MARYLENE SAVAGE (Head Chef)

Mary’s passion for food started at a young age. It was a tradition in her family, and still is, to make jams, pies and tourtieres in the fall for the holiday season. She also remembers looking at her mom’s cookbooks in her spare time and spending hours at the library looking at pictures of decorated cakes in the pastry section.

Mary’s chef’s career started at a backcountry ski lodge, where she was thrown in for a week of catering to replace a friend. She was hooked. She decided to attend a renowned culinary art school in Montreal and learned all about French cuisine. She brought those skills and techniques back to BC and continued her training at luxurious wilderness resorts, notably the Relaix & Chateau establishment Clayoquot Wilderness Resort on Vancouver Island and Nimmo Bay Heli-Fishing Lodge in the Great Bear Rainforest.

Mary as now been a professional chef since 2008 and specializes in cooking in remote settings creating wholesome healthy food made from scratch. She now focuses on working at small backcountry ski lodges in the winter and on boats doing expedition eco-tourism cruises in the summer on the West Coast of BC.

Mary focuses on using local, seasonal and sustainable ingredients as much as possible. She tries to keep things simple by using the natural flavors and freshness of the food. She is constantly amazed by what she doesn’t know about food and is exited to continue the exploration.

Mary lives in Slocan, BC with her husband and son, where they grow a lot of their own food and enjoy adventures in the local mountains.

STEPHANIE VEROT (Chef Steph)

Growing up in Quebec skiing has always been a part of Stephanie’s life. As the daughter of a renowned ski instructor Stephanie learned to ski at a young age. Helping her father with the ski school in Quebec she perfected the eastern technique for skiing fast on hard, ice-crusted snow. Once she visited Western Canada Stephanie fell in love with the big mountains and the soft deep powder conditions here in BC. Stephanie has called Rossland BC home for the past 26yrs where she skis at Red Mtn with her family and now teaches her girls how to ski.

Stephanie has a long resume of cooking for hard working folks in the backcountry. She has cooked at numerous backcounty ski lodges and for remote tree planting camps across BC. Stephanie also runs a catering business in Rossland. With most of her culinary career focused on catering for tree planters & skiers she knows the importance of serving healthy meals that will energize you for big days out in the mountains. She also puts a great deal of effort in sourcing locally grown & fresh seasonal food.

Stephanie brings great energy to our trips, her smile & laugh is contagious, her food is super tasty and she may even share some tips for perfecting your parallel carving turn! With Chef Steph looking out for us we are always in good hands!