Family and friends of a Beaumont man who disappeared a year ago, gathered this weekend at the BC ski resort where he was last seen.

20-year-old Ryan Shtuka disappeared after leaving a house party at Sun Peaks Resort in the early morning hours of February 17, 2018.

Countless searches haven’t turned up a trace of the young man, or any clues as to his whereabouts.

“We could spend years here and we could probably not hit anywhere close to anything we need to do,” said Ryan’s mother, Heather Shtuka. “Despite what reality tells me I can’t quite give up hope, I won’t ever give up hope until we know for sure what happened.”

Shtuka says the community of Kamloops has been a pillar of support for everyone involved.

“It’s a place that I feel comfortable with just because they were there when we came and we were so desperate, frantic, raw and open and you could see it in their eyes that they felt pain for us,” she said.

On Saturday she tried snowboarding for the first time in a tribute to her son and something he would’ve done the day before his disappearance.

“Maybe to replace some of the memories of last year and have some new memories to add to that I suppose.”

Despite the pain of not knowing where her son is, she remains hopeful that keeping the case in the spotlight will allow for more tips to come in.

“I’m hoping for that piece of the puzzle that we’re missing and I still don’t know what that is I don’t know if it’s because somebody knows something, even if it’s obscure and they don’t think it matters,” she said.

“I don’t know if we’re not searching the right places, I just don’t know what that puzzle piece that we have is missing.”