God, I was tired. And we still had to hike out. The author on a Mount Christie expedition in 2005, around the same time he celebrated his 60th year. // Liam Harrap I had wanted to see 60 in with a flourish, not a walking stick and a sit on a bench in the Park. That was the reason I was so tired. I h...

Festival will feature astronomy experts, space-themed experiences and signature events that highlight Jasper's exceptional stargazing opportunities Jasper’s dark sky will soon be back in the spotlight. The 15th iteration of the Jasper Dark Sky Festival is set to illuminate the national park October ...

"Returning to Jasper this summer, I found myself rerooting, as an Albertan who spent most of my adult life abroad." The palette beyond our engine was a blinding white. Not snow, not fog, but something closer to the emptied light that those who brush against death claim to glimpse — a blankness that ...

He passed us, not a care in the world as if he were strolling on a tropical beach. He wore running shoes and just a pair of shorts. It was hot, boiling hot as it can be on a glacier with the sun blasting down. The four of us, roped and on the way down, were not in beachwear; we had crampons on and w...

Part 3: Seeing the forest floor through the trees In  Part 1 of our Walking Through Fire series , we discussed how post-fire vegetation bounces back. In Part 2 we looked at animals' attraction to fire . But what did the fire uncover about the landscape itself? The Jasper 2024 fire exposed an epic st...

Even though the summer sun was sweltering, the mother grizzly kept up the search. Eventually, she poked her nose into the ground and started digging. Within minutes, her head and shoulders had vanished underground, and before long she re-emerged with a wriggling prize in her jaws: a Columbian ground...

Part 2: Home is where the hearth is In Part 1 of our Walking Through Fire series , we discussed how post-fire vegetation bounces back. But what about animals' attraction to fire? There is a small stampede of wild things drawn to fire’s heat and the blackened forests it leaves behind. Some pyro-lovin...

Collars, fences and attractant elimination keys to bear management Jasper National Park bear biologists are keeping a close eye on area grizzlies. At the same time, initial steps are being taken for two large fencing projects in the park to help mitigate human-wildlife conflicts. As of June 9, seven...

Earlier this year, Jasper Local publisher Andrea Ziegler skied into a backcountry cabin with her husband and a group of friends. She was not expecting a close encounter with the furred kind. The incident After a fun day of skiing followed by an evening feast, a rowdy game of Liar’s Dice and some bev...

Part 1: Pioneer species on a fire-affected landscape Driving into the park a month after the 2024 Jasper Wildfire, we braced ourselves for a charred-earth landscape. Emotions of loss, devastation, and trepidation followed us in. So when we passed vibrant patches of green grasses springing from newly...

"It's a really incredible time to visit Jasper, to bear witness to a large natural disaster and to see what it means for the ecology of the park and to understand it is part of the natural cycle of the ecosystem here in Jasper." Although the landscape may look different in Jasper National Park this ...

A British Columbia athlete has skied from the summit of the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies. On February 16, Christina Lustenberger and ski mountaineer partner Guillaume Pierrel skied an impossibly steep line through the mind-bending cliffs of the Canadian alpha mountain, Mount Robson. The duo'...

Like thousands of snow thirsty Albertans, I will always love riding at Marmot Basin.  Despite our local mountain not always being in the same condensation conversation as resorts in B.C.’s snowy interior or on the wet coast, unequivocally, some of my most fun days on snow have been at Marmot. Openin...

This is the time of year when competition is on everyone’s mind. The NHL and NBA playoffs have just ended, the 2024 Euros are underway and the Paris Olympics are just around the corner. Everywhere you look, people are straining and sweating to reach the podium or lift the cup (sadly, my Toronto Rapt...

The Jasper SkyTram will be sold to Pursuit. Viad Corp, parent company of Pursuit Banff/Jasper Collection, today announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the Jasper SkyTram from RMSI-JTAC Equipment Holdings LP, the Edmonton-based corporation that also owns Marmot Basin. Subject to Parks ...

Canoe-accessed facilities on Maligne Lake are open again after a camper’s close encounter with a grizzly bear family precipitated two campground evacuations and subsequent closures. Last Friday, June 7, a camper at Coronet Creek campsite , a backcountry tent site on the south end of Jasper National ...

In Jasper, mountains are all around us, but on April 17, at the Jasper Legion, they will take centre stage. A four-feature summer film festival, Mountains On Stage , presented by the local francophone association ( ACFA Jasper ), will inspire and entertain, according to organizers.  “At the end of t...

“Mai, tuktumia’tuit!” That means “Wow, look at all those caribou!” (I think… my Inuktitut has not improved after 30 years of inactivity). It was a cold but sunny morning in late winter, somewhere along the treeline about 100 km west of Arviat, Nunavut. Peter, Joe and I were travelling by snowmobile ...

Knob Quad Chair opens to the public Hoots, hollers and even the occasional “cowabunga!” were reverberating on the upper mountain at Marmot Basin on Wednesday, January 24. The reason? The long-awaited, newly constructed, $7 million Knob Quad Chairlift made its official public debut, whisking skiers a...

Campers, get ready to be happy. Starting next week, Parks Canada’s reservation system opens up and campers looking to enjoy the natural beauty of Jasper National Park, among other national parks and historic sites, will be able to book their trips. The reservation system for Jasper National Park fro...