qMAS Quarterly
INSIDE THIS ISSUE: The Men Who Measured Mountains - 2
Website Spotlight - 5
Featured Books - 6
A Recipe from the Archives - 7
Upcoming Programs - 8
Welcome to 2026 at the qathet Museum andArchives!Ourteamhaspreparedahost ofnewandengagingprogramsandexhibits foryoutoenjoy.
During the first few months of 2026, qMAS is pleased to participate in Vancouver Island University’s WEST Program by hosting a student for a work placement at the museum. The WEST Program supports students with developmental and cognitive disabilities by developing personal, interpersonal, academic, life, and employment skills thatpromoteindependenceandprepare participants to obtain and maintain meaningfulemployment.
Our Annual Report will be published soon andwillbeavailableonourwebsite: https://qathetmuseum.ca/news-reports/. What’s new?
To stay up to date, follow us @qathetMuseum on
Powell River’s Snow Surveys
by Devan Gillard
What were the Powell River Snow Surveys?
Each year in March, the Powell River Mill sent engineering staff into the mountains behind Powell Lake to conduct snow surveys. These surveys measured snowfall and estimated spring and summer runoff, information that was essential for predicting lake levels and planning mill operations.
In heavy snow years, rising lake levels increased power generation at the Powell River Dam, allowing the mill to rely more on electric boilers In contrast, lighter snowfall meant greater dependence on more expensive oil-fired boilers.
The exact start date of the snow surveys is unknown, though photographs indicate they were already underway in the early 1920s. By 1954, the Powell River Digester had noted six survey courses, which were later reduced to the two most reliable runoff predictors.
According to Graeme McCahon in Mysterious Powell Lake, survey crews traveled by boat to the head of Powell Lake and then hiked to an upper snow cabin at 3,000 feet. In winter conditions, this journey could take up to five hours on snowshoes. By 1968, helicopters were used, greatly reducing travel time.
PR Lockie
Many Powell River Company employees participated in the snow surveys over the years, but one prominent figure was Percival (Percy) Robert Lockie, commonly known as PR Lockie. Born in England in 1900, Lockie immigrated to Canada with his family during the Great Depression.
Lockie was a passionate and accomplished outdoorsman whose interests included climbing, lacrosse, boxing, and lifeguarding. He served as the first gym instructor at Brooks School and later worked as a draftsperson in the Powell River Mill’s engineering department. A dedicated mountaineer, Lockie is credited as one of the first recorded climbers to ascend Bear Tooth Mountain in 1935. A March-April 1954 Digester article described him as someone who “has climbed every hill and peak within fifty miles of Powell River and hunted and fished every stream or mountain lake in the watershed.”
Lockie’s legacy is further cemented by Lockie’s Table, a mountain named in his honour Lockie was the first recorded person to scale it and reportedly completed the climb 75 times during his lifetime.
Lockie’s involvement in the snow surveys began as early as 1941, and he continued participating until the age of 65. He passed away in 1976, leaving behind a remarkable legacy of exploration, athleticism, and community contribution.
P R Lockie in a boat up Powell Lake during a snow survey, 1943 | 2007 50 05807
Building Number 2 Snow Survey Camp, 1937 | PH004297
P R Lockie in front of a survey cabin at the head of Powell Lake, 1943 | 2007 50 05814
Ozzie Stevenson
Oswald (Ozzie) Stevenson was another avid climber who took part in the snow surveys. He was also an accomplished photographer and photographer served as the Powell River Company’s staff photographer. Stevenson first came to Powell River in 1911 from Hamilton, Ontario.
In addition to his photographic work, Stevenson was a contributor to the Powell River Company’s monthly Digester. In the October 1939 issue, he wrote:
“Why does a man climb a mountain? … More than anything else, the underlying urge to explore a new country is probably responsible, and the mountain stands, patient in their majesty, with countless untrod slopes hanging in the blue haze; enticing, inviting, and daring him to venture.”
Stevenson served with the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War. Locally, however, was best known as a mountaineer with a camera in hand, documenting both the rugged landscape and the people who ventured into it.
Sources
PowellRiverDigester,1941.https://qathetmuseum.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/digester-1941prhma exoptmed .pdf.
March-April Powell River Digester, 1954. https://qathetmuseum.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/digester1954-prhma exoptmed .pdf
Mobley, Carla. Mysterious Powell Lake: A Collection of Historical Tales. Hancock House Publishers, 1984, p.7179
PowellRiverDigester,1927.https://qathetmuseum.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/PRDigester-1927.pdf PRPeak, “25yearsagointhePeak:Mountainnamedformanwhoclimbeditmost”.https://www.prpeak.com/inthe-community/25-years-ago-in-the-peak-mountain-named-for-man-who-climbed-it-most-5417813
Ossie Stevenson during Snow Survey | PH001910
Capturing Mountains
Like the article above? Want to read more? Visit the Capturing Mountains page on our website. It explores the cultural and mountaineering history of the mountains behind Powell River, highlighting Indigenous knowledge and stories from the Tla’amin, shíshálh, Homalco, and Klahoose First Nations including the Beartooth Mountain flood story and ancient trade routes. The page also documents early 20th-century local mountaineers, particularly P.R. Lockie, Albert Adams, and O.J. Stevenson, whose explorations, photographs, and recorded first ascents left a lasting legacy reflected in place names and archival images.
*This online resource is best viewed on a desktop browser.
Have you gotten your 2026 Museum Membership? Get it
Featured Books and Merch
Crushed Wild Mint
$19.95
By Jess Housty
Crushed Wild Mint is a collection of poems embodying land love and ancestral wisdom, deeply rooted to the poet’s motherland and their experience as a parent, herbalist, and careful observer of the patterns and power of their territory. Jess Housty grapples with the natural and the supernatural, transformation and the hard work of living that our bodies are doing―held by mountains, by oceans, by ancestors, and by the grief and love that come with communing.
A Recipe from the Archives . . .
Found in Lund then and Now with Recipes. “Celebrating 125 Years Lund, BC 1998-2014", p. 61.
Blackberry Crisp
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 and 1/2 cups white sugar, divided
1 tsp. baking powder
1.2 tsp. salt
6 tbsp. cold butter
1.4 cup boiling water
2 tbsp. cornstrarch
1.4 cups cold water
1 tbsp. lemon juice
3 cups fresh-washed blackberries
Preheat oven to 400 F (200 C). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. In a large bowl, mix the flour, ½ cup sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in butter until the mixture resembles coars crumbs. Stir in ¼ cup boiling water just until mixture is evenly moist.
In a seperate bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in cold water. Mix in remaining 1 cup of sugar, lemon juice and blackberries. Transfer to a cast iron skillet and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Drop dough into the skillet by spoonfuls. Place skillet on the foil lined baking sheet. Bake 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until dough is golden brown.
