Ski Stop #2 of 42 - Hudson Bay Mountain

 

 

We travelled 269 km to Ski Stop #2 – Hudson Bay Mountain, Smithers, B.C. – Wet'suwet'en Territory.

Wait, what? ... Hudson Bay? That didn't seem right, but the name didn't matter to us when it came into view. With a peak elevation of 2589 metres (8495 ft), you can see Hudson Bay Mountain from a long ways away. It gave us plenty of time to build anticipation for our ski day.  

There is no doubt that something seemed right and felt right since the area first opened in 1969. It is a relaxed place with proud locals. The tone was set for our day when we were welcomed like a friend to the mountain by Edie, GM Lex Rei-Jones' faithful dog guest services greeter.  

Hudson Bay Mountain has two sides to enjoy. There are two T-Bars on the South Face, along with a Lil’ Rascal handle tow area - and loads of terrain spanning out from the top of a triple-chair on the North Face.

After a couple of fantastic cruiser runs, we rode up the 18-minute Skyline Triple Chair with Rick Edwards, aka ‘Mole’, a season pass holder there for the past 47 years. Great skier and an even better storyteller. 

              Rick entertained us on the chairlift with a legendary tale about an end of ski season wrap-up party they used to hold in the 70’s. Before there were any cabins on the mountain. The faithful die-hards of the ski area used to get together on the last weekend of the ski year for an on-mountain camp-out, complete with a “humungous” bonfire with a ski jump built and positioned to carry jumpers over the flames. As the night grew later, and a fair bit of “imbibing” took hold, midnight would roll around and the ski jumping inevitably turned into a naked endeavour. You can take in the story direct from 'Mole' himself below: 

No flaming ski jumps for us, but we crossed back over to the North Face and finished our ski day with some fast-paced runs off the Panorama T-Bar.

At mid-mountain on our very last run, we came across skiing legend Claire Challen taking down some race gates. Claire is now sharing her global skiing prowess and racing success back on the mountain she grew up on, as a coach with up-and-coming ski racers. Clare’s smile can have a special way of lighting up a whole ski run.

There are 44 runs to explore at Hudson Bay Mountain and over 700 acres of skiable terrain. Plenty for an amazing weekend or a season-long worth of fun. 

We were told that a ski day at Hudson Bay Mountain wouldn't be complete without an après ski visit to Whisky Jack’s in the Panorama Day Lodge. We paid heed to the advice and plunked ourselves down at a prime table with an expansive view of the valley below

– as soon as we sat down, a local fellow came up to show us a picture on his cell phone of a moose that had decided to visit them in their kitchen that very same morning. The moose just wandered into their house as if he were one of the neighbours coming over for breakfast.

Debilyn Smith then jumped up in front of the big fireplace in Whisky Jacks's, as she does once a night every week of the ski season, to pass on some ski tips and a few reminders about the skier’s safety code. The whole scene added to the charm of this special ski area. 

By the time we decided to head off down the road towards our next stop, we found out that it was only us and the locals left on the mountain - and we ended up having the lonely last vehicle in the parking lot.

 

The song featured in the video is Just the Two of Us by Grammy and Juno Award Winning Artist Alex Cuba - who call Smithers home.  You can check out more of Alex's beautiful music at www.mendo.alexcuba.com.  You can listen to the entire Skadi Tour Playlist of Canadian Artists on Spotify.

www.hudsonbaymountain.ca