Mount Cain: Rain Forest Powder In Another Time
Powder should not exist in a rainforest, and time travel is impossible. Or so we think. One visit to Mount Cain Ski Area on Vancouver Island proves both assumptions wrong. Here, the impossible is real—and time truly stands still.
We all know T-bars are out of favour, especially with snowboarders, and that resorts have phased them out. Wrong. To begin with, Mount Cain is not a resort—it’s a ski hill. And yes, there are only T-bars. They’re slow, they’re mellow, and they ensure the powder doesn’t get skied out.
Outhouses? Do resorts have outhouses in the base area? No. But ski hills did—years ago. Places like Fernie still have them in the alpine, and Mount Cain has many.
Skier visits are 7,000 per year, right? Wrong again. That’s 7,000 visits per season, averaging about 170 skiers per day on Saturdays and Sundays—the only days the hill is open outside of holidays. Aussies running the lifts? No. Every lifty is a volunteer, as are all other positions. The ski hill operates as a not-for-profit society serving surrounding North Island communities and families.
My friend Adam, who works at Whistler, called Mount Cain the “anti-resort.” He’s right. It doesn’t meet any modern definition of a resort—and that’s exactly the point. Some of my urban friends brought their kids here; the kids gagged at the smell of the outhouse and felt threatened by the nearby trailer park. I grew up in Eastern Canada with grandparents who only had an outhouse and ski hills surrounded by trailers and homemade lifts.
Today’s kids are growing up with Whistler as the benchmark: valet parking and sushi everywhere. I question the expectations—and values—we’re quietly instilling through those experiences.
Mount Cain’s tagline is “The Best Powder on the Island.” And it is. It could also be tagged “The Only Powder on the Island.” With just 170 skiers a day, powder lasts. When it snows mid-week, nobody is there to track it out. And when things do get skied, a short traverse puts you into another bowl—followed by a hike out. Don’t expect the deep, dry Rockies snow, but by rainforest standards, it’s surprisingly good.
In my opinion, Mount Cain is not for everyone. But for those who get there, it’s something special. It’s a skier’s mountain, with great terrain and a respectable snowpack. For a look at the roots of our favourite pastime—and some genuinely memorable skiing—I highly recommend the trip up-island, as the locals would say.
photos by S. Fowler
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