The simplicity of the ranch is deceptive. Diamond Head Outfitters, which sits on 60 acres in the Squamish Valley, is comprised of a red barn and a matching tack room, fences, fields, a collection of RV trailers and a teepee.听
It is the horseback adventure company鈥檚 owner Jim Wilson and its horses that make the place something special.听
They carry visitors to the main attraction: a seemingly timeless and mostly untapped, rugged landscape.听
听鈥淭hey get on the horses and they do not expect when they cross through those trees and they go out into that river鈥� all of a sudden you are in Timbuktu,鈥� Wilson said, pointing to the threshold of dense forest beyond his trailer.听
鈥淎ll open mountains, rivers all over the place, eagles flying around, all kinds of game sign: wolf sign, bear sign, elk everywhere. It is like taking people and plopping them into the middle of nowhere.鈥澨�
The river that snakes through his property is particularly unique, Wilson says. 鈥淭he Squamish River is absolutely unbelievable because it changes all the time. I can have good riders鈥� and dive them into areas of 10 feet of water and have them swimming,鈥� he said.听
Average riders can cross areas of the river three or four feet deep, he said.
In the spring, once in the river, his guests are often shocked to look down from their horse to see salmon fry swimming around the hooves, Wilson said.听
鈥淧eople love it, because they just don鈥檛 see it,鈥� he said.听 鈥淚t does look like something that could have been 100 years ago.鈥�
This time of year, people are coming with their cameras to see the eagles, he said.听
鈥淭he wildlife, the scenery, the river; that is the big deal. The ranch itself in a way is sort of a surprise to a lot of people,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t is an open ranch, an open arena, barns, fields.鈥�
Wilson himself is like a character out of a Western movie, complete with pointed-toe cowboy boots, a patched brown leather vest and long hair topped by a cowboy hat that is a constant companion.
His horses mean everything to him. He currently has 12 on the ranch, and in the spring, he brings in about eight more.
听鈥淚鈥檝e had horses in my life since 1970,鈥� he says.听
His favourite horse is his alpha-male Nero, a Canadian 鈥� a breed that is rare, he says.听
Nero stays tucked in behind Wilson whenever the man moves. As Wilson talks to his horse the two are nose to nose and stare into each other鈥檚 eyes.
鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 live without horses,鈥� Wilson says.
Wilson has trained many a Hollywood star and more stuntmen than he can count. Most recently, he trained a fellow called Alex Kyshkovych, who was Leonardo DiCaprio鈥檚 stuntman in the blockbuster The Revenant.听
鈥淗e had no riding experience,鈥� Wilson says. At the time, Wilson was training Kyshkovych鈥檚 girlfriend, so when the young Russian stuntman needed to prepare for riding in the film with only two weeks to go, Wilson and Kyshkovych connected.听
鈥淚 trained him how to ride, how to stop, spin a horse, gallop, everything he needed to do in that movie,鈥� Wilson says, adding he has trained others for movies and TV shows, such as Game of Thrones.
In addition to learning how to ride like a pro, participants at the ranch can learn horse archery and how to fall off a horse, according to Wilson.
Producers have also tracked Wilson down to use him, the ranch and his horses for commercials including advertisements for trucks and cameras.
But these brushes with Hollywood fame are the least interesting thing about Wilson.听
Now age 65, he was a city boy until he turned 20; he graduated from Kitsilano Secondary School.
He was teaching martial arts in Vancouver when he met a First Nations man, Arnold听Nelson, who took him home to his Mount Currie reserve east of Pemberton.
听鈥淚 just never went back,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 was a white guy living on reserve in 1970 and that just didn鈥檛 happen. They took me in and taught me everything: taught me how to break horses, taught me how to breed the herd, taught me everything.鈥澨�
Nelson鈥檚 son got Wilson involved with the rodeo.听
鈥淗e put me through the grind,鈥� Wilson said with a laugh, adding he travelled with a rodeo for five years.听
Wilson moved his business onto the property in 2013.听
Squamish is an ideal place for almost any adventure business, Wilson said.听
鈥淪quamish has got everything you could want: horseback riding, whitewater rafting, mountain climbing, skiing. I mean you can go on and on and on.鈥澨�
Wilson had to start from scratch when he bought his property so for the first six months the company made no money.听
It was all rebuilding the roughly 50-year-old ranch, he said.听
Keeping the horses fed was a challenge for a time, he acknowledges.听
鈥淭his is our first year in three years that I have been able to sit back and breathe at ease because we have 12 tonnes of hay in the barn,鈥� he said.听
鈥淭he last two years every week was struggling by, where are we going to get hay.鈥� 鈥淟ast year we were up 65 per cent from the year before that. The year before that we were up 28 per cent. This year with all we have got going on we could be up 100 per cent.鈥澨�
These days Wilson is focused on the ranch鈥檚 planned expansion.听
Wilson sold 10 per cent of the company to Chinese investors who plan to open a sporting goods shop and Western and Chinese cuisine food trucks on the property.听
There are also plans to expand the horseback archery programs at the ranch and add a tower, lighting and a public address system.
The opportunities are endless, Wilson said, as he gazed out across the field, adjusted his hat and headed for the barn. There was riding to do.
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*** Please note this story has been corrected since it was first published to reflect Wilson's company is the tenant on the property. He does not own the land. Also, the ranch is about 50 years old, not 90 as first reported.听
