It’s impossible to imagine exactly what David Thompson thought as he first arrived in the beautiful Athabasca Pass in January, 1811. It is, however, possible to do the journey yourself and make your own thoughts. 

That’s just what a group of people did to coincide with the Thompson bi-centennial on Jan. 10 and 11. Ten Parks Canada employees split into three groups, and four private groups followed in Thompson’s footsteps in the middle of winter. They braved the cold, snow and even the warm weather that melted snow and soaked clothing, all for a chance to see just what Thompson did. 

“It was a great experience. There was a lot of challenges but it was fun as well,” said Mike Dillon, one of the Parks staffers that made the journey. 

Although Jasper was stuck in a seemingly never-ending deep freeze the week Dillon went up the pass, he says the temperature hovered around 0 C for the majority of the 60-kilometre trip. 

“It was actually quite warm when we started off,” he said. 

Thompson recorded in his journal that the temperature started out extremely cold and warmed up as they went along. Dillon’s group experienced the opposite. 

The beginning of the pass is at Moab Lake, and Dillon said there wasn’t enough snow for them to ski. In the summer the pass is shortened because a road pushes right through to Moab Lake. The people in Dillon’s group were all pulling sleds with their supplies on them. 

Dillon’s group was aided by a faster group ahead of them that was breaking the snow-filled trail. That group, of 11 people, had wider skis, and each person could take turns breaking trail and switch to the back of the pack when tired. 

“They were a pretty strong group,” Dillon said. He says the fast group was going at a rate of about six kilometres in three hours. 

The higher up they went, the deeper the snow got. Dillon imagined what Thompson would have gone through with his homemade gear. The 2011 explorers were lucky enough to have state-of-the-art equipment that included fiberglass sleds, down sleeping bags, Goretex and gas for cooking. Thompson would have had snowshoes made of wood, wool and fur clothing, and heavy, wooden sleds. 

The cross country skis helped speed up the process for the modern day adventurers as well. One group brought backpacks instead of sleds, and they were able to go much faster. 

When asked whether he would try the pass without modern conveniences, Dillon’s answer is to the point; “No,” he said. “I think we got a pretty good sense of what it would have been for them.”

When Thompson arrived at the top of the pass, he recorded in his journal that his men took a long pole and stuck it into the ground, and were unable to find the bottom of the snow. Dillon said they measured the snow at about 1.8 metres, adding that it is way more than what has fallen in the Jasper townsite. 

“It’s more of a B.C. snow-pack,” he said. 

Dillon said it was a great day when they finally arrived at the top. 

“It felt great, it was a beautiful day,” he said. There was no wind and the group was able to dig out the National Historic Site sign and monument board. They left memorial David Thompson coins for future adventurers to pick up as a memento of reaching the pass. 

The groups camped below the pass at Cane Meadows and hiked in for the day instead of continuing on the other side. Where Thompson finished up the pass, at Boat Encampment, is now underneath Kinbasket Lake on the B.C. side. 

Completing the pass was a highlight for Dillon. He enjoyed the nights spent in the camps with his group, and others that passed the night away in the same area.

“The camaraderie in the evenings was really nice,” he said. 

Dillon also enjoyed one night where they ended up skiing into the evening underneath bright, vivid stars. They arrived at camp around 7:30 p.m.

The whole journey lasted eight days. The fastest group shaved off a few days and were in and out in five days. That group ran into trouble when one of their ski bindings broke. They did a quick fix with supplies they had, and continued on until they broke another binding. Luckily, Dillon happened to have a spare and was able to lend it out. It was a decision that would later cost him, when his own ski binding broke and he was forced to walk out the final part to Moab Lake. 

“Walking out wasn’t a problem,” he said. The snow was light and the end of the journey was near. 

Other mishaps included one man who suffered from frostbite on his fingers when it dropped down to -32 C.

At the Jan. 15 Fur Ball, the groups got together and traded stories. Dillon couldn’t attend the reunion, but has been in contact with some of the people who did the trip. 

Dillon had many reasons for wanting to do the trip; they mainly revolve around the historic significance. 

“It was almost like the first Trans Canada highway,” he said of the pass. 

Parks Canada sent the groups up to have an increased presence in the pass during the anniversary because they were expecting a surge of people attempting the trail that Dillon said is not for the faint of heart. The challenges include steep hills, route finding on rivers and the extremely cold weather. Parks’ employees helped with the way finding and facilitated travel for other groups during the recent trips. 

“It’s a challenging hike even in the summer time,” Dillon said. “I think that challenging aspect is kind of the reward to it.”

Parks has done little work on the Athabasca Pass. They have cleared a trail annually, but the site is very much the same as Thompson would have seen it today. Dillon said he was sure they were on the exact same trail that Thompson would have used at times, and they saw the same trees, glaciers and rivers. 

“It’s still wilderness up there,” Dillon said. 

There have been subtle changes – some of the glaciers have receded, and the trees that were young when Thompson passed by them are now mature and tall 200 years later. 

“I personally don’t want to see it any easier to get there,” Dillon said. 

Parks expects the trail to be a more popular route this summer once the snow melts and groups can leave from Moab Lake again, shortening the 60 kms to only 49 kms. 

“On a normal year, not many people head up that way,” Dillon said. 

The Athabasca Pass is one of four National Historic Sites in the Jasper National Park, and is the least visited. The other three are the Yellowhead Pass, Jasper House and the Information Centre.