Afternoon light creates a glow on the peaks of the distinctive Ex Coelis Mountain formation. The pyramid-shaped structures, wrapped in winter storm clouds, tower over the flatlands of the Kootenay plains. “Ex coelis” was the motto of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, and is Latin for “from the heavens” (often stated as “from the clouds” in this specific context). These four peaks are named for some of the battalion’s WWII battles – Normandy, Ardennes, Rhine and Elbe, left to right.