Renowned wilderness guides lose homes, equipment in Jasper fire

A call is out to aid two Canadian adventurers whose lives have been upended by an unprecedented fire in the Alberta national park

Brothers in arms: Ryan Titchener (left) and Jimmy Gillese. Photo: Ryan Titchener

There’s a custom at Columbia Insight board meetings called Mission Minute. This is when board members share things they’ve done or experiences they’ve had outside the boundaries of official Columbia Insight business that nonetheless connect them to CI’s mission. Taking part in an organized litter collection event or just going on a hike to reaffirm one’s bond to the natural environment are examples. I didn’t conceive of the weeklong raft trip I recently took in British Columbia as a Mission Minute. But it ended up providing a powerful reminder of the personal impacts of the wildfires that have become so distressingly commonplace in our part of the world. —Editor

By Chuck Thompson. August 1, 2024. One of the pleasures of extended backcountry trips is unplugging from the world. In the wireless wilderness you remain happily unaware of major events. You might worry about things at home, but then you return and realize the world has gotten along fine without you.

Usually.

On July 26, veteran Canadian adventure guide Jimmy Gillese returned from a six-day rafting expedition through British Columbia’s remote Chilcotin wilderness to learn that while he’d been away the house he and his wife had been in the process of building was completely destroyed by the massive fire that swept through the town of Jasper in Alberta, Canada. Just prior to the trip, he’d taken the final draw on a building loan to complete the new house.

The largest blaze ever recorded in Jasper National Park—it’s expected to burn for the next three months—has destroyed at least half of the historic town of Jasper’s 1,113 structures. Gillese’s wife and three children, between two and seven years, were among the more than 20,000 people safely evacuated.

Over the course of the Chilcotin trip, the irrepressible Gillese emerged as a favorite among guests. Supremely gifted on the water, he was also the guide who rallied the troops on a rainy day on the river with songs and a dead-on Mitch Hedberg routine.

One evening, Gillese and I sat in front of my tent talking until late. After years of guiding visitors around western Canada—skiing, climbing, kayaking, rafting—Jimmy purchased Stellar Descents in 2013, an adventure travel company specializing in backcountry ski trips and whitewater rafting. Under his hand, the small business rapidly built a loyal following.

Then Covid hit. With the U.S.-Canada border closed for 19 months, bookings dropped 500%.

In 2022, he made the painful decision to sell his company.

On the final night of the Chilcotin expedition, guides and guests sat in a circle sharing favorite moments from the trip. Gillese’s contribution was characteristically optimistic.

“Each of us has a different background, but we’re all here because we love the river and cherish this environment,” he said of a group from four U.S. states and three Canadian provinces. “That common ground is so important.”

On the job: Veteran guide Jimmy Gillese instructs a young paddler on British Columbia’s Chilko River. Photo: Chuck Thompson

Gillese is also a longtime safety consultant and instructor for rafting companies and guides. By extension he’s contributed to the secure returns of untold thousands of adventure travelers. When the leader of our Chilcotin trip sustained a nasty foot injury, Gillese was the one to jump for the first aid kit, pull on surgical gloves, stop the bleeding and dress the wound.

The Jasper fire didn’t just obliterate homes.

It destroyed career collections of camping equipment, climbing gear, bikes, kayaks, rafts and supplies.

ROAM Adventures—the B.C.-based company Gillese was working for when his house burned down—has set up a GoFundMe page and offered housing and other assistance to Gillese, as well as to another renowned, Jasper-based adventurer, Ryan Titchener, who also lost everything he owns in the fire, including a $10,000 sit-ski and custom kayak.

Titchener, a top Rockies climber who survived a horrible climbing accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down, “has been pumping out sit-ski and kayak missions to show others what you can do despite disabilities,” according to ROAM Adventures founder Brian McCutcheon.

“So many are scared to go back and see what really happened,” Titchener told me this week. “Fear might be a mile wide but it’s only an inch think. We will rebuild.”

Guests on the recent Chilotin trip have set up a separate GoFundMe page to aid Gillese.

The hope in both cases is that the outdoor community will step up to help a pair of brothers who have given so much to the outdoor community.

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