Mark grew up in Crescent Spur, but it was not until he began guiding in southern British Columbia that he recognized the heli-skiing potential of the mountains surrounding his home. He and co-founder Regina worked together at Selkirk Wilderness Skiing near Nelson. In 1982, they purchased the family property from Mark’s mother, Elizabeth, and began transforming his childhood home into a heli-ski lodge.
Early heli-hiking trips helped Mark and the team explore and learn the surrounding mountains. After Crescent Spur welcomed its first heli-skiing guests in the winter of 1992, summers became a time for building and expanding the lodge. Mark completed much of the construction himself, with help from local tradespeople and, at times, members of the guiding team.
Today, the 1,300-square-metre lodge has 18 private ensuite guest rooms and sits on the original property along the Fraser River, surrounded by approximately 240 hectares of fields and forest in the Rocky Mountain Trench.