Mountain Muskox Elk Valley Offers Support After Mountain Trauma

Mountain Muskox Elk Valley is bringing professionally facilitated peer-support meetings to Fernie for people affected by accidents, near misses, loss and other trauma in the mountains.

The free monthly circles are designed for people whose connection to the mountains has been changed by a difficult experience — whether they were directly involved in an accident, lost a friend, witnessed an incident or experienced a frightening near miss.

The organization takes its name from the muskox. When one member of a herd is threatened, the others close ranks around it, creating a protective circle.

That same idea is behind Mountain Muskox: mountain community members supporting each other while professional facilitators help create a safe place to talk, listen and reconnect.

The Elk Valley chapter will hold its circles in Fernie, led by local facilitators Natasha Black, Registered Clinical Counsellor; Tyla Mackay, psychologist; and Jordan Vlasschaert, Registered Clinical Counsellor.

One of the non-profit’s two-day intensives in Bow Valley

Meetings include a group check-in, a learning topic and optional discussion. There is no pressure to share, and participants can take part at their own pace.

Mountain Muskox emphasizes that the circles are peer support, not group therapy. They are intended to complement individual counselling and other supports rather than replace them.

Mountain Muskox was co-founded by ACMG alpine guide Sarah Hueniken after the death of her friend Sonja Findlater in a 2019 avalanche at Massey’s Waterfall near Field, BC.

Hueniken later realized that people do not need to have experienced exactly the same mountain accident to understand the difficult journey that can follow.

Near misses, fatalities, rescues and the loss of friends can all change how people relate to the activities and mountain communities that were once a central part of their lives.

That shared experience is at the heart of Mountain Muskox.

As Hueniken explains, peer support can help people slowly reconnect with their mountain community and recognize they still belong — even while going through a difficult time.