Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/201279
p44-47_Manning Park.indd 46 this is a busy weekend," he noted as we stood in the lift line that takes all of five minutes from ski-up to sit-down. "I remember one weekend last year when we got 70 cm of fresh snow – there was no more than 40 of us on the entire mountain." Suddenly I was thinking of all those families in the parking lot and wondering if my little Subaru could haul a tent trailer up the mountain . . . and what would one cost, anyway? Naw, Lisa would never approve, not after the new canoe this summer and that scooter last year. But then we caught up with another local ski patroller, Dev Akhurana, a professional forester in the offseason, who pointed out that as good as the snow gets on Manning's lift-served playground area, "it's even better in the backcountry." Because like everywhere in the park, that 700-square-kilometre expanse is gloriously underutilized by both ski mountaineering and touring enthusiasts. "You're a pioneer. You feel like you own the place, like you're skiing lines no one else will ever ski," he raved. But alone as you may feel, you're still surrounded by wildlife. "All kinds of things you don't see in the big resorts anymore: wolverines and rabbits, marten, lynx, lots of fox," added Akhurana, recalling Alan Majchrowicz cheek-by-jowl with campers and RVs, even a few tents. One can only assume these are the abodes of the truly devoted. In fact, strolling the lot after our three-hour, blissed-out, deep-powder wake-up call, we met Doug Gunderson of Surrey, who reported he's been sleeping in the lot on and off for 25 years. "Used to come up with the kids," he told us from the steps of his camper. "Got the grandkids this weekend, though. They're already up the hill," he shouted over one shoulder, clomping off in his ski boots to find them. It's all a tear-down, of course. Since Manning is Crown land, skiers can't just park a camper for the season and walk away. Which means by sunset every Sunday, this impromptu village of tents and campers and attendant coolers and cookstoves now wafting tempting aromas in the morning frost will vanish, folded up and stolen away like shepherds' tents in an Arabian fable. "That's the way we like it," confirmed ski patroller Ben Whitwell. The garrulous mountain man with frost-tipped beard graciously introduced me to his favourite runs after our Orange Chair blast while James and Lisa explored the greens and blues. "And Manning Park's Bear Trap Telemark Festival (early March). with crystal clarity a night he camped in the Lone Goat area, when the icebox silence of his tent was shattered by the spine-tingling howls of a wolf baying at the moon. I've got a good tent, was my immediate reaction, one ear still cocked to Akhurana and Whitwell's tales of backcountry glory. Hmmm, and how much would it cost to pick up some backcountry ski gear, more robust than cross-country and lockable for downhilling? Maybe I could get some cheap on Craigslist . . . . Trills of laughter jerk me back to the sinuous twists of the trail: a trio of women 13-10-16 9:33 AM