The mother of an Abbotsford snowboarder who died four years ago on Grouse Mountain says her family did not mean to offend anyone by placing small memorials on several mountain peaks in B.C.

The memorial plaques were crafted out of either copper or bronze with various references to help commemorate the life of Danny Epp, who was 22 when his body was found on the popular North Vancouver ski destination in 2006.

However, their placement on some of the rockiest terrain in B.C. has drawn criticism from the local hiking community.

A forum on the popular outdoor enthusiast website, www.clubtread.com, has dozens of negative, sometimes angry comments, all of which were posted beginning on Monday, Aug. 9.

"As far as I'm concerned, it's pollution," wrote someone by the username of ShadowChaser, who resides in Langley, according to the website.

". . . and it appears as though his family has been 'spamming' mountain tops ever since.

"I understand a family needs to grieve, but it should be done sensibly and without polluting the world.

"I'm going to show my 'respect' to the mountains, it's chisel time. The same goes with any other memorial, pollution, or other disrespect I come across."

Others on the forum supported the idea of vandalizing the plaques, but Danny's mother, Fran, hopes nothing more negative will come from this.

"We realize that when we started this that of course you're going to get negative attitude," she said, adding one memorial has been hacked out of its concrete hold.

"We accepted it. We're very positive people and we knew that from the beginning that it would be a possibility," she said.

"We personally don't feel like we're polluting. This was just strictly a personal family thing that we do and the few that we have up there, we've tried to put them out of the way so they're not in a populated location."

According to various online sources, including www.tetongravity.com, the Epp family planned to climb 22 mountains, one for each year Danny was alive.

Fran Epp would not go into further detail about the memorials, including how many have been planted to date, or whether the family was permitted to do so in provincial parks.

The online www.clubtread.com forum named 11 sites where plaques for Danny had been put up, some of which belong to B.C. provincial parks.

Information provided by the B.C. Ministry of Environment said the text on a commemorative plaque must be approved by B.C. Parks, and can only be installed on park furniture such as benches or picnic tables.

But rather than focus on the negative, which she said is not what the Epp family is about, Fran remained positive.

"He was an amazing son," she said.

camtuckertimes@gmail.com