Winter 2008
This issue profiles an irresistible selection of outdoor adventures, indoor activities, and underwater discoveries. Head north to scenic Sugarbowl-Grizzly Den Provincial Park and the zany Prince George winter festival. Learn to identify wildlife tracks in the snow. Meet some of the most beastly, and most beautiful, creatures in the sea. Delve into the secrets of Victoria’s 100-year-old Empress hotel—from forbidden trysts to murder—and uncover rare treasure maps of the early explorers at the BC Archives.
Cover: adult lynx
Photo: Tim Fitzharris
Revealing secrets at the Empress Hotel
Observations from the editor of British Columbia Magazine.
Letters to the Editor
See what readers are talking about.
The madness of Prince George
A zany carnival, an Iceman athletic competition, and a plethora of snowy park trails are good reasons to celebrate the season in this northern city.
Great bowls of sugar
East of Prince George, scenic alpine trails deliver skiers into a sweet abyss of powder in Sugarbowl-Grizzly Den Provincial Park & Protected Area.
A century of secrets at the Empress Hotel
A peek under the skirts of the grande dame of Victoria’s Inner Harbour reveals tawdry tales of clandestine meetings, lies, thievery, and murder.
Beauties and beasts
A profile of six weird and wonderful underwater creatures.
Treasure maps
As early explorers charted the unknown territory that would become British Columbia, their sketches and paintings became a priceless record of their ambitions, fears, and historic discoveries.
Winter tracks
Our writer takes a walk in the snow with northern conservationist, photographer, and trapper Wayne Sawchuk to study the vanishing art of interpreting animal footprints.
Return to Marble Island
From 1943 to 1945, a complement of airmen manned this impossibly remote radar station on the Pacific’s unforgiving shore.
Serenity or speed?
How to choose equipment for classic cross-country or skate skiing—or both.
