Trail user profile: Erin Kubian

Erin Kubian likes to joke that one of the creative hobbies she’s acquired, since moving to the Columbia Valley at the age of 3 in 2003, has been underwater basket weaving.
“I’m kidding,” she says, then adds “but you do need to find your own things to do to keep yourself entertained. Invermere isn’t like a city where you can just go out and easily find things to do.”
After growing up in the Columbia Valley, Erin has learned to keep herself busy with a variety of outdoor activities and sports.
“I like being active,” says Erin. “I believe it plays an important role in your mental health and being happy.”
Erin loves sports. In one day, she’ll bike 30 km and then decide to hit the gym later that evening.
When she was younger, Erin was active with the local swim and cross country ski teams. As she grew older, her interests shifted and she now mainly enjoys soccer, climbing, and biking.
One passion that has always remained constant in her life, however, has been hiking. “It was my dad who taught me to hike,” she says.
Earlier this year, she brought her passion abroad with her when she traveled to South America. While she was there, she did several hikes and camped often.
One thing she noticed in the communities she visited, however, was the lack of other peoples’ activity. “I saw a lot of places where fitness wasn’t a huge thing. I think that when you make it a priority in your life, generally everyone’s a little bit happier and a little bit healthier.”
Erin is helping her community to do exactly that by working as one of the trail ambassadors on the Markin-MacPhail Westide Legacy Trail this summer. “I enjoy the physical fitness aspect to the job, of course,” she says. “But I like that I get to promote that activity for the rest of the community.”