9 minute read
OPTIMISM
Optimism with Martin Gallant
Snowboard legend Martin Gallant drove west from Quebec in the summer of 1992 and taught himself English along the way by listening to NWA tapes on repeat. Over the past three decades, he’s evolved from a halfpipe competitor to a magazine shoot regular to a video company boss to a backcountry icon and surf shack owner. But one thing has remained consistent— he’s never stopped riding, never stopped stoking those around him, and never lost his love for “da slash” and “da launch.”
We caught up with Marty after a huge storm and cold snap as he was digging out his home in the Squamish Valley and defrosting his pipes. “My shed is almost collapsing. The roof, and every’ting is frozen stiff,” he explained. “But there are salmon in the river and about 30 eagles in the trees and flying around. The sun is shining… it’s paradise, for sure. If something is broken, who cares, we will fix it. That is what my dad always say.”
Who better to kick off an issue about finding the good in things than the godfather of stoke himself?
“The secret is the beauty of nature,” says Marty. “The blue sky, the powder, the trees, the mountains. You gotta pay attention of nature and your surroundings. On your way up—by snowmobile, or chairlift, or walking, or any way—you take the time to stop and breathe and look at the mountain and see how beautiful it is. By doing this, you will notice the detail—the cracks or crowns in the snow, the direction the wind blows, the shape of the cornice, and this and that. That is one thing I’ve learned, that ‘go-go-go’ is not always the right way. Take your time up there and breathe and enjoy where you are. Know where you are, that is how you have the best day and the best life.” – Feet Banks
Bear Yeung
Ski fast, and carry a large heart
Always ready to rip. KEVIN YEUNG
I meet Jonathan “Bear” Yeung for après at Basalt, a popular Whistler spot with old-school local flavour, tasty food, and good music with no words playing at exactly the right volume. The staff here know him well, but when Bear walks in the first thing he says is, “We probably should have planned this for the Bearfoot Bistro… you know ‘cause of our names.”
Bear Yeung is 11 years old, and just like that he wins my heart. Which, it turns out, is something he is highly adept at. Bear has two main interests in life right now: skiing extremely fast, and doing everything he can to help people in need—especially other kids.
“Why not help kids who are going through hard times?” Bear asks. “Those kids at the hospital, they are really brave. They are braver than anyone and if I can help them, I want to.”
Bear is referring to the toy-and-tablet drive he organized in December for kids at BC Children’s Hospital. For the second year in a row, he and friend Landon Brown spent the autumn canvassing for sick kids. In 2020, the duo raised upwards of $60,000 in donations and gifts, including more than 1,000 new toys and 159 tablets and iPads.
The tablets and iPads are especially important during these pandemic years, explains Rita Thodos, head of BC Children’s Hospital Foundation. “When you are in a hospital, you’re often isolated from the outside world,” she says, “and with visitor number restrictions, it can be increasingly difficult. So tablets help kids stay connected to their families and friends. It’s been incredible working with Bear, he’s very motivating and inspiring to us all.”
“He’s always been that way,” says father Kevin Yeung. “His passions are being in the mountains and doing things for others. He’s a kid who helps kids.”
Bear and his buddy Quinn Lester-Coe were just seven years old when they began fundraising to hire a home tutor for a pair of young girls who had to miss school in order to care for their mother while she battled a brain tumour. He also fundraised to buy a new car for a family whose children were injured in a car crash on Highway 99, raised money to buy hockey jerseys for kids in Lions Gate Hospital, and organized a ‘snack-drive’ to ensure essential health care workers would have healthy snacks available as they worked overtime during the early months of the 2020 COVID pandemic.
Now enrolled in his second year with the Whistler Mountain Ski Club, Bear fills his off-season months making calls, sending emails, and even sometimes getting excused from parts of his school day in order to take an important Zoom meeting with a corporate CEO from the East Coast. He’s on a first-name basis with the heads of Allwest Insurance, LEGO Canada, and Canadian Tire (who all partner with him on the toy drives), and he has official letters of commendation from all levels of government, including the prime minister of Canada.
