'Disneyfication' Jasper? Park lovers cold toward Brewster's Icefieds Parkway plans

 By Stephen A. Nelson 

 People in Jasper used to say that the last thing that wanted was to be like Banff - now they've got something they want even less and fear more

When it comes to exploring the Canadian Rockies, Ben Gadd wrote the book. Literally.

The naturalist and independent master guide has published nine books helping trekkers to go into the wild, including the award-winning Handbook of the Canadian Rockies and The Canadian Hiker's and Backpacker's Handbook.

So when Gadd says that a new tourist attraction in the middle of a UNESCO World Heritage Site is a really bad idea  – in the order of turning Jasper National Park into Disneyland – people listen.

That's why scores of people in Jasper – business owners, residents, students alike – packed a meeting room on Monday night to listen to Gadd. Many of them added their fears and objections to the chorus of opposition, while one or two supporters took turns at singing a solo counterpoint.

The tourist attraction in question is Brewster Travel's proposed Glacier Discovery Walk, a 400-metre-long interpretative trail — bolted to the side of the mountain — and ending with an glass-floored observation deck that extends about 30 metres over the Sunwapta Valley and the river below. 

Brewster says it will draw urbanized, armchair explorers to discover their heritage and give them an enhanced visitor experience. “It’s about connecting Canadians back to their national parks," says Brewster president, Mike Hannan. “We think it will appeal to a broad cross-section of Canadians, young people, the elderly, immigrants."

Ben Gadd

But Gadd says the skywalk at Tangle Ridge — a highway viewpoint along the Jasper's Icefields Parkway – is not only unthinkable, it's unethical.  And far from enhancing the experience, it will offer a commercial artificial thrill in place of a free natural wonder.

"Cutting through the high-sounding talk about... better interpretation at the site, we are left with a ho-hum commercial amusement," that disturbs the wildlife Gadd says. And, he fears, "it might be a commercial amusement with a hidden agenda."

More later...