A long lost historical gem will make a public appearance tonight (Nov. 16) that will bring many residents back to a time when wilderness adventures were literally at our doorstep.
The 樱桃视频Historical Society presents Early Days of the Diamond Head Chalet Friday (Nov. 16) at the Adventure Centre. The 30-minute full colour film depicts the immensely arduous work it took to build the treasured chalet in the early 1940s located in the Garibaldi Park meadows of Diamond Head.
The project began when two Norwegian immigrant brothers, Ottar and Emil Brandvold, and Joan Mathews (who would eventually marry Ottar) decided they would fulfill their dream of erecting a small lodge in the style the brothers had seen their father build in Norway.Joan and Ottar's son, Rolf Brandvold, said he saved the film as a family treasure and only now realizes its historical value.
"I never thought of it growing up," he said. "I'd seen it hundreds of times so it's just ordinary to you, but to others it's quite the item and now I begin to appreciate because I'm getting kind of old myself."
Since Joan had worked at the National Film Board, she was able to consult with friends and former colleagues to edit the footage into a high quality depiction of events, said Rolf. The film begins with shots of the young pioneers using horses to drag logs to the location they'd chosen on the meadows. The timber was massive and heavy, and it would sometimes take an entire day to collect just one felled tree. But the energetic trio had dreams.
In a 1976 Westworld magazine article, Joan - an artist and sculptress - said she'd "had dreams of carving it so it would be known worldwide like Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood."
However, the ecologically-minded builders were determined to make the chalet work with the landscape, and decided on something much smaller. They also reaped their materials selectively for minimal disturbance of the environment. The project began by hand-carving a seven-mile trail from Paul Ridge (now known as Red Heather Ridge). Sixteen days later, in mid-June of 1944, they were at the site. They built a shed for the horses and a temporary cabin for themselves and worked until it snowed.
They returned the following summer and decided to work until the chalet was complete - at 3 a.m. New Year's Day, 1946.Skiers and mountaineers had been there all along, crowding into the temporary chalet and sometimes helping with chores, building and peeling logs.
Once completed, 樱桃视频residents - especially the young and boisterous - took the opportunities the chalet provided.
"The 1958 [Howe Sound Secondary] school annual is dedicated to my parents and the chalet because so many people from the high school spent so much time up there," said Rolf. "It's got all these sketches and stories about Diamond Head and comments on my dad and uncle."The chalet is now "a bit of ghost," said Rolf, who will be on-hand at the screening to discuss the footage, but says others can surely add more to the film's historical flavour.
There will be three screenings, at 6:30, 7:30 and 8:30 p.m., along with a seven-minute video on the restoration of the Britannia Mining Museum. General admission is by donation.
