Season opener and premiere of Farming Turns at MEC Vancouver.Chris Rubens is a renowned Canadian backcountry skier known in the ski community for heli-skiing remote regions worldwide. Recently, Chris surprised the ski world by transitioning from heli-skiing to sustainable farming, purchasing a plot of land in Revelstoke, BC.
Chris’s shift began in 2016 after a trip to Greenland to film the documentary Guilt Trip. In the documentary, he and a team of athletes travelled to Greenland to explore its dramatic landscapes while confronting the environmental cost of their journey.
Reflecting on the film, Chris said, “The premise of it was that we brought a climate scientist to alleviate our guilt from flying to Greenland. But…we’re very transparent about it; like, we’re not saving the world by doing this.”
Guilt Trip sparked a response Chris hadn’t anticipated. “The big turning point for me was on the movie tour… particularly when we took it to Toronto and New York… People were genuinely surprised that we had seen the effects of climate change.” Seeing the audience’s reaction made him realize how disconnected people were from the visible impacts of human caused climate change. This response served as a wake-up call, igniting Chris’s commitment to reduce his carbon footprint and inspire others to do the same.
After the release of Guilt Trip, Chris and his partner Jessie, who has a degree in environmental science began talking more seriously about climate change and his role as extreme athlete. As Chris says, “She encouraged me to make changes and helped guide me in the right direction.” The combination of Guilt Trip, Jessie’s influence, and the COVID-19 pandemic gave Chris the motivation, knowledge, and time to take action.
During the season opener hosted by POW (Protect Our Winters) and MEC, Chris premiered his new film Farming Turns, where he takes his first big steps toward changing his lifestyle to align with his new perspective. In the film, Chris embarks on a road trip in an EV to explore the best backcountry ski spots in the Pacific Northwest. Along with reducing his carbon footprint by using an EV, he also chooses not to use helicopters to access mountaintop locations— a common practice for professional skiers. Instead, he hikes for hours to reach these unique destinations.
That was just the beginning for Chris, who then started looking for a plot of land to begin farming. With no experience in farming, Chris shares how he acquired his first plot of land: “Our first plot was actually closer to a quarter acre. We were renting a basement suite, so we’d harvest, then bring everything back to wash in the driveway. It was grassroots, but it worked.” With the support of the Revelstoke community, Chris now owns and operates 2.7 acres of sustainable farmland and sells produce at local markets.
Despite the growing concern for climate change in BC and around the world, Chris maintains an optimistic attitude, saying, “I don’t think guilt is a good motivator… I always get a bit bummed out on people that go down the environmental path and then they judge others.” Chris emphasizes that his film isn’t meant to evoke shame or fear; on the contrary, he hopes
it inspires viewers to understand that a step in the right direction is still a step, no matter how small.
Chris uses a powerful metaphor to describe his personal battle with climate change: “When you’re at the bottom of a mountain looking at the top, it’s almost impossible to imagine how you can make it to the top. But, if you say, ‘Okay, let’s go for an hour and then have a snack break, and go another hour,’ and so on… Eventually, you’re halfway up the mountain, and it doesn’t seem that bad.”
