Mount Becher Cabin

Description

ORIGINAL FOR BOOK 4.

The site of the Mount Becher ski club cabin was first located by Clinton wood in 1926.

Logs for the cabin and cedar shakes for the roof were hand cut onsite. All other materials were brought in by pack horse. Even the fireplace was assembled out of local rock.

There was very little money, everything except nails and metal sheeting was handmade on site.

It was a 3 room cabin with a bunkhouse that could sleep 6 to 8 people, and had a kitchen in between. Several wood-stoves kept the rooms warm and cozy in winter. Work parties by volunteers
did repairs and cut fire wood during the summer months.

This was the first ski resort on Vancouver Island. Although rustic by today’s standards, there was a special quality to the experience.

There were no machines to move you up and down the mountain. On your skis, which were a combination of downhill and cross country, you wore “skins”. These skins allowed you to climb, giving you grip on the snow. They were made of heavy cotton canvas. When you climbed to where you wanted to ski, you removed the skins and away you went.

You had to be physically fit—however, this made people happy and healthy.

I remember going to school on Monday morning in Comox with a sun tan. We had been up hiking and skiing above the rain and fog, up into the sunshine. This experience was always a possibility—getting above the clouds and into the snow and sun!

I have romanticized the painting of the old cabin at Becher. I am trying to capture the golden age of youthful skiing at Forbidden Plateau. It was primitive, but we realize now that this was a big part of the magic!

Light showers the snow-laden landscape as the sun sets over the Comox Glacier and Becher Cabin.