Many millennia before they were bustling ski resorts, the mountains were places of power, wisdom and refuge for the people on the Squamish Nation and Lil’wat Nation.
“Even before snowboarding was a part of the culture, it was a very common belief that the mountains were a place to send the youth, and to go ourselves, in order to gain strength and a connection to the earth,” said Court Larabee, vice-president of the First Nation Snowboard Team.
Over the past decades, the high cost of skiing and snowboarding have closed the mountains to many youth from the community. The First Nations Snowboard Team brings them up to speed.
Read the original story in Discover Squamish.