The Jasper Local February 1, 2021

ALTERNATIVE +

LOCAL + INDEPENDENT

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2021 // ISSUE 181

FROZEN MOMENTS // Jasper Local Coