 Born in the
southern interior of British Columbia, Steve's exposure to the grandeur of the forests,
lakes and mountains began early. The son of an avid sport fisherman, family vacations were
spent camping and fishing throughout the backcountry of the Monashee and Purcell Mountain
ranges. He gained his first driver's licence in a Dodge 4x4 Power Wagon. As a member of
four wheel drive clubs, he competed in off road competitions and other events, building
sound foundations in vehicle control, driving techniques, safety and for preservation of
the environment with "Tread Lightly" driving techniques. He developed superb
mechanical diagnosis and practical roadside repair skills. University took him to Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia. He graduated with a solid understanding of Canada's physical landscape processes with a degree in Physical Geography. During his time at S.F.U., a major Canadian mining company hired him on a southern BC wide exploration program. This project involved traveling every backroad in vast areas of southern BC, some of it at the end of a winch cable. His career has spanned 20 years of travel in some of the most remote terrains of northern and western Canada and South America. Steve supervised reconnaissance field geological crews in northern Chile in the mid 1990s. Supervising a fleet of 25 Nissan 4x4 vehicles specially equipped for work in the Atacama Desert and the high Andes, his work took him through terrain where roads do not exist and access is possible only with outstanding vehicle control and judgment. Reconnaissance trips through remote areas of northern Argentina completed his tenure in South America. His return to Canada in 1996 saw little exploration work being done in British Columbia. His projects took him to the islands of the High Arctic. This was too far from his family and the province he loves. Developing custom safaris was a concept that became possible in 2000 when Steve moved his family from the corporate and urban world of Vancouver for the trees and fresh air of the Okanagan Valley. Steve has been a spokesman for exploration to schoolchildren giving classroom talks and hosting geological workshops for kids. The interest expressed by the kids and their parents reinforced the need to provide exposure to British Columbia's vast natural landscape to more people. Steve conducts EarthFoot's Custom Safaris in British Columbia experience. |