Abma, Rubens, and Hoji Raid the Goods on Vancouver Island
Frozen in Time
Running time: 15 minutes
Rating: 7.5
Almost three decades ago, Powder Magazine published “Little Areas That Rock,” which has become one of the defining themes of mountain culture ever since.
What are the “Little Areas That Rock,” exactly? You might call them “anti-resorts”, with little in the way of slopeside mud-bath spas or the latest in small-plate cuisine. Bridger Bowl, MT comes to mind, as do Ski Monarch in Colorado, Shames Mountain in BC, and Castle Mountain in Alberta. Lots of snow, friendly (but not too many!) locals, and kick ass backcountry terrain.
As dawn slowly unfolds during the first BC Ferries sailing to Vancouver Island, pro skier Mark Abma looks out the window and say, “I’ve wanted to ski here for so many years, now!” Abma, who regularly appears in SalomonTV productions, grew up skiing modest vertical at Hemlock Valley (AKA Sasquatch Resort and appreciates small, single-hit mini-golf lines as much as he does big mountain expeditions into the heart of the Coast Range or Selkirks.
For Frozen in Time, he’s accompanied by long-time ski buddies Eric Hjorleifson and Chris Rubens on a mission to mythical Mount Cain. Tucked up at the end of a logging road about an hour from Port Hardy, Mount Cain, like Summit Lake near New Denver, is a volunteer affair that’s pretty much held together by duct tape and Honda generators. There’s a cabin community of local forest industry employees who come up on the weekends to lap its modest vertical, while more ambitious backcountry skiers can bag surprisingly big mountain sized assaults beyond the area ropes. Range. Sweet drone footage, some parking lot hi-jinks involving campfires, and teeth rattling dust on crust descents completes this tidy 17 minute package. Looks like they scored some dandy tree skiing, too, and since Cain doesn’t see many big-time pro skiers, there are some fun segments of the lads performing some community outreach and skiing with the local racing club.
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