A Bridge Too Far: Athabasca Glacier from the Morraines

The Athabasca (Athabaska) Glacier is part of the Columbia Icefield that sits atop the Great Divide and spans Jasper and Banff National Parks.

It's vanishing and shrinking at an ever-increasing rate.

But don't worry, there's no such thing as Global Warming.

Photo copyright: Stephen A. Nelson

'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...

Maligne Lake in Jasper National Park, the Lawren Harris Group of Seven Way?

When Evening Falls

Photo By Stephen A. Nelson

A view of Maligne Lake, in Jasper National Park, at dusk. 

No special effects, FX, PhotoShop or CGI here.

Except for the boathouse, I imagine this is how Lawren Harris might have seen it when he came here.

I took this photo while leading a Japanese television crew on a tour of the Maligne Valley.

We followed up with dinner at the Kimchi House in Jasper - best Korean food this side of Seoul.

Coming Soon: Touring the Icefields Parkway Athabasca Falls - Let Justice Flow Like Water

Flowing from the glaciers of the Columbia Icefield all the way to the Arctic Ocean, the Athabasca River is the largest river system in Jasper National Park. As such, it is a living textbook of Canada's natural and human history.

Surely the highlight of any tour of the Jasper and the Icefields Parkway has to be a stop at Athabasca Falls, just half an hour south of Jasper's townsite.

The 23-metre Athabasca Falls is not very high by Canadian Rockies standards, but the size of the river makes it one of the most powerful falls to be found in the mountain national parks.
Niagara Falls are bigger, but these are more wild.

Coming Soon: Touring the Icefields Parkway Emerald Waters at Lake Louise

Lake Louise, with the Victoria Glacier in the background.
It's one of the highlights of my Highway to Heaven trip with Brewster Tours. Think of it as armchair mountain adventure.

Lake Louise is at the southern end of the Icefields Parkway that runs from Jasper to Lake Louise. National Geographic says The Icefields Parkway is one of the 10 greatest drives in the World.