Ice skating is physics. A narrow blade applying an exact pressure on the ice, enough to melt it quickly but briefly, lubricating the metal, allowing the skater to enjoy almost frictionless travel. Physics fundamentals: Ice floats and kids slide. // Bob Covey The freezing of lakes and rivers itself i...

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...

As much as Jasper’s recent history has been shaped by its status as a national park, Jasper is very much a railroad town. For more than 100 years, the parallel tracks that slash through this landscape have shaped Jasper’s story, delivering the goods and equipment that built Jasper, transporting the ...

The playful bending of personal knowledge, documented history and mythology—kindled from the stories of First Nations cultures he has deep reverence and respect for—informs author Cameron Wilson’s  Ancestors: Great Spirit Remembers A former Jasperite is leaning on his experience as a wilderness expl...

Chris Dunlop wasn’t really given a chance to be a railroader.  Years ago, when Dunlop applied to CN, the recruiters of the day took one look at his thick glasses and dismissed his application. “They never called me back,” he recalled. It took Chris Dunlop (aka Z.O.) a day to set up the TrainMania tr...

Forest grove transplanting project uncovers relics of human settlement in community greenspace Jasperites came together to transplant a forest grove on Jasper’s storied Snapes Hill May 14, while at the same time, clues of the area’s human history were excavated by the town’s very own mayor. Communit...

How can we recognize you if we don’t know who you are? This was the message received by members of the Aseniwuche Winewak Nation (AWN) when they began to engage with the Government of Canada to press their rights as a First Nations people. This was a bitter irony, given that the Indigenous communiti...

Discovered insignia recalls renowned WWII regiment From time to time, events unfold that remind us that Jasper only feels like a bubble. That we are, and have long been, inextricably connected to the wider world. Recently, of course, the event in question has been the COVID-19 pandemic. But on a hik...