He was a backcountry ski guide, Second World War veteran, hotel proprietor, boat operator, horseman, trail builder and a fuel truck driver who navigated the rugged back roads of the Rockies and Selkirks.
When Syd Feuz died last Friday (March 21) at 92, he represented one of a handful of remaining direct links to the first Swiss mountain guides employed by the Canadian Pacific Railway in the early 20th century who contributed immeasurably to shaping the recreational industry and mountain culture of Western Canada.
Syd was born in Golden, B.C. in 1922, the third of eight children to Johanna and Walter Feuz who immigrated to Canada in 1912, along with Walter’s older brothers, Ernest and Edouard, and their wives. Their father, Edouard Feuz Sr. and Christian Haesler were the first Swiss guides hired by the CPR in 1899 to lead guests safely up the surrounding peaks from the railway’s hotels in Field and Rogers Pass, B.C. While Edouard Sr. returned to Switzerland, his three sons, also mountain guides, settled permanently in Golden, midpoint between Lake Louise and Rogers Pass.
The Feuz families lived at Edelweiss Swiss Village, constructed by the CPR for them. Idyllic in appearance, the houses were draughty in winter, stifling hot in summer. Situated prominently on a bench in full view of train passengers, it was a long two-kilometre walk to and from shops and school.
Like his siblings and cousins, Syd learned to ski, hike and climb with his father and uncles. Taking advantage of free train passage, they explored the mountains around Lake Louise and the CPR’s iconic Chateau. In winter, Syd helped older guides shovel snow from the roofs of lodges at Lake O’Hara and Emerald Lake. For three summers he assisted his aunt, Martha, (Ed Jr.) who ran the teahouse at Plain of Six Glaciers. He also piloted the tour boat on Lake Louise for his father, who ran the boathouse in addition to guiding clients up the area’s landmark peaks. The summer of 1941, Syd worked digging ditches and driving a truck for Mannix Construction, helping build Minnewanka Dam near Banff.
A keen skier, Syd climbed up and skied down slopes that would years later form part of Lake Louise and Kicking Horse resorts, where today Feuz Bowl is named for him and his family.
At just 16, Syd began working for Skoki Lodge, guiding guests from nearby Temple Lodge, the halfway stopover between the railroad and Skoki. As such, Syd became the first Swiss-Canadian guide, but his mountain career was interrupted by the war.
In 1942, like many 20-year-old Canadian men, he left to serve his country aboard a navy ship for three years, sailing south from Victoria through the Panama Canal up to Halifax and then across the Atlantic to Scotland, twice.
Following the war he returned to Golden and married his sweetheart, Baeda, and they raised three children, Paul, Karen and Annalisa.
Reconnecting with his passion for skiing, Syd guided backcountry tours in the Rockies with clients that included Banff ski pioneers Dick Pyke and Cliff White. On one multi-day trip he guided a group from Saskatchewan River Crossing up the Howse River to the Freshfield Icefield.
When his daughter Karen developed a keen interest in horses, Syd and Baeda moved their family onto a 140-acre farm on the Blaeberry River, 20 minutes north of Golden. Living in the Blaeberry suited her dad, Karen recalled.
“He’d go every spring and clear trails,” Karen said. “He kept them open for other people to use. To him, clearing trail was a good day’s fun.”
Then, in the mid-1970s, as the heli-skiing industry literally took off, Syd earned his dream job. Swiss-born mountain guide Rudi Gertsch, who was guiding for heli-skiing pioneer Hans Gmoser’s Canadian Mountain Holidays, launched his own business, Purcell Heli Skiing. At 51, Syd passed the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides’ apprentice ski guide exam and began guiding for Gertsch.
“I thought if I could get Syd guiding for us for 10 years, that would be great, he knew these mountains so well,” Gertsch said. “He ended up guiding with us for 28 years.”
Ski guiding, Karen said, brought unmatched joy to her dad’s life.
“My dad loved the mountains so much,” Karen said. “He just loved guiding for Rudi. There was no opportunity to work as a guide until much later in his life. How wonderful that he finally got that opportunity.”
In 2010, Syd experienced one of the proudest moments of his life just weeks before his 88th birthday, when he was chosen to carry the Olympic torch as it passed through Golden en route to Vancouver.
Syd’s life was even the subject of a biographical book, A Golden Mountain Tale: The Lucky Life of Syd Feuz.
A memorial date TBA will be posted at www.hindmanbowersfuneralhome.com/index.php.
