Born on February 14, 1958 in Sydney, Australia, Elms grew up in New Zealand and came to Victoria in 1990. Now a resident of Vancouver Island, he works as a mountaineering instructor for the Canadian Outdoor Leadership Training (COLT) program. He has published numerous articles on mountaineering. Beyond Nootka: A Historical Perspective of Vancouver Island Mountains (Courtenay: Misthorn Press, 1996) is his first book. Beyond Nootka is the culmination of six years of research into the peaks of Vancouver Island -- from the first Europeans who set foot on them to the prospectors, surveyors, botanists and mountaineers who followed.

[BCBW 2003] "Outdoors"

Review of the author's work by BC Studies:
Above the Bush: A Century of Climbing on Vancouver Island, 1912-2012