A tasty collab between artist Chili Thom, Backcountry Brewing and POW.
Words :: Leslie Anthony
Hard to believe, but some climate-change news can be uplifting, hopeful—even tasty. Such is the collaboration between Squamish-based Backcountry Brewing and the estate of celebrated Whistler artist Chili Thom, a collaboration that brings together craft-brew industry sponsors and a loyal, beer-forward community to raise funds for Protect Our Winters (POW) Canada—an environmental charity advocating for policy solutions to climate change.
“Chili lived and breathed the outdoors, as is obvious in his art,” says close friend and business manager Nora Clarke. “And POW is something he would have thrown his entire weight behind, so it felt like a natural pairing.”
Ben Reeder, marketing director at Backcountry Brewing agrees: “As we continue to see wilder weather, it makes sense to raise funds in Chili’s name for a charity fighting to protect the natural environment.”
It’s a fight Chili was always up for. Back in October of 2012—when raising your voice against reckless resource exploitation was still cool—dozens of Sea to Sky folk attended a massive protest in Victoria against Enbridge’s proposed Northern Gateway pipeline to BC’s North Coast. The group’s bus rocked with creative signs, costumes and the energy of commitment. Thom, whose personal credo—”Your experience in nature depends on how you choose to position yourself within it”—led the charge, amped by an expedition that year to the Great Bear Rainforest with some 50 other Canadian artists looking to give visual voice to BC’s fragile coast.
The “Art for an Oil-Free Coast” experience further opened his eyes to the deep harm we were doing the planet. “Nature has given me a lifetime of inspiration,” he offered in an interview. “But there comes a point where you have to look inside and ask, What am I willing to sacrifice [for it]?”
A few hours of protest didn’t seem like much, but four more years of staunch opposition from British Columbians actually worked: On November 28, 2016, the feds killed the ill-advised pipeline and enacted a tanker ban on BC’s North Coast—a victory that buoyed Thom’s journey to the other side when, two days later, he surrendered to a battle with cancer.
A few hours of protest didn’t seem like much, but four more years of staunch opposition from British Columbians actually worked…
On the heels of that loss, Backcountry started an annual tradition of launching a beer featuring Thom’s art on the can to raise money for cancer research. In 2023, the partnership with POW was established, “driven by a shared commitment to building POW’s momentum in the Sea to Sky region to support educational and advocacy efforts in the fight against climate change,” says Arianne Dufour, director of development and partnership for POW Canada, which boasts more than 40,500 members. To date, the collaboration has raised more than $24,000.
“Backcountry isn’t going to stop climate change,” Ben says, “so our goal is to help an organization with potential impact like POW increase membership to have more power to lobby government.”
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POW membership is free and the Backcountry collab makes signing up easy. Each year, both the formula for Protect Our Winters Pale Ale (PA) and the artwork it comes in gets a reboot. This year’s PA is a hazy version with artwork titled “Green Burst”—a bit of a graphic departure for Thom that still features his snowy and beloved “Chili trees.” A dollar from each four-pack, $.50 from each tasting-room sleeve and $50 per keg is donated to POW—along with money raised from the sale of Thom art prints and label stickers. There’s also a launch party to look forward to—beer, tunes, dancing… and more beer.
“The collaboration [with Backcountry] has always felt unique and fun, as it pulls from so many different things we feel would be important and meaningful to Chili,” Nora says. “He was always stoked on supporting a local business, and the energy Ben and his crew bring to marketing their beer is so fun, chaotic and weird, it would have been right up Chili’s alley!”
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