Parks Canada hopes to offer stand-up paddleboard (SUP) rentals at the Lake Edith and Lake Annette day use areas.
The organization has put out a call for proposals, asking anyone interested in operating a paddleboard rental outfit to submit their ideas by April 10.
The request offers approximately 21 square metres of space for an operator to set up a paddleboard rental operation at the Lake Edith or Lake Annette day-use areas. The successful applicant will be allowed two-and-a-half years—essentially three summers—to operate, with a start date of May 1 of this year.
Cathy Jenkins is Parks’ realty and municipal manager. She said that Parks was already pondering the idea of offering paddleboarding somewhere in the park when it received two expressions of interest from operators looking to do just that.
“Generally we’re trying to enhance visitor experience, and paddleboards are a pretty minimal impact way of enjoying waterways,” she said.
The two-and-a-half-year pilot project is “just a test to see how it goes and the uptake on it, [to see] if people are enjoying the experience and if it’s in as much demand as we envision it to be. Then at the end of that two-and-a-half-year period we would reassess and decide.”
Alisen Charlten and Stephanie Sophocleous are one team currently working on a proposal. Last winter the duo expressed interest in commercial paddleboarding in Jasper and this summer they hope to offer a variety of activities such as lessons, paddleboard yoga and paddleboard fitness.
Charlten explained that she and Sophocleous noticed a dramatic rise in the number of paddleboards on Jasper’s lakes last year, which makes sense considering the sport has recently exploded in popularity.
The history of paddleboarding is somewhat disputed, but it’s generally believed that Hawaiian surfers were the ones who transformed paddleboarding from just a training exercise into a stand-alone sport.
Charlten believes that it has quickly taken off because of its versatility and accessibility.
“I think people like it because it’s got a combination of things,” she explained. “It doesn’t matter who you are or what your mobility is, if you are not someone who does a lot of other sports, it is something that you can get out and have a little fun floating on the water.
“I mean, being out on the water in any capacity is enjoyable: it’s calming [and] there’s a sense of freedom you get being able to explore on top of the water,” she said.
Paddleboarding is a versatile sport, lending itself to a more surf-like experience on faster waters, as well as calming activities like yoga or even intense cross training. But Charlten said that in Jasper, paddleboarding is popular because of the clarity of the park’s lakes.
She explained that the vantage point from atop a paddleboard is a little higher than in a canoe or kayak, and that means you can look down into the water while paddling.
“That is part of what I think makes it really cool for around here—especially in Lake Edith and Lake Annette, which are so clear, you get this beautiful vantage point of the underwater topography,” she said.
Jenkins said it’s impossible to know exactly what the operation will look like before all of the proposals are received. But she did say that Parks doesn’t envision anything major, especially during the initial three-summer pilot.
For example, Parks isn’t looking to develop any permanent infrastructure at the location. Instead, Jenkins said Parks would like to have something mobile that can park at a designated spot.
The organization also remains unsure whether or not it will offer paddleboard rentals at other locations in the future or if more than one operator will be allowed to set up shop.
“This is part of the assessment. We wouldn’t want to build something if it’s not as popular, or if it causes any issues,” she said.
Because paddleboarding is a low-impact activity, and because the proposed lakes are already widely used in the summer, Jenkins said that Parks doesn’t anticipate any environmental concerns will pop up during the environmental impact assessment (EIA), which will take place before the project begins.
“It’s an outdoor activity business license type thing, and those are all required to go through a fairly simple ... EIA process,” she said. “People are recreating on those lakes already and we’re not talking about somebody renting out hundreds of paddleboards.”
While for the moment Parks is only looking to offer paddleboarding at Lake Edith and Lake Annette, Charlten said she sees opportunities for a diverse offering in the future.
This summer she plans to personally tour Maligne Lake, and she thinks there will be a market for something similar there and at other lakes and rivers in the park.
Trevor Nichols
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