Our Team

EJ went into kayaking by starting to play kayak polo in 2004. From there, he was hooked on kayaking and has since been on many trips ranging from short weekend to 3-week kayaking trips in Europe, BC and Mexico.

EJ has been a kayaking instructor for 12 years and has been running the kayaking school and operations at Ecomarine and now Jericho Beach Kayak for the past years.
He loves kayaking as a sport but he also loves that kayaking can be a vehicle to discover oneself, to grow, and to build connections, whether it is to the outdoors, to each other, or to oneself. Running the Operations and the School at Jericho Beach Kayak for EJ is as much about kayaking as it is about the community and about supporting new staff and instructors in their development. As a member of the 2SLGBTQAI+ community, EJ is especially passionate about EDI and is actively working towards creating a welcoming and inclusive space for both staff and customers.

Outside of work he loves to kayak as well and loved to take his 3 young kids on trips around BC. Being able to discover beautiful places in the wilderness that are only accessible by boat, camp on serene beaches, listening to the ocean while falling asleep, watch and enjoy the wildlife, as well as playing in rough waters and testing his skills and boundaries is what continues to draw him onto the water over and over again.

Mika is a Vancouver native and is in her third year of Civil Engineering at UBC. She hopes to eventually combine her passions for engineering and the ocean and work in the field of coastal engineering! She is starting her fifth season as a tour guide/instructor at Jericho Beach Kayak and is joining for the second year as assistant manager. In her spare time Mika is VERY passionate about playing ultimate frisbee in the VUL (Vancouver Ultimate League) as well as hiking, camping and playing the ukulele.

This is Alex's fifth year with the team at Jericho Beach- in her opinion the most fun and welcoming place in the city. As a Level 1 Paddle Canada Instructor, she enjoys teaching a variety of skills programs, as well as bridging fun and exploration-based paddles for youth. Additionally, she is involved in the bi-weekly Social Paddle events, where she appreciates a mix of new and familiar faces.
A few favourite paddling locations under her tow belt include oyster-filled Desolation Sound, mangrove forests in Belize, and the dramatic changing landscapes of Bowron Lakes.
No matter who you are, or what your experience is, Alex believes that the joy found on the water is unparalleled- even in a city with as much access to nature as ours.

Cara was born and raised in Vancouver and the Gulf Islands in a very boat-loving family. She has been sailing and kayaking since before she could see over the gunwales. The VSB’s outdoor education program TREK piqued Cara’s interest in the outdoor industry and she joined JBK as a Youth Camp Coordinator in 2020.
As well as kayaking, Cara is a lifeguard, enjoys a good book, and competes provincially and nationally in nordic skiing for Hollyburn XC Ski Club’s race team. She is graduating from Kitsilano High in 2021 and is looking forward to a post-secondary life that will involve outdoor adventures, skiing, and eventually studying Journalism and Humanities at Ottawa’s Carleton University. She’s sure that the West Coast and the Salish Sea will always be home, though!"

Chris Ladner was the owner of Ecomarine Paddlesport Centres for 27 years. He began his paddling career in 1973 with his own homemade skin on frame kayak. Since then he has been on dozens of kayaking trips on the British Columbia coast, a few of over a month long. He has also organized kayak trips to the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Fiji, Cook Islands, Australia, New Zealand, Cayman Islands, Bahamas, and Holland.

Chris has a background in sporting goods design, manufacturing and distribution. He teaches kayaking skills regularly and is a Paddle Canada Level Two Instructor, Level One Instructor Trainer with Level Four Skills. He can often be found hanging out in the waters of English Bay. He loves to share his passion for paddling.

Deanne moved to Vancouver 2 years ago and she has loved being a part of the sea kayaking community at Jericho Beach Kayak as a paddler. She is looking forward to her first season as a staff member and sharing her love of kayaking with others. Deanne enjoys skiing (both cross country and downhill), hiking, backcountry camping, and exploring nature. A fun fact about Deanne is that she is working towards her Master's in Education Leadership and Administration with an Outdoor Cohort group!

Georgia grew up on the North Shore and spent summers as a child playing in the waters of the Southern Gulf Islands. She fell in love with kayaking in 2001 while whitewater paddling in New Zealand, and began instructing for Paddle Canada in 2008. Georgia loves sharing her passion with others, and along with teaching kayaking she also teaches high-school Social Studies/Geography. Georgia spends as much of her free time as possible outside SUPing, multi-day kayak touring, biking, hiking, and enjoying the natural world.

Madison is a middle school teacher and moved to Vancouver from Montreal three years ago.
Since moving to BC, she loves spending time exploring the outdoors, whether it's hiking, paddling, skiing, or simply enjoying the beauty of nature. She also enjoys crafting in her spare time.

Malcolm is a recent graduate of Capilano University’s Outdoor Recreation Management Diploma. After growing up in Vancouver's surrounding area, he found a love of the outdoors and especially kayaking. This will be Malcolm’s second season with us, and first year taking on the role of rentals manager. If you don't find him in our hut or on the water, he will be spending his time in a tent somewhere in BC.

