With over 1,000 copies sold, the historical novel Raising Kain – the Adventurous Life of Conrad Kain, Canada’s greatest mountaineer, written by Kootenay author Keith G. Powell, is now a Kootenay and B.C. bestseller.

“It is known in the book industry that if a book sells 5,000 copies in Canada or 1,000 in British Columbia it is considered a bestseller,” said Powell, Cranbrook-based author. “So I guess at over 1,000 copies sold, it makes my second book a ‘Kootenay’ bestseller and B.C. bestseller too. Thanks to a great response at the recent Cranbrook Farmers’ Market it put my sales of Raising Kain over 1,000 copies,” Powell related.

Raising Kain was officially released early in the 2012. In 1909, 25-year-old Conrad Kain, from the tiny Austrian village of Nasswald, located in the heart of the Rax Mountains, boarded the CPR ship Empress of Britain, en route to the Canadian Rockies. Never did he imagine the adventurous life that lay before him, as the first official mountain guide of the newly formed Alpine Club of Canada (ACC).
This historical novel tells the story of Conrad Kain’s 25 years in Canada in a manner which reflects the overall spirit and experience of the early days of alpine adventure in the Canadian Rockies – from his arrival as a young man to his later years in and around Wilmer in the Columbia Valley.
With almost 70 first ascents or new routes on peaks throughout the Canadian Rockies and 59 ascents (29 first ascents) in New Zealand, Conrad Kain, was recognized as “the prince of Canadian mountain guides” – in what can only be called the Golden Age of mountaineering in Canada. Kain (who is buried in the Cranbrook cemetery) has an enduring legacy in the Canadian Rockies and he is still fondly remembered for his mountaineering skills and colourful sense of humour.
“It is my hope that this book, Raising Kain, the adventurous life of Conrad Kain – Canada’s greatest mountaineer, captures some of the rich heritage and legacy that Conrad Kain left behind in his relatively short but extraordinary life in the Canadian Rockies,” said Powell.

Here’s what book reviewer and Alpine Club of Canada member, Ron Dart, wrote about Raising Kain: “Raising Kain is a must purchase and must read for those keen to know more about Canadian mountaineering history and culture, the Alpine Club of Canada and, equally important, a creative approach and interpretation of Kain’s life through photographs, letters, lenient fiction and hard fact history. This tome has certainly raised Kain again to the pedestal he belongs on in the Canadian mountaineering hall of fame…Raising Kain is an A++ keeper and charmer of a book that invites many a reread.
“The publication of Raising Kain should be greeted with much applause. Raising Kain is divided into 25 compact chapters that recount, retell and in a compelling way invite the reader to join Kain as he emerges as an impoverished youth to a gifted mountain guide. Keith Powell, in his ‘Epilogue,’ brings the ‘historical novel’ to a close by retelling a trip that he and his wife made to the birthplace of Kain in Nasswald, Austria – this is worth the read, also. The photographs, as I mentioned above, illustrate much in a poignant manner.”

Through his own publishing company called Wild Horse Creek Press the book Raising Kain is now available at bookstores throughout the Kootenays.  His first historical novel was Living in the Shadow of Fisher Peak.  The author is collecting stories for his next book about hiking and climbing adventures on Fisher Peak.

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