A dilapidated cabin sits beside Elfin Lakes in Garibaldi Provincial Park. The small log cabin has experienced years of neglect but it was once the infamous Diamond Head Chalet.
Presented by the 樱桃视频Historical Society, archivist historian Donald Grant will share the rich history of the small log cabin through his film, Diamond Head Chalet - A Family's Journey, at the Brackendale Art Gallery on Friday (April 17) at 8 p.m.
Construction of the Diamond Head Chalet started in the mid-1940s as a project of Norwegian brothers Ottar and Emil Brandvold and Ottar's wife, Joan Mathews. The Diamond Head Chalet was completed in 1947 and together the Brandvold's ran the cabin as a summer and winter retreat.
The family sold the chalet in 1971 and BC Parks bought it from the new owner. The province did not maintain the building or keep the business running.
The lodge began to deteriorate after the Brandvold's left in 1972. Grant said the government didn't want private operators in provincial parks so the era of backcountry chalets like Diamond Head Chalet ended.
But years later, the rundown cabin has re-emerged through film. Much of the cabin's construction was captured on film as well as its life as an alpine retreat. Grant discovered the footage, contacted the Brandvold's and the film was born.
"They recorded a lot of what they did on a 16mm film camera so I had 40 minutes of historical film to work with. We also had at least 250 historic photos taken in the 1940s and '50s," Grant said.
To tell the story of the cabin accurately, Grant worked closely with Ottar and Joan's children. The film also documented a family reunion organized by Grant at the Diamond Head Chalet in Sept. 2007 that brought the ancestors back together.
"They had never been up there together," said Grant, who had BC Parks airlift some family members who couldn't walk up to the chalet. "It was a pretty dramatic experience."
In the silence of the backcountry, Grant said the chalet comes to life with the animated voices of the past somehow echoing against the mountains. This is what the film celebrates.
The idea of the film is to bring together the people who stayed at the chalet and the outdoorsy types who have hiked past the abandoned building, said Grant.
"People might not know the amazing history behind this building, which is why I made the film."
Next summer when hikers pass the cabin, he hopes they will remember its history.
