A ride in a helicopter is an occasion for celebration, but a ride in a helicopter flying to Mount Assiniboine Lodge is one that soars into the history of the Canadian Rockies.
A 20-minute chopper ride from Canmore casually floats you over endless mountaintops akin to waves gently approaching the surf. Mount Assiniboine is an easily recognizable place. It’s picturesque landscape, with clear blue waters from Lake Magog and Matterhorn-resembling peak, make it one of the jewels of the area known as the Great Divide along the Alberta/British Columbia border.
Escaping the grasp of the closely-knit pack of mountains, travellers circle a valley adjacent to Canada’s “Matterhorn” where little red rooftop cabins are scattered throughout the area leading up to Mount Assiniboine Lodge. The light brown-coloured logs that make up the building’s exterior shine with newness in the morning light. However, it’s not the building, the scenery, nor the fresh mountain air you can see your breath in after exiting the helicopter that makes this place so special.
The year round snow-covered mountains, the full-bloom summer flowers and the various wildlife passing through all combine to make Canada’s oldest backcountry ski lodge, built in the late 1920s by the Canadian Pacific Railway, memorable, but the people that have lived here have the real story to tell.
“It always meant time with my dad,” said Jennifer Jones, daughter of the first Canadian born mountain guide, Ken Jones, who was one of the pioneer skiers at Mount Assiniboine Lodge. “Coming back here is emotional. I know that dad’s here. He’s always here.”
The younger Jones was part of a large group of tourists, media, staff and Assiniboine Lodge family members celebrating the completion of a restoration project for the lodge’s main building Aug. 15. Taking place from May of 2011 till this past June, the B.C. Parks-funded initiative featured a complete restoration and expansion to the lodge as well as the installation of a hydro-generating system.
Costing approximately $1.5 million, expansions and upgrades were made to the kitchen, sitting room, basement and stairway within the lodge, while a new foundation replaced the original that had caused the building to sink over the last few years. In accordance with the project’s goal of maintaining as much of the original structure as possible, the building was rolled approximately 15 metres forward to fix the foundation.
“The whole bunkhouse structure was jacked up and put on rollers and rolled out of the way while the excavation happened,” explained Robin Zirnhelt, one of the engineers from Cascade Engineering. “This is an interesting project because it is a historic building and the goal is always to retain as much historic fabric as you can while maintaining public safety.
“It was a big undertaking, but the new foundation is probably the single biggest thing to ensure it lasts longer,” he added, noting that all supplies were used with caution since the lodge is only accessible by helicopter, hiking or skiing.
People undertaking immense challenges is nothing new at Mount Assiniboine as author, mountaineer and guide Chic Scott noted in retelling stories of the history behind the lodge and its people to those present for the celebration. Arriving for the first time in 1966, Scott has spent considerable time at the lodge while also studying its history.
“It’s wonderful how these projects pull people together who love history and historic buildings,” Scott said after telling his stories, which stretched all the way back to the first ascent of Assiniboine in 1901, to the journal notes of Canada’s first mountain guide, Hans Gmoser, after his first day on the mountain.
“You can’t allow yourself to get swept away because the story is still the same,” he continued. “It’s about human beings and their search for meaning and love and also relates to where we are in the natural world that we live in.
“We live in cities and visit our mountains, whereas in Europe they actually live in the mountains. This is similar to a European type of lodge where a family owns it and runs it and they actually live here. There’s a different feeling here. It’s not just the staff or the hired help. These are people that have a long-term vested interest in the place, the environment, the building, the clientele and I think they do a wonderful job.”
The ‘they’ Scott referred to involves the select families that have lived with the lodge and maintained its place in the history of the Canadian Rockies. For them, the restoration project is a long time coming.
“I think this has been such a long journey. It’s been a dream of my parents every since they took over the lodge,” said Sara Renner, whose parents, Sepp and Barb, ran the lodge for the last 30 years. Sara’s brother, Andre, along with his business partner, Claude Duchesne, now hold the lease on the lodge for the next 20 years.
“This place for people is so much bigger than just a beautiful mountain and a lake,” she continued. “It’s a spirit place and having the lodge here makes it accessible for so many more people. It’s exactly what should have happened and it’s beyond the biggest wish we could have imagined.”
“Working here is a part of history,” added Duchesne. “For us, we have to keep the history alive.”
For those assembled around the lodge listening to Scott retell stories while sipping on regularly served afternoon tea, the lodge’s significance becomes readily apparent as guests partake in what has been done since its incarnation. Having notable people such as Scott, Sepp and Barb Renner and even Bridget Jones, the wife of Ken Jones who worked at the lodge in the ‘50s, on hand instills a sense of reliving history.
The lodge, campground and small Naiset Huts are open for the public to explore and learn about a time when people did a lot with very little. As Renner points out, Mount Assiniboine stays the same while the people that visit leave with something different.
“The thing that happens with Assiniboine is that nothing really changes,” she said. “That’s the beauty about this place. Time melts into time … people come and they feel like this is the one place on earth where nothing changes. That sort of spirit of the place and the people, that’s something you take home with you to your regular lives.
“This place has far greater plans for itself.”
