PAINTING BC’S BACKCOUNTRY
Meet the Artist Behind This Year’s letsridebc “Respect Where You Ride” Sticker
Snowmobiling in B.C. has always been about more than powder, peaks, and the perfect pull on a bluebird day. It’s about connection—to the land, to each other, and to the stories that live in our mountains. This year, that connection comes to life through the work of B.C.–based artist Raffaella Vaz, the creator behind the new Respect Where You Ride artwork and our 2025 LetsRideBC stewardship sticker.
Originally from the Dolomite Mountains of northern Italy, Raffaella has snowboarded her way around the world, eventually landing in the Okanagan Valley — a place she says captured her heart instantly. “The energy, the vastness, the otherworldly landscapes… BC blew my mind,” she told us. “I could sit in the mountains for hours, surrounded by so much beauty, power, and inspiration.”
That relationship with the land shows up in every brushstroke. Trained in fine arts and animation, Raffaella has built an award-winning career as an illustrator, concept artist, and topsheet designer for Donek Snowboards. She’s painted sled wraps, murals, and commissioned pieces that honour movement, terrain, and the kind of cold, crisp air every rider in BC knows by heart. Today she runs Vaz Art alongside her husband, Olympian snowboarder Crispin Lipscomb, while raising their daughter Billie and building a life shaped by mountains.
But it's Raffaella’s connection to B.C.’s backcountry—and the responsibility she feels toward it—that made this collaboration feel natural.
“I love working on projects that encourage respect for the mountains and awareness of human impact,” she says. “If we want to keep enjoying the gifts nature gives us, we need to show respect and leave no trace.”
photo: Vernon Jubilee Hospital Emergency Room Mural
For the Respect Where You Ride artwork, Raffaella pulled from real terrain, gathering references from the landscapes snowmobilers travel through. She sketches first to understand the lay of the land, light, shadow, steepness, tree shape, then brings it to canvas with the blues, whites, and snowy textures she finds herself returning to again and again.
Her goal? To make people feel something familiar. “When you paint a special place and people can relate to it — the cold air, the magic of a bluebird day — it connects us through shared experience.”
When you spot this year’s sticker on a sled tunnel, water bottle, laptop lid, toolbox or sled deck you know exactly what it stands for. It’s a small signal between riders: we ride with respect. We honour the land. We value the people and communities that shape BC’s snowmobile culture.
“Everyday art like this can make people pause,” Raffaella says. “If someone sees it, relates to it, and reflects on the message, even for a moment, that’s meaningful.”
And that’s exactly what stewardship is about: small actions, shared widely, that add up to something much bigger for B.C.’s riding community.
SUPPORT BC SNOWMOBILE STEWARDSHIP
All proceeds from this year’s Respect Where You Ride sticker go directly into snowmobile stewardship outreach across BC — education, signage, and resources that help protect the places we ride. Stickers are available for $15 each which includes shipping.
