Shames Mountain - The purest ski area in BC
Bam! Another pothole. The last thirteen kilometers of the ride we've just been bouncing up and down. The walls of snow along the road are about 2.5 to 3 meters high in some places. Small ice waterfalls hang in between. Just drive a little slower. There is not much powder stress here. We are on our way to one of the most beautiful cult areas in North America: Shames Mountain in British Columbia.
Run by locals
Shames is not a Whistler. Shames isn't Vail either, let alone Aspen. Shames is all about skiing and snowboarding. The area has a special history. In 2008, Shames Mountain Ski Corporation was put up for sale. That's when the locals sprang into action. Lawyers and consultants gave some advice and the consensus was that Shames should continue as a "non-profit co-operative". In other words, the local skiers and snowboarders bought Shames. In the 2011-2012 season, Shames was first run by My Mountain Co-op. And the members still run their own ski area: Shames Mountain Ski Area.
12 meters of snow
Shames Mountain doesn't have much infrastructure (check the trail map here). There is a nostalgic two-seater that takes you from the daylodge into the area. Here are a number of relatively easy descents that wind back to the valley. It becomes more interesting if you take the connecting T-bar to the highest point of the ski area. Don't be fooled by the apparently low elevation of 1189 meters. The ski area is relatively close to the sea and you are close to the border with Alaska, so there is enough snow. On average about 12 meters per year.
Huge backcountry
Anyway, you can find the best inbound runs in Shames here. Junior's Jingle and Hangover are steep gladed runs and this is where your thighs are really put to the test. Slightly flatter is the Terminator. All these runs return to the daylodge, after which this process can quietly repeat itself about eight times. We crash down about that number of times and even though the total vertical of the mountain is only 489 meters, we are happy that we can relax in that wonderful Blue Chair (no hood, no seat heating, no high speed).
The real magic of Shames lies in the backcountry. From the top of the Red T-Bar you hike or skin into the endless mountain landscape. This is where the locals are most often found.
Lunch takes place in the daylodge, which is somewhere between a football canteen of a third division club and a sort of ski bum gathering place. Really just a place where you want to be. No vegan meals, just Canadian food. Can you work on your cholesterol right away. It's all part of a visit to Shames.
At the rentals I get into a conversation with a few guys who have been working here for a number of years. "Why don't we do a season in a larger area? Simple, the backcountry is overwhelming, life is still affordable and everyone knows each other. You really are part of the community. In fact, I actually wanted to go for one winter season, but I've been here for three full years now.'
Pure and unpolished
It is clear that Shames Mountain is all about one thing: skiing and snowboarding. You can sleep in the nearby town of Terrace. Just as hardcore, but with all the amenities of a mountain town. Think of it a bit like a less polished version of Revelstoke. It's all pretty off-the-beaten-track here and you don't go to Shames Mountain for a week's vacation. However, if you combine it with a few days in the heli or cat at Northern Escape Heli Skiing, you really have a golden combination in which you get acquainted with a very rough part of BC.