Events

Date: Wednesday April 22nd, 2026
Time: 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Location: Evergreen Lounge, Filberg Centre, Courtenay
FREE TO ATTEND

Event Details: SWI will hold its Annual General Meeting on April 22nd in the Evergreen Lounge of the Filberg Centre at 7:00 pm in conjunction with a presentation by Eryn Tombu-Haigh on her ascents of all 53 of the “6000 ft” Peaks on Vancouver Island.

Strathcona Wilderness Institute is a not-for-profit organization whose essential role is, in partnership with BC Parks, to serve as an interface between the Strathcona Wilderness and the general public. We are a non-membership society, and so we invite members of the public with an interest in Strathcona Provincial Park to attend our AGM, since its purpose is to present our Annual Report to the public, as well as to elect the Board of Directors for the coming year.

With our mission to inspire awareness, appreciation and stewardship of the Natural World through research, education and participation, we schedule interpretive hikes and workshops, and oversee research projects in the Park, including the SWI Data Collection Project on iNaturalist. We also provide the public with information about the Park at our two “huts” each summer in Strathcona Provincial Park, at the Paradise Meadows Trailhead and at Battle Lake. All our activities are carried out by VOLUNTEERS and SUMMER STUDENTS (with funding from the Canada Summer Jobs program and BC Parks Foundation).

We invite former and potential volunteers to attend the AGM and learn more about SWI’s work, accomplishments and plans for the upcoming year. We always welcome volunteers to staff our visitor centres and participate in our educational programs, thus ensuring the continuation of what we have achieved in the past. Please put your names forward! Moreover, anyone who loves Strathcona Park and would like to contribute a little of their time to the organization of SWI’s many activities should consider becoming a director. We have two vacant spaces on the Board. Nominations can be made in advance or from the “floor”.

OUR GUEST PRESENTATION

The presentation will feature Eryn Tombu-Haigh illustrating her personal quest to climb all 53 of the 6000 ft peaks on Vancouver Island. Eryn grew up in a rural community, hiking everywhere, without particularly focussing on mountains, but the attraction of open, uninhabited spaces with limitless views, drew her higher and higher, so that she eventually discovered she had in fact climbed all but five of the 53 peaks. It therefore made sense to complete the remaining few, which she did by 2022. Through her photos she will share her experiences on many incredible trips. And now her passion for climbing has been picked up by her seven-year old son, Caleb, who accompanied her on an ascent of the Golden Hinde last summer, and so their climb together to the top of the Park’s highest peak will also be featured in this presentation.