This story was originally published by The Jasper Local in 2014 Nine months ago, Jasper’s Margo Bereska knew she had to go to Hawaii. She didn’t know why, or for how long. She just knew she had to go. “I have to follow my heart,” she said at the time. “I don’t get the details. I just get the hits.” ...

It was 1993. May. The almost two-month long siege at Waco Texas had just ended in terrible massacre; the siege of Sarajevo by the Bosnian Serbs was into its second year. The following month would see TVs final episode of Cheers and rave reviews for blockbuster movie Jurassic Park. There was no fanfa...

Downstairs at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge, tucked away in the hotel’s east wing, not far from the entrance to the staff cafeteria, a portal exists. It is a gateway to a culinary experience unlike any other in Jasper.  An ornately designed curtain covers a small entryway (watch your head!). ... cr...

The Jasper Yellowhead Museum and Archives is hoping a new exhibit will become the bedrock of the institution. The museum is planning to create a geological education area, a permanent showpiece which will pay tribute to a Canadian geologist who conducted much of his field work in Jasper National Par...

When Dwain Gilzene came to Canada from Jamaica, he had $40 to his name. He was 25-years-old, had never been out of his home country and was hoping that by following his sister to Jasper, he’d be able to create a better life for himself and his daughter. Because he was relocating halfway across the w...

My last thought before falling asleep after a long, cold day on the trail was “heaven is a lasagna of sleeping bags.” At least that’s what my last thought was supposed to be. Instead, as I zipped myself into three layers of down-lined, thermal quilts, supported by two air mattresses in a finally-war...

Back in Jack Pugh’s day, there was no such thing as lycra or carbon fibre. Ski bindings tightened with lugs and cables, and after you climbed up a mountain with 215 cm wooden skis on your “bedroom slipper” lace-up boots, you wrapped your seal hide skins around your waist to descend. Jack will be 90 ...

If Alberta’s beer industry was a batch of microbrew, in 2005, when the Jasper Brew Pub opened its doors, the batch’s barley would have had scarcely made it to the mill. Today, not only has the mash been converted, the yeast been added to the wort and the beer been filtered, carbonated and cellared, ...

The Jasper Folk Music Festival is singing a new tune these days. The festival, which was cancelled last year for a lack of a suitable location, is in talks with the Municipality of Jasper to host the event on the yet-to-be-named Exchange Lands. “So far everything is on course,” said vice-chairperson...

Estelle Blanchette wants the world to eat in Jasper. For the last few years, as part of her overseas marketing work with Tourism Jasper, Estelle Blanchette would often hear about up-and-coming trends in tourism. Like wine, some of these were half corked (segway tours, anyone?), while others seemed t...

Night of Lies—an evening featuring tales of struggles, near misses and debauchery while working and playing in the Rockies—is coming to Jasper. The event originated in Calgary 17 years ago before finding a permanent home in the Bow Valley. Now, thanks to Rockaboo Mountain Adventures, Night of Lies i...

It started with Pyramid Mountain. And a two-dollar child seat on the back of my Rocky Mountain Blizzard. We’d been in Jasper for two months yet I hadn’t really noticed the mountain before. Then all of a sudden, as though the mountain had dropped from Heaven the previous night, I saw it for the first...

“In the theatre, there’s a name for people who create together- it’s called an ensemble. Take a look around the circle.  “This is your ensemble for the week. And because they’re in your ensemble, it’s your job to take care of them onstage. Each one of your jobs is to raise the rest of your ensemble ...

It’s 10 minutes before noon at the Jasper Curry House. Owner and head chef, Gopal Shelke, is busy making naan bread. His hands move like he’s playing a tabla: rhythmic, graceful and lightning fast. Shelke turns the dough, slaps it, rolls it out and portions it off. He dabs the segments with butter a...

She makes you want to shout: Young punker plugging into self confidence Amid the swirl of sound between open mic sets at the Jasper Legion, a young woman dressed in black leather pants and a skin tight Cramps t-shirt plugs her bass guitar into the amplifier. Some members of the audience are noticeab...

Athabasca River Brigade honours history, environment and cultural connections of Canada’s cross-continental waterway More than 170 adventurers have a new appreciation for the challenges—and connections—early settlers and fur traders would have experienced after a six day, 333 km trip on the Athabasc...

When Mountains of Relief set out to organize a musical event the Jasper Legion, they did so with two goals in mind. The first was to raise money for the development of a school in the community of Lisakhani, Nepal, which was destroyed by an earthquake in 2015. The second was to bring the community o...

George Mercer’s new novel puts the spotlight on Jasper National Park development // supplied “We’re kind of loving this park to death. Too many people in my opinion.” So says park warden John Haffcut in George Mercer’s newest novel, Jasper Wild , the third and latest instalment in Mercer’s Dyed in t...

  Valemount brewery taking pint-sized steps to success     “That’s clean,” Landon Shepherd says, analyzing his first sip of a freshly poured beer. Learning it’s been dubbed Sacrifice Red Ale, a tribute to those who serve their country, Shepherd likes what he’s tasting. “That’s really nice. My wife i...