ‘Cycle to the Sacred’ is a bike tour that aims to generate financial and social support for a group of indigenous land defenders, the Klabona Keepers, in the Sacred Headwaters of British Columbia.
The tour will take place over the course of one and a half months, between July and August. “Our goals with this tour are to raise $25,000 to stand in solidarity with the Klabona Keepers, to bring attention to the beauty and culture that pervades British Columbia and how it is at risk,” says Beyond Boarding Co-Founder Landon Yerex.
“We will be coming to 100 Mile House on July 28th and Wiliams Lake on the 30th of July.”
Klabona Keepers is an organization of Tahltan elders and families who occupy and use traditional lands near Iskut, British Columbia known as Tl’abāne, the Sacred Headwaters of the Stikine, Nass and Skeena Rivers. Thousands of people from the northern interior to the coast depend upon the health of these three watersheds for their livelihood and for the well being of their families and communities.
“The Sacred Headwaters continue to be at risk,” adds Yerex. “Without Tahltan consent, the government has given an exploratory permit to Fortune Minerals, a mining company with a plan to turn Klappan Mountain into an open-pit anthracite coal mine, 4000 hectares in size undoubtedly causing irreversible destruction of a vital ecosystem and gem of BC.”
Beyond Boarding co-founders, Desiree Wallace and Landon Yerex, will be biking the entirety of the route while co-founder, Nicole Kilistoff, follows in a support vehicle converted to run on waste cooking oil. They will be raising funds through an online fundraising platform and hosting film screenings of Beyond Boarding’s independent documentary, Northern Grease, which features the Klabona Keepers to raise awareness and money along the route. The film features professional level snowboarding, cinematography, and storytelling, and promise to hold audience attention throughout each evening of the tour. Alongside the fundraising the team will be documenting stories of indigenous land defenders across the province as well as the landscapes they are protecting through photojournalism and videography.
“Beyond Boarding is an organization dedicated to spreading interest and passion for humanitarian and environmental activism within the outdoor community. Their goal is to encourage snowboarders, surfers and other self-propelled athletes to channel the positive energy inherent to our sports in ways that genuinely help the people and environment in the world.”