NEW YEAR’S EVE ANNUAL TORCHLIGHT SKI AT KIMBERLEY NORDIC CENTRE

Bruce Kirkby ( @brucekirkby) is a travel writer, photographer, adventurer and explorer. A Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, his most recent book is Blue Sky Kingdom: An Epic Family Journey to the Heart of the Himalaya.

Hidden between the Purcell and Rocky mountains, my sleepy home town of Kimberley, B.C., boasts a world-class Nordic ski facility. For 100 days each winter, I delight in skating and striding around the rolling trails, winding through quiet larch forests, pausing at viewpoints overlooking the majestic Columbia Trench. A threekilometre loop is lit for night skiing, for those days when work stretches too long. But once a season — on New Year’s Eve — the electric lights go dark, replaced by torches and candles. And this is my absolute favourite ski day of the winter. Kimberley Nordic Club’s annual Torchlight Ski fundraiser, organized in support of the local racing team, is a wildly popular event. As darkness descends, the crowds grow. Infants are towed behind parents in sleds. Children race in packs. Headlamps bounce past. Families, friends and strangers flow together through the deep, dark woods, following a trail of flickering orange shadows. The mood is jubilant; the setting surreal. Greetings are shouted, and groups slow to chat before carrying on. Back at the parking lot, the timber-framed lodge is soon packed shoulder to shoulder. Tables are laden with homemade desserts and hot drinks. As the evening winds down (around kid-friendly 9 p.m.), a parade of torch-bearing alpine skiers schuss down the nearby slopes of nearby Kimberley Alpine Resort. Soon afterward, fireworks explode overhead. It’s hard to imagine a better way of ushering in a New Year.