Author Keith G. Powell is coming to town to introduce his newly published book, Raising Kain, the adventurous life of Conrad Kain, Canada’s greatest mountaineer to Invermere.

The Kootenay author will be at Dave’s Book Bar in downtown Invermere from 2 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, February 4.

In addition doing a reading (at 3 p.m.) from his newly released historical novel, the author will present two table-top slide shows about his trip to Austria in search of Conrad Kain’s home village of Nasswald and his trek to the Kain Hut in the Bugaboos.

“My slide shows will let readers travel along as my wife and I visit Nasswald, Austria and on my recent hike into the Bugaboos — both areas played a large role in Conrad Kain’s life,” said Powell.

“The initial reaction to my new book, Raising Kain, has been very positive and heartwarming. One reader recently called the book ‘a must read.’  What I have tried to do with the book is to tell the story of one of the Kootenays’ most colourful characters in a creative and entertaining way.”

Conrad Kain lived in Wilmer (just north of Invermere) for nearly 20 years. He died in Cranbrook’s St. Eugene Hospital in 1934 at the relatively young age of 50.

He is one of the most famous people buried in the Cranbrook cemetery, so there is a strong Kootenay connection to this story.

In 1909 the then twenty-five year-old Conrad Kain left the Rax Mountains and boarded the CPR ship the Empress of Britain, en route to the Canadian Rockies.

He became widely known as the “prince of Canadian mountain guides” in the Golden Age of mountaineering in Canada.

“I really look forward to being in Invermere and introducing my new book, Raising Kain, which is a historical novel about one of the Columbia Valley’s most colourful characters,” said Powell.