But, sitting and chatting over a chorizo pasta, Bear seems much more excited about the end goal—helping kids—than the recognition he receives, although his parents show obvious pride in his drive and tenacity. “Landon and Bear get nine rejections for every dollar or toy they are able to collect,” Kevin explains, “but they keep trying. He sends dozens of emails every week.”
“It’s about never giving up or quitting,” Bear adds. “Just keep pushing, speaking my mind, and it always works out… nothing will happen until you do something.”
Once the snow falls however, what Bear mostly wants to do is ski—as fast as possible. He was voted “most improved” after his inaugural season with the Whistler Mountain Ski Club, and this season, Coach Jack Evans says things are progressing well.
“He listens and reacts,” Evans says. “It’s impressive how quickly he can take on feedback and execute on it. He’s also really attentive to the team’s well-being, always the first to help if someone falls or drops a glove. And he definitely has no fear of speed.”
“I used to play hockey,” Bear explains, “so I understand ice.”
Pumped to ski on any day in any conditions (“-25 degrees means fewer people on the runs!”), Bear says his goal this year is to podium in each of the four races he has on the calendar. In the meantime, he’ll be enjoying après much like any other 11-year-old ripper—ice cream cones from The Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory or the giant cookies at Moguls. Or, if I’m lucky, the Bearfoot Bistro. – Feet Banks
Follow Bear on Instagram @bearsvancouver
ABOVE That truck has more than 1,000 toys ready for BC Children's Hospital. Bear can't drive yet so Joe Savier (left) and Landon Brown are ready to help. BELOW Expressing the need for speed. Bear on Whistler Mountain. KEVIN YEUNG
Good to Go
Skiing the Chief's North Gully
Let the record show: Squamish adventurers are opportunistic. Just a bunch of optimists, sitting around waiting to turn any ordinary hardship into an opportunity to find new ways to get rad. So, during the great Arctic snowpocalypse of early 2022, while local pipes froze and roads became luge runs, some optimists continued to find ways to turn challenges into opportunities. New ice routes went up on local waterfalls, snowmobiles became an acceptable grocery store commute vehicle—and Eric Carter, Paul Greenwood, and photographer Chris Christie decided it was time to ski the first known descent of the north gully of Siám’ Smánit, the Stawamus Chief.
Chris Christie: There were a lot of people in town keeping an eye on these sorts of things because of the cold weather and heavy snow to the valley. So, when Eric and Paul called and said it looked good, I was in. We left the parking lot at 6:30 a.m., and broke trail the whole way up. It wasn’t bad until the gully towards second peak. We skinned up to the ladders then put the skis on our back and took turns plowing through waist deep snow. Once we got up the ladder onto second peak, it was all good. Just ski touring looking out over Howe Sound—all good.
Mountain Life: The idea was always to come in from the top? Chris: That was the most important part; makes it an adventure. I know JF [Plouffe] hiked up the south gully and skied that a few years back but for this, it’s safer to come from the top. It self-cleans in there, and the walls are so steep there was really nothing hanging above our heads the whole time. Plus, there are giant chockstones you’d have to climb up and over if you approached from below.
ML: Yeah, it looked like you had a couple rappels to link it all to the valley. Chris: Five rappels. Those giant chock stones were the crux. In the summer you can scramble underneath them but with all this snow, they are basically just giant crevasses of rock. We had a 20-metre overhanging rappel to get over one of them, but they are incredible. You see these huge granite rocks and wonder how they got there.
ML: What most people are wondering is—how was the skiing? Chris: We had incredible skiing in there. The gully was legit. Didn’t hit a rock until we got into the trees.
ML: Well, great work seizing the day. Chris: Half day, we were back at the car by noon. I had to work that night. But it goes to show, we have four distinct seasons in Squamish and there are always opportunities here if you keep your eyes open. Every time I turn around someone finds something to do. People look at exotic places like the fjords of Norway and Iceland, but we just skied a couloir from summit to almost the ocean like you would in Baffin Island. I put Squamish on the exotic list. We have it all and we have to appreciate it and take care of it. – Feet Banks
