Tales from the
MOUNTAIN STORY BY FRANCOIS BUYS ’25 (LONSDALE’S) PHOTOGRAPHY BY ARDEN GILL
IT IS SOMEWHAT INCREDIBLE THAT SHAWNIGAN IS CELEBRATING SKI WEEK’S 50TH ANNIVERSARY, AND EVEN MORE SO THAT I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO PARTICIPATE SO THOROUGHLY IN MY FIRST YEAR AT THE SCHOOL. My name is Francois Buys; I am the son of two South African immigrants, and above all, I am a proud skier. Saying that I have figuratively lived and breathed the slopes for much of my life would be an understatement. From the logging town of Quesnel, British Columbia, my family and I would traverse through the acres of snowy countryside to reach Troll Ski Resort, a secluded paradise of almost familial friends, avid ski enthusiasts, and Australian lift attendants. From the very introduction of my skis on Manning Park Resort’s terrain, I felt right at home. However, my passion for the mountain did not just dwell on the hill; instead, I found new life within the Shawnigan community. Ski Week is so much more than just a week away from school. Ski Week is the lifelong memories you form with people from all walks of life. Ski Week is the dramas you’ll tell your grandchildren about. Ski Week is campfire stories and karaoke nights. But more than this, Ski Week is a ton of fun. To be completely honest, Ski Week did not seem so appealing the first time I heard about it. I was strongly against the idea of wasting a week at some boring ski hill when I would
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much rather be at home within the comforting embrace of friends and family. This being said, after lots of persuasion from House Directors, School staff, and friends, I decided to take the plunge and spend the week at Manning Park. One of the most assertive voices during my bargaining sessions was that of Jakob. Jakob ended up being one of two roommates I would spend the entire week with. He is somewhat remarkable, and between his blunt sense of humour and indecipherable dialect of English lies a true gem of a friend. We sat together on the bus to Manning Park, and during the seemingly never-ending journey, I found comfort within our shared laughter and roadside conversations. Jakob was a single-plank kind of guy, and I was the direct opposite, a skiing aficionado. So, naturally, my tips and tricks on the mountain were about as helpful as you might expect. Jakob had only been snowboarding a few times, and never on Manning Park’s slopes. Despite the falls, the waiting, and the struggling to dismount from the chairlift, it was one of the most enjoyably satisfying experiences to finally achieve the end of a run. Interestingly, Ski Week hosts some of the school year’s most creative and exciting inter-House events, ones that I would never have had the opportunity to experience had I still attended school in Quesnel. I did my best to participate in as many as humanly possible, pushing my mental capacity to new lengths I had previously thought impossible.