Mark only began paddling in 2021, but it has taken hold and become a huge part of his life!

Named one of the Globe and Mail's "Canadian Arts Heroes of 2020" for his pandemic leadership and community building, Mark's work centres on connection, community and innovation. Mark is also the Composer-in-Residence at Mountain View Cemetery and Managing Artistic Director of Little Chamber Music, and is best known for his 2010 album Aim for the Roses and the 2016 feature length musical docudrama of the same name by John Bolton.

Mike started paddling in the summer of 2016. Sea kayaking quickly became a major passion. Current Credentials: Paddle Canada Skills L-4, Paddle Canada Instructor L-2, Paddle Canada Rolling Instructor. You can find an ongoing series of kayaking videos on his YouTube channel: youtube.com/mmcholm1

Natalie is finishing up her undergraduate degree in Political Science and French Literature at UBC and moved to Vancouver four years ago from Hood River, Oregon. In her spare time, she loves staying active outside by hiking, backpacking, paddling, and climbing. In the summer especially, she loves watching the sunrise or reading at the beach, and even brings her cat with her! With a love of the outdoors and a passion for ecology and environmentalism, Natalie is very excited to be returning as a Basic Instructor and Youth Camp Manager at Jericho Beach Kayak!

Philip has been messing about in small boats since he was a kid, and got into sea kayaking in the late 1980s, long before it was trendy. (He likes to imagine he helped make it trendy.)
Over the years, Philip has paddled on the Great Lakes, the eastern and western Canadian Arctic and through Norway’s beautiful Lofoten Islands. He’s also paddled most of the Inside Passage between Vancouver and Alaska on the installment plan, often on multi-week solo trips.
Philip runs westcoastpaddler.com, an online community for sea kayakers of all experience levels, especially those from BC, Washington, Oregon and Alaska. He also blogs about kayaking, kayak sailing and kayak mods at philiptorrens.com. You can follow him on Instagram, where he’s kayakwriter.

As a Kinesiology student at UBC who was raised in BC, Rhia enjoys kayaking as a way to combine her passions for physical activity, movement, and the outdoors. Because she grew up participating in and coaching sports like figure skating and sailing, she is excited to be spending her first summer at Jericho Beach Kayak working with students and running camps.

Rho is a Master’s student at UBC researching honey bee health. Her affection for outdoor adventure and the ocean brought her to kayaking.
Her favourite part about JBK is the community it fosters - from co-workers to our paddlers.
When she is not beekeeping she likes to backpack, bike, read, and cook vegan food. Rho is excited to return to the kayak hut as a basic instructor after spending a season with the rentals team.

Kayaking:
- Grounds me
- Connects me to nature and beautiful places
- Helps me unwind

I can relax while being physically active
AND I absolutely love to infect my students with the “KAYAKING BUG"

Rose has a deep love for the ocean and has been exploring that environment since childhood. In the past she travelled to warmer waters and instructed surfing in Australia before returning to Vancouver. Due to the lack of local waves, she began sea kayaking instructing in 2012. Since then, Rose has worked as a director, manager and instructor in various outdoor recreation and education organizations. She has had the privilege of supporting people to achieve personal and professional goals and is excited to help you achieve yours. During the last decade, she also enjoyed exploring the BC coast by kayak, most memorably in 2015 when she paddled with her partner from Bella Bella to Port Hardy one rainy September.

Born and raised in Egypt, Shahd spent her summers growing up by the ocean, where she developed a love for being in the water. Shahd's favourite activities include baking, reading, watching Netflix, and spending time outdoors. She moved to Vancouver two years ago after graduating with a BA in Psychology from UBC. She is looking forward to a summer of paddling, hanging by the beach, and working alongside all the fantastic people at Jericho.

This is Shams' first season joining the team at Jericho. The thing she loves most about sea kayaking? How it helps you to slow down, and appreciate nature from a different perspective - on water instead of on land. In her free time, you can find her reading comics, learning languages, or basket-weaving.

Growing up in Vancouver, Tomo was able to appreciate the various activities, between the mountains and the sea, that the city had to offer. After spending a decade in landlocked Alberta and several more years of indentured servitude to a family business, Tomo reconnected with Vancouver and the sea through kayaking. It was a serendipitous connection and Tomo was instantly hooked. Many kayaking trips and adventures later, Tomo's appreciation for kayaking was further enhanced when the opportunity to guide and instruct came up. For Tomo, Kayaking is a gateway to new experiences and self-examination.

Warren discovered his love for kayaking when he and his family went on a guided 2 day trip in Johnstone Strait in 2020. Seeing humpback and orca whales, sea lions and intertidal marine life from a kayak hooked him.
Since then he has paddled in Desolation Sound, the Broken Group Islands and Howe Sound. A graduate of UBC Geology, he has been known to spend a bit too much time checking out rocks exposed along shorelines.
Recently retired from teaching high school Science, Warren is excited to be working with the Jericho Beach team to learn and to share his passion for paddling in the natural beauty of BC.