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Marion Burfield has written and self-published the biography of her father, Harry Burfield, a pioneer of B.C. skiing. In its 176 pages, Flight was in his Spirit (Rikkur Publishing 2012) documents some of the history of skiing in British Columbia and the U.S. Pacific Northwestern States with over 270 archival and personal images, with particular emphasis on the beginnings of recreational skiing on Hollyburn Mountain and Tod Mountain (now known as Sun Peaks). Born in Revelstoke in 1915, Harry Burfield died on Sun Peaks Mountain in 1971.
From her website: "As the second child of Harry and Katherine Burfiled, I was born on June 2, 1955 in North Vancouver, British Columbia. Since Dad came from an English background, one of his favourite stories read to him as a child was Robin Hood. My first name came from that story and Mom gave me her second name. I spent my first four years at Hollyburn Mountain in West Vancouver.
"I don't remember much about that era, with the exception of my first experiences of skiing. Dad would strap on our skis and away we would go down the hill. With my tiny skis between his much longer ones, I would hang on to his legs. Dad used the same technique to teach my brother, Richard. Being a tomboy, I got myself into many predicaments as a child and often found myself injured. At the age of six I broke my leg by the Burfield Lodge. The ski patrol didn't have far to go to bring me in."
[BCBW 2012]
Review of the author's work by BC Studies:
Flight was in his Spirit: The Life of Harry Burfield
From her website: "As the second child of Harry and Katherine Burfiled, I was born on June 2, 1955 in North Vancouver, British Columbia. Since Dad came from an English background, one of his favourite stories read to him as a child was Robin Hood. My first name came from that story and Mom gave me her second name. I spent my first four years at Hollyburn Mountain in West Vancouver.
"I don't remember much about that era, with the exception of my first experiences of skiing. Dad would strap on our skis and away we would go down the hill. With my tiny skis between his much longer ones, I would hang on to his legs. Dad used the same technique to teach my brother, Richard. Being a tomboy, I got myself into many predicaments as a child and often found myself injured. At the age of six I broke my leg by the Burfield Lodge. The ski patrol didn't have far to go to bring me in."
[BCBW 2012]
Review of the author's work by BC Studies:
Flight was in his Spirit: The Life of Harry Burfield
