Welcome to Nootka. The wild west coast of Vancouver Island, Canada—a sprawling mess of inlets, rainforests, and world-class surf. In the summertime, the region swells with tourism… an outdoorsman's paradise and a widely known secret. In the fall? Things slow down to just the right rhythm—and the locals take advantage. 


We linked up with Raph Bruhwiler, Canada’s first-ever pro surfer and owner of Ground Swell Adventures, to show us the ropes around Nootka Island, alongside Canadian surfer and snowboarder, Caley Vanular. Impromptu helicopter rides, diving for sea cucumbers, plucking oysters, and a few bear encounters later—and you’ll see how these locals really lean into the off season.

 

 

Get to Know Caley

During our visit to Nootka, we had the chance to sit down with Caley to learn a little bit more about her life up in B.C. and how she found herself traveling all over the world for surf and snow. From living out of a board bag to navigating career-ending injuries and a male-dominated industry to launching a successful business—check out Caley’s story below.

 

 

Not So “Fragile”

Hunting down waves in coastal B.C.—where the water temps average high forties in the off season—requires pretty thick skin (and an even thicker wetsuit). Chasing snow around the world to rip new lines down the world's largest mountains—with nothing but gravity and instinct to guide you—takes guts. And founding your own business takes a whole lot of grit.

Athlete, creative, and entrepreneur, Caley Vanular, is no stranger to taking risks. The pro snowboarder didn’t land sponsorships or a dream career by playing it safe and tucking in for a ride on the path of least resistance. Instead, she zig-zagged her way into a successful creative and athletic career—hitting a few speed bumps along the way, which, in Caley’s case, turned out to be full-on launching pads.
 
Caley grew up in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, where daycare and ski team are often one in the same. She strapped on her first snowboard at age five, earning her way into freestyle ski competitions over the next few years. After showing serious potential, her dad went all in on her snowboarding dreams and got a place up in Whistler—and that’s when she really leaned into the sport.

 

Snowboarding is still relatively new, and in the late ’90s and early 2000s, very few women were competing in the space. So Caley didn’t have many examples for how to navigate the sport as a young, teenage girl. But that didn’t deter her from showing up to competitions, even if it was only the same small group of women trading podium spots every time.

After a few years competing and hoping to earn a brand sponsorship, Caley blew out her knee. The recovery from a torn ACL is long and tedious, so she took her drive and channeled it full-force into a creative career. As an AP art student, she’d always loved storytelling, photography, and the outdoor space—and she was determined to pull from each of those passions moving forward.

She already had one foot firmly planted in the snowboarding scene, so she used her connections to land a social media gig with Canada’s biggest action sports company. She quickly went from marketing skate/snow brands on Myspace to pitching full-blown ski trips around the world. By the time her knee had healed, she was landing one-off brand deals to go on these incredible backcountry ski trips to capture footage. Not a bad pivot.

The injury may not have been ideal, but it led to some pretty spectacular opportunities for her. Her brand deals and backcountry videos had started to earn her some serious recognition across the sport. Even though it may have happened several years later than she’d originally planned for, she finally got that full sponsorship.

Over the past few years, she’s put more of her creative energy into starting her own brand from the ground up—a natural skincare and sunscreen brand called FORAH. She considers it the perfect amalgamation of all of her passions.

Today, Caley finds herself on the road far more often than at home—whether it’s for work, a shoot, or chasing powder and waves with friends. She jokes that she lives out of her suitcase—which happens to be a board bag, the word “FRAGILE” spray painted across it, with everything she could ever need for any climate tucked inside… Including a 6’ 9” toy boat shaped by Trevor Gordon, that she calls her “magic board.”

She owns a home in the epic four-season playground of Nelson, B.C. She rents a spot in Vancouver. When we met up with her on Nootka Island, she had just flown in from another surf trip in Baja. After Nootka, she had plans to fly to New York, Montauk, then back to her apartment in Vancouver. Busy lady. 

While she’s certainly busy with travel, she’s very intentional about making time to connect and to appreciate every opportunity that comes her way. When we invited her to join us at Raph’s Ground Swell lodge, she immediately jumped at the chance. As a Canadian boarder, Caley was very familiar with Raph—Canada’s first-ever pro surfer—and riding waves with him and his family around Nootka Island had been on her bucket list for a while. 

While getting to know the Bruhwilers, Caley and Aqua bonded through shared experiences. Aqua is navigating a lot of the same life things that Caley juggled as a young boardsports athlete; competing in a male-dominated industry and a creative career in modeling. Caley’s been there—and while she didn’t have many examples of her own, she’s more than motivated to help guide the next generation of women in boardsports.

Throughout the entire Nootka trip, Caley had her film camera on her the whole time. She currently has a few commercial directing projects in the works, but even when she’s off the grid, she’s always shooting, creating, and finding inspiration. Her always-on drive has landed her some pretty incredible opportunities, including her three properties and a lifestyle most could only dream of. 

When we wrap up the trip, she packs everything back into her giant board bag, the one with “FRAGILE” spray painted on it. There also happens to be a cheeky smiley face spray painted on the other side. Just like Caley, her board bag seems to take everything in stride—hopeful it will arrive on time at the next destination, wherever that may be. But even if it doesn’t arrive exactly when it’s supposed to, it’ll get there—eventually.