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The 1963 map of Hollyburn Mountain, researched and created by the Boy Scout Troop at St. George's School, was the was the most elaborate of their three maps and the only one printed in colour. It provides us with a detailed look at the mountain before the devastating chairlift fire in June, 1965. (David Moorhouse Collection)

 Tony Puddicombe was one of scouts from St. Georges School who worked on the map with his scoutmaster, Mr. Riley, and has provided the Hollyburn Heritage Society with the following memoire.

I was 13 and in Grade 7 and had joined the St. Georges Scout troop. My
brother John was also a member and ended up having one of his photos on the
back of the map.

Mr. Riley was one of those "eccentric Englishmen'. He had great energy and
it was a trial to keep up with him as he walked rapidly with great strides.
He really enjoyed being a scoutmaster and spent a lot of volunteer time
being one. We boys felt he was an odd character, and used to mimic his
mannerisms of speech. However, I remember we did that to every teacher and
made one so frustrated and anxious that he left the school. 13-15 year olds
can be very nasty to teachers. Mr. Riley he was always fair and very helpful
to us. He was also an enthusiastic hobby printer and had several presses
at home. I remember him handing out in class a multipage review of all the
typefaces and ways of printing. He loved detail, as can be seen with the
wealth of information on the maps.

He decided we needed a project and thought making an accurate map of
Hollyburn would be a great endeavour. We would go up the chairlift and walk
about knocking on cabin doors trying to find out the names of all the
owners. One winter day I remember using rolls of string and a protractor to
accurately map one of the lakes-I guess he felt the government maps were not
accurate enough! Once the map was ready I remember handing it out at the
bottom of the chairlift as people bought tickets.

The troop had a photo contest and the best ones ended up on the map.

Tony Puddicombe
April 21, 2010