It was standing room only at the Jasper-Yellowhead Museum and Archives Feb. 26, as more than 150 people gathered to hear the details of Dana Ruddy and Sean Elliot’s proposal for a new ski cabin in Jasper.
The local skiers had set up the information session to gauge interest in their proposal, and take the first steps towards forming a non-profit society to help make it a reality.
Ruddy told the crowd that for years he and Elliot have been exploring the western edge of the park, scouting the high country west of Jasper and north of the Yellowhead Highway, from the Victoria Cross range west to the continental divide and beyond.
He said the ski conditions in that region, surrounding the Miette Pass, are the best in the park, but the area is less accessible than popular destinations in the Maligne Valley.
But, he said, a ski cabin in the area would solve that problem, providing a warm and safe place for skiers to use as a base for further exploration of the northwest region of the park.
In the proposal Ruddy and Elliot submitted to Parks Canada, outlining their desire for a ski cabin in the area, they identify Rink Lake as a prime location. They also suggest that the old Miette warden station could find new life as a ski cabin.
In an interview March 3, Jasper’s acting field unit superintendent, Alan Fehr, said that Parks is open to the idea of creating backcountry ski opportunities in the area, but said that there are quite a few things that would need to happen before anything concrete could become a reality.
He pointed out that the area is considered critical caribou habitat, but that it was not specifically part of the delayed winter access areas.
Fehr said Parks would need to conduct an extensive review of the environmental impact of a cabin in the area and noted that he has no way of gauging how soon something substantial could be started—if the proposal is viable at all.
In the meantime, Elliot said, Jasper’s backcountry skiers are left with very limited options in the park.
“With the Maligne closures in place, Jasper’s backcountry skiers are really feeling the squeeze. We have lost a huge swath of our park for a significant part of winter. We will most likely not have that option next season, and that’s a tough pill to swallow,” Ruddy told the crowd at their presentation, referring to Parks’ caribou conservation measures, which closed much of the Maligne Valley for most of the winter.
Following the presentation Feb. 26, Elliot said that he believes so many people came to the event because their proposal represented a “light at the end of the tunnel.”
He explained that morale in the ski community has been pretty low this season, after Parks’ caribou conservation measures left much of the prime alpine and sub-alpine ski terrain inaccessible.
In the wake of implementing delayed winter access in the Maligne Valley, Parks also announced new winter recreation offers, including cross-country skiing option at Decoigne and flat-packed trails on Pyramid Bench. But Ruddy pointed out that those offers do nothing for alpine skiers, and many felt like they were more of an insult than a genuine attempt to provide new terrain.
“People just want to be able to go skiing, and they want somewhere to go. And right now the majority of the park that’s accessible to skiing is closed,” he said.
Ruddy and Elliot echoed these sentiments in their presentation as well, saying that “to compare ski touring in the alpine to cross country skiing in the valley bottom, or snowshoeing at Pyramid is like comparing apples to oranges to carrots. They are different things.”
Fehr said that he couldn’t really comment on whether or not the alpine and sub-alpine skiing options in the park are suitable, but said that Parks remains “committed to providing a whole suite of winter recreation activities in the park.”
He also pointed out that right now the entire Maligne Valley is open, providing tons of options for skiers. (It opened March 1.)
Ruddy and Elliot remain unimpressed with Parks’ offerings outside of Maligne, but rather than complain, they decided to take action.
In the spring of 2014 they met with Supt. Greg Fenton to discuss their proposal, and came away feeling positive.
According to Ruddy, Fenton told the pair that Parks liked the idea, but more needed to be done before it became a reality. He said Parks would be in touch, likely by the fall.
When 2015 rolled around with no word from Parks, Ruddy and Elliot called and asked for another meeting. This time they connected with Fehr, who is currently filling in for Fenton as park superintendent.
Fehr told them that in order for their proposal to go anywhere, the first step would be for them to establish a non-profit ski society.
In his March 3 interview, he said the same thing, noting that the pair’s initial proposal was unsolicited, and that in order to move forward in a meaningful way, Parks needs to know exactly what entity they are dealing with, which is why a legitimate organization is important.
With the incredible turnout at the Feb. 26 meeting, a vibrant club seems more than likely. The pair are in the process of forming that club now, and are tentatively planning to hold the first meeting March 12.
They hope that the club will show Parks how much support exists for the idea, and set things in motion. Ruddy and Elliot said that while they have lots of ideas for how to best proceed with facilitating backcountry skiing in the area, they realize that Parks will make many of the final decisions.
“Where cabins go, how they would function, how they would be accessed, all that stuff ... the ball’s not in our court,” Elliot said, adding that all they want is to enhance Jasper’s winter offer.
“We want to promote skiing because we believe in it, and we believe in cabins in the woods and getting outside and putting down your iPad and having a conversation around a wood-burning stove and getting up in the morning and working hard all day and getting fresh air. That’s what it is to live in Jasper. That’s why we live in Jasper, and that’s why we stay here,” Elliot said.
“If you take that away, what are you left with? It’s just another tourist trap.”
Trevor Nichols
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