The third-annual Kootenay Outdoor Recreation Enterprise (KORE) summit is right around the corner and this year's event is gearing up to be the biggest and best yet. This year's event runs from October 3-4 at the Kimberley Conference Centre. "Powder" Matt Mosteller, Board Chair with KORE, said there will be over 350 people involved with this year's Summit.
"I am so proud of the KORE Community of Craft Outdoor Gear makers, KORE volunteers, Executive Director, Kevin Pennock, and the Board Members as we had crazy big goals from when started KORE and this crew just continues to shoot for the moon," Mosteller said in an email to the Bulletin. "As Canada's first outdoor craft gear alliance, we continue to see growth in outdoor craft gear being made in Kootenay Region of British Columbia, we host Canada's biggest outdoor gear industry Summit. This year's Summit is next level, with a top drawer speaker line up, a myriad of workshops from outdoor industry experts, and so much more.
" According to their website — koreoutdoors.org — this event is the only conference in western Canada dedicated to the outdoor rec-tech manufacturing and product design sector. The Summit itself is on October 3 and 4, but there will also be an optional "Explore Kimberley" day on Oct.
5 available to anyone who'd like to get out and experience the city. "We are so excited to have this Summit in Kimberley so everyone can connect here and experience this wonderful community. We are also very grateful for incredible support of PacificCan for supporting the KORE Summit," Mosteller said.
The Summit consists of a wide range of workshops and key-note presentations from outdoor industry experts including Arc'teryx Research and Experimentation manager Cam Stuart, Basecamp co-founder Jenna Celmer, Far West and Valhalla Pure Outfitters founder David Harley and many more. There are numerous opportunities for networking in between workshops and numerous outdoor activities including trail running and climbing following Friday's schedule. "The KORE Summit was my single best networking and professional development event of the year," said Cam Shute of Dark Horse Innovations.
"Such a great variety of content and attendees made it a very worthy way to spend a couple of days. Also, it was so fantastic to spend time in Kimberley and be so close to great recreation opportunities." The optional Explore Kimberley day features a ton of options to experience everything Kimberley has to offer, from golf at Purcell and Trickle Creek, trail running at the Kimberley Nordic Club, a hike at Mussers Plateau and rock climbing at Spirt Rock Climbing Centre.
The optional day also has a free tour called "Invest Kimberley-Cranbrook," with the idea being to give attendees the chance to see what these communities have in terms of potential economic development. While Kimberley is beautiful all year round, it has a special allure in the autumn and guests will get the chance to experience the stunning larch trees and perfect fall weather we enjoy here. There is a great deal of new programming this year as well, including an outdoor campfire network and gathering event, courtesy of Kuma Outdoors.
On the afternoon of Oct. 3 there is the Outdoor Connect event, featuring numerous outdoor activities, featuring a trail run presented by Purcell Outdoors, climbing presented by Spirit Rock and a group mountain bike ride, put on by the Kimberley Freewheelers and supported by Black Dog Cycle and Ski. Registration is still available and can be found by navigating to the registration tab on the link provided above.
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