En route to Jasper on July 23, 2024, as part of the Banff wildland firefighting team, Sara-Jay (SJ) Nogel was pretty sure she saw her dream going up in smoke .  Flying above Highway 93N, from her seat in the helicopter, SJ saw a dense plume of smoke up the Athabasca River valley, rising over Wabasso...

At 4:20 p.m. on July 24, 2025—three days after the 100th year anniversary of its first ascent— two men who had been making their way up the steep, crumbly, snow-covered rock of isolated Mount Alberta suddenly ran out of mountain to climb. With radiant smiles shining through the freezing rain, the cl...

A rare ascent of a local peak, a climber campaigning to honour his family, and an uncovered register of heralded names in Jasper National Park’s alpinist community. The ingredients of a mountain tale, if there ever were any. For the past two summers, 31-year-old Andrew Everett has hung his helmet ne...

Jasper roping up for celebrations of Mount Alberta's 1925 inaugural ascent If you are going to steal a mountain in Jasper, I’d recommend Mount Alberta. It’s old (around 75 million years), but lightly used. It’s almost completely hidden from the Icefields Parkway—crowded in among more popular peaks—s...

A new alpine facility will be built at Robson Pass, in B.C.’s Mount Robson Provincial Park. The Alpine Club of Canada (ACC ) has the go-ahead to construct a two-storey, 12-person alpine hut near iconic Berg Lake , at the doorstep of mighty Mount Robson. “We’re super excited,” said Keith Haberl, the ...

Curtain Call, Polar Circus, Weeping Wall…Patricia Street? One of these Rocky Mountain ice climbing classics is not like the other. However, thanks to the creative minds at Rockaboo Mountain Adventures and with support from Travel Alberta, ice climbing is rising up in downtown Jasper. Along with ice ...

The Jasper wildfire was a fiery furnace, temperatures reaching almost 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, hot enough to melt copper and gold.  With such atomic obliteration, will we ever see the forest come back within our lifetime, certainly within mine? In four days in August I would have my answer.  There ...

A painful slog out of Jasper’s backcountry has taught a party of skiers a lesson in being prepared for safe adventuring. Jasper’s John Ward has skied many a mile over many a mountain pass—and made most of his tracks and turns without incident. “I’ve never required any assistance,” Ward said. John Wa...

This is the sequel to Poetry in the Snow , from February 9, 2024. Next day we skied  to the alpine and came across fresh grizzly tracks. One of the things I enjoyed about snow camping was the comforting thought that all the bears were tucked up snugly in their dens and I could get a good night's sle...

Local climbers and Jasper history buffs are gearing up for an exciting tribute to one of the 20th Century’s most significant alpine accomplishments. The Jasper/Hinton section of the Alpine Club of Canada, in conjunction with the Jasper-Yellowhead Historical Society, are hosting a panel discussion on...