Michael Blois (BSc (Agriculture)’05) grew up working on his family’s farm, Courthouse Hill Farm, in Nova Scotia’s Gore Valley. After graduating with a degree in agricultural business from Dalhousie and an MBA from Saint Mary’s University, he worked and travelled around the world for several years. He considered moving to New Zealand but says there was something drawing him back to Nova Scotia.

“It has this unique connectedness and sense of community about it that I couldn’t find anywhere else,” Blois told The Chronicle Herald. So he returned and started merging his entrepreneurial skills and business acumen with his love for being active outdoors. He built a series of intricate mountain bike trails that traverse 20 kilometres and crisscross through rivers, forests, gorges and pastures. With the trails complete, word of mouth among Atlantic Canada’s off-road enthusiasts spread quickly as Empire Trails became the largest in the Maritimes.

Ultimate Obstacle Race

Blois then launched the annual NovaStrong Ultimate Obstacle Race, a 30-obstacle, 10 kilometre race now in its third year and happening June 24, 2017. He’s built a series of permanent obstacles over a 1,000-acre block of farm and now has two giant water slides, a giant Tarzan swing, a big beam crossing, a rail run, a gorilla bar and a Sumo jump at the end of race into a spring-fed pond. Runners race and leap off the 15-foot scaffold into the frigid, muddy water below.

Agritourism

And while he’s still growing blueberries, mending fences and tending cows, Blois’s work now also includes studying demographics, social media marketing, merchandising and acquiring liability insurance.

“It’s amazing how it has all come together. It has helped me define agritourism and has ultimately enabled me to share my love of my farm and this beautiful place along the Rawdon Hills,” says Blois.

Read more in “NowNS: Reinventing the family farm one obstacle at a time” on thechronicleherald.ca.

Image: Contributed to The Chronicle Herald by Michael Blois.