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Korthals bursary receives $16,000 boost

Pemberton's Raven Backcountry Festival will award in memory of fallen ski guide
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A bursary in memory of Lisa Korthals received a $16,000 boost from the Raven Backcountry Festival. Facebook photo

The Lisa Korthals Memorial Bursary got a major boost from a brand-new backcountry festival.

During the inaugural edition of Tourism Pemberton's Raven Backcountry Festival in Pemberton on Feb. 7 and 8, organizers collected roughly $16,000 for the bursary, which helps women aspiring to start their mechanized ski guiding careers. The total amount raised was announced on March 28, the two-year anniversary of Korthals' death in an avalanche while guiding near Pemberton.

Vlad Lamoureux of the Canadian Ski Guide Association (CSGA), who organized the GoFundMe for the bursary starting in 2018, said the donation goes a long way to help the fund reach its $50,000 goal. As of April 3, the GoFundMe, online at gofundme.com/f/Lisa-Korthals-Bursary, had raised $21,671 on its own.

"It's going to ensure the viability of this bursary for a long time," he said. "We don't want it to be a flash in the pan. We don't want it to be three years, four years and then done."

Lamoureux said that he and his fellow ski guides notice Korthals' absence constantly.

"It seems like it's been longer [than two years]. We miss her everyday," he said. "She's still in the forefront of our minds."

Pick up the April 16 edition of Pique for more.