Winter at Hollyburn

Hollyburn ski camp 1927 to the left Rudolph Verne, Andrew Irving, Oscar Pearson, Ole Anderson and Axel Sneis built Hollyburn Lodge.

During the winter you might cross country ski at Hollyburn. Afterwards, you might enjoy a coffee at Hollyburn Lodge. In the early 1990s all ski facilities on Black, Strachan and Hollyburn were referred to as Cypress Mountain. Many Swedes were involved with the ski area at Hollyburn.

In 1922 Rudolph Verne and friends took the ferry destination to Grouse Mountain. They boarded the wrong ferry and landed in West Vancouver. They hiked up to Nasmyth’s old Mill Site. It was not in use any more. A Norwegian, Eilif Haxthon, worked with Hjalmar Fahlander, a Swede, to convert the old cookhouse at the old Nasmyth’s mill into a ski camp. In 1925 “the Restaurant” opened. They rented skis and served Swedish coffee and sandwiches.

In 1925 and 1926 there was very little snowfall. Rudolph Verne decided to move to First Lake. In 1926 with the help of Oscar Pearson, Ole Anderson and Andrew Irving all from Dalarna dismantled the cookhouse and moved to First Lake with the help of horses.

Rudolph Verne was more visionary and entrepreneurial than hands-on as a builder. The official opening was January 16th, 1927. The lodge with a restaurant and dancehall, complete with a gramophone player, was called Hollyburn ski camp. There was a lot of snow in 1926-1927 and Rudolph Verne wrote in an article in a 1928 Alpine Club newsletter that Vancouver should be able to host the Winter Olympics. In 1927, Rudolph Verne was president of the Hollyburn Pacific Ski Club. By 1931, the Swedes from Dalarna took over the operation. In 1946, it was bought up by the Burfield family and renamed the Hollyburn Ski Lodge. In 1947 Rudolph Verne returned to Stockholm, Sweden. The Hollyburn Ski Lodge was supposed to be temporary until a a permanent log building could be built. Much later — because of money and permits — the new Hollyburn Lodge was finished in January 2016.