MY DREAM / VISION

There has been talk for some time lately about the British Columbia Mountaineering Club having, obtaining, buying, building a clubhouse in the Squamish area; whether in the town proper or nearby. This is my vision to that end.

Having any kind of clubhouse in the town proper whether it would be an actual house, or town house, or any kind of structure would require in no particular order, insurance, a mortgage, the means to build one. Then; whom would keep it up, run it, look after bookings, sign on the dotted line as the holder of a mortgage? Would you?

My answer to this is, to build a BCMC cabin at Watersprite Lake. Where you say? The club obtained a province of BC tenure on the 17th of September 2009 to build a mountaineering cabin at Watersprite Lake. It is a small lake situated 23 km east of Squamish at an elevation of 4700 ft. Where you say again? Go to bivouac and type in the name and you will see where it is located.

It has been said that the area is too small to have a cabin, and there is little to do there. Well, here again is my vision.

So why does the area have to be big? The clubs mountain Lake Hut sees much use and is a destination for many summer hikes. It is close to the city. The clubs North Creek Cabin sees much less use as it is quite a distance away. Some say too far even though the area is fantastic for winter skiing and summer mountaineering. 

The answer is? The club holds any number of courses year round and there has always been the question of where will we go to hold these courses. Why not in a cabin that belongs to the club. Avalanche courses, summer and winter mountaineering courses, rock courses, winter camping courses, Brian Woods igloo building courses. The cabin would be the base. It would be close, cutting down on the travel time giving more time for the actual instructional time. At days end there could be a discussion of the days activities in a warm heated structure. It can be accessed even in bad weather.

And here is another "why there" question. There are almost no places in the province where we as non motorized outdoor persons can go in winter or summer to pursue our passions, this is one of those few places.

My plan is to have many trips to the area in the coming months giving you, the members, the opportunity to get to and see and evaluate the area for a proposed cabin. I'll have maps and cabin plans to show you the members at a later time as well to have a cost factor ready to show you. Then to have a membership vote in the spring at either a May or June social for approval to proceed with the construction of a cabin at Watersprite Lake. My long term plan would be to build in September.

If this does not get the go ahead, what then.? There would be no cabin at Watersprite Lake. The tenure that the club has is good for 10 years and at the end of that time period it would come to an end.

This is my dream. Are you interested? Would you want to help, be a part of this project? Watch the trip schedule in the new year for trips to the area.

David Scanlon