“That was a first descent, mate!” announced our ski guide Pat Delaney with a wide grin: cue whoops and high fives all round after all, how often does a regular skier get to make a first descent?

In a corner of carver Richard Pollard’s workshop in the back of his Bella Coola home is a small replica of the wood-hewn memorial he is making for his brother. It is a grizzly bear holding a copper ...