PAT DEAKIN
PORT ALBERNI – Last November, Valley Vibe, a private quarterly Port Alberni glossy publication, asked the City of Port Alberni if we wanted to take out an ad in their Winter edition whose theme was ‘local bucket list’. To me, a bucket list item is something really epic, totally memorable and an experience that would enliven you for years to come. And although many summer experiences here fulfill the definition, I didn’t think there was anything that would fit for winter so I ignored the invitation.
A few days later, I decided to test my bias by asking a few people to search out photos of winter adventures in the Alberni Valley. We received dozens of pictures and although some were quintessentially Canadian, like skating on frozen lakes, snowshoeing and snowmobiling through a few feet of light snow, I was starting to think that I’d been right when a photo of Mount Toquart taken from below the summit of 5040 Peak came up on the screen. I’ve been to the summit of 5040 before but in late summer/early fall conditions. And although I think the 360-degree view from the peak is one of the best on the Island, Cobalt Lake is amazing and the Alpine Club of Canada’s Hišimy̓awiƛ (Hi-SHIM-ya-wit) hut is a huge gift, I have not been up there in winter.
I stopped in astonishment and the thought ‘I want to be there doing that’ raced across my mind. A bucket list item!
The photo was taken by Chemainus-based adventurer and entrepreneur Chris Istace, who also works with Jim Barr’s ZenSeekers group out of Powell River. Chris has summited many of the spectacular mountains seen from Highway 4 when driving from Port Alberni to the west coast. He says that people are often shocked to learn that many of the photos he has taken are of peaks there and elsewhere on the Island.
Then I was reminded of the photos that came from the 2019 ice climb of Della Falls made by Will Gadd, Chis Jensen and Peter Hoang. In his story about the climb, Gadd called it ‘one of the most epic adventures I’ve ever done’. Another bucket list item! My mind has been changed.
Please note that these and other bucket list items here are best reserved for people with a high level of experience. Otherwise your adventure will put others at risk trying to rescue you and may become your epitaph.
Pat Deakin is the Economic Development Manager for the City of Port Alberni and currently the President of the BCEDA. He can be reached at 250-720-2527 or Patrick_deakin@portalberni.ca