While Jasper’s mountains, rivers and lakes get plenty of (deserved) air time, it’s the people who live here that make the community welcoming and inclusive. This summer, freelance contributor Georgia Ristivojevic is helping introduce Jasper Local readers to Jasper locals.
Moving halfway across the world can be a daunting task, and even harder so to find somewhere that ticks all the boxes to call home.
On the heels of her first ski season in the Rockies, newcomer Fran Jones has found her happy place, right here in Jasper!
There’s not many places where the local area has so much on offer, Jones says. During winter, visitors and locals can enjoy skiing, touring and ice climbing (to name a few things), plus hiking, climbing, kayaking and more in the summer.
“Skiing brought me to Jasper,” says Fran. “[But] we wanted to stay a whole calendar year. Everyone said it’s really nice [with] gorgeous weather and scenery.”
Jasper can be intoxicating; many locals came to town for a season but stayed a lifetime. Jones has seen the beautiful connections between the mountainous surroundings and welcoming community. She figures that combination keeps people around—at least that’s how she heard about it from a friend working at Marmot Basin.
“[Our friend] was like, ‘you have to go to Jasper, it’s the best place in the world,’” she recalled.
Having helpful contacts can go a long way, especially when it comes to seasonal work, Jones learned.
“It’s all about who you know in Jasper, as we found out, [and so] we found a job with Jasper Rafting Adventures through one of the supervisors at Marmot Basin.
Before she buckled up her raft guide PFD, back home in Wales, Fran had an admirable resume of outdoor pursuits, including a stint as a rally car driver. Being in Jasper has given her the opportunity to share her passions with others as both as a ski instructor and an avid climber.
“I love that Jasper is an active town,” says Fran.
There is more to Jasper than just the outdoors, however. The resilience shown by community members in the past 11 months shows that, no matter what, people love and will continue to love this corner of the Rocky Mountains for years to come.
“I love going about town and recognizing a lot of people,” Jones says. “Everyone wants to chat to each other, and everyone wants to help each other as well, especially after the fire.”
While to long time locals and visitors things may look a little bit different since last summer, to Jones, the charm and beauty of the Athabasca Valley remains the same.
“Sometimes I look up at the mountains and I’m like [they are just] so pretty,” she said.
“Jasper just has everything in the perfect amount.”
Georgia Ristivojevic // info@thejasperlocal.com
