Grizzly bears ambling across ski resorts in Lake Louise and Jasper forced the closure of lifts and runs over the past week.
Well-known female grizzly bear 138 has caused temporary closures of the front side of the Lake Louise ski hill several times over the past week because she’s been feeding on early season greenup.
And staff at Jasper’s Marmot Basin ski resort maintained a bear watch on the weekend, closing lifts and runs as a grizzly bear made its way to the lower mountain on Sunday (April 24) – the final day of the ski season at Marmot Basin.
At Lake Louise, staff were quick to shut down the front side for bear 138 when she first showed up on Pine Cone Way, Wiwaxy and Cameron’s Way, April 19. She showed up again on the weekend and the front side was off limits to skiers again this week whenever she was there.
Despite efforts to haze her out of the area, bear 138 has continued to come and go from the ski hill, and when she’s there, skiers have been directed to the back side of the resort by going up and down the gondola only.
“The weather has been exceptionally warm for over a month, and the grass is coming out and it’s starting to green up,” said Dan Markham, the ski resort’s director of brand and communications. “It’s perfect for her to come out.”
Bear 138, nicknamed Olivia by ski hill staff, is believed to be about 10 years old.
She emerged from the den in spring of 2014 with two cubs in tow, but bear 138 headed into the den that fall without her cubs. It’s believed a large, male grizzly killed the young-of-year cubs. There are no new cubs in sight this spring.
This female bear is the same bruin that forced an area closure in the past when she denned in the Pipestone Bowl region near the ski hill. She uses the ski hill as part of her home range.
“She mostly comes out on the back side, “ said Markham.
In Jasper, staff at Marmot Basin called Parks Canada’s resource conservation specialists, who herded the grizzly bear into rock gardens. The grizzly came back later, but then made its way down the road.
“The bear showed up on the ski hill Sunday morning. They called us and we basically shooed her away,” said Steve Young, a Parks Canada spokesperson for Jasper National Park.
“It doesn’t seem to be a known bear, but the ski hill is part of its habitat, although it doesn’t usually work out that they’re roaming around at the same time as the ski season.”
At Lake Louise, Markham said, most of the skiers were excited to see the bear when she first appeared, ambling across runs on the front side for a couple of hours.
He said skiers were understanding of the need to close the front side to give her space.
“There was lots of excitement and anticipation,” said Markham.
Parks Canada’s wildlife experts have been monitoring the bear daily. The GPS component of bear 138’s collar no longer works, but they are able to monitor her sporadically using the VHF component of her collar.
Jon Stuart-Smith, a Parks Canada human-wildlife conflict specialist for Lake Louise, said attempts have been made to haze the bear out of the area.
He said resource conservation staff have been trying to haze her.
“We’re letting her decide how she wants to move, which direction she wants to go in,” he said.
“We’ve been working with the ski hill to make sure that none of the runs she’s on are open. The ski hill has been accommodating us in making sure those runs are closed to the public whenever she’s in the area.”
Stuart-Smith said bear 138 is taking advantage of early season greenup in the area, noting it’s not unusual for a female without cubs to be out of the den at this time.
“With the lack of snow at lower elevations, she’s wanting to be in the ski hill area already and keying in on early vegetation greenup,” he said.
“Hopefully she will move to an area where vegetation is greening up that is away from the ski hill.”
Parks Canada will continue to manage the situation with temporary closures of certain runs and the front side as need be, noting there are no plans to implement a formal area closure or warning.
“Right now, we’ve been able to manage visitor safety and allow her to access early season vegetation in this way,” said Stuart-Smith.
“If she continues to persist at the ski area, we may look at implementing a caution or possibly a closure, depending on where she remains active, but we’re not doing that at this point.”
The last day of skiing at Lake Louise is this coming Sunday (May 1). The first day of the summer sightseeing operation begins May 13.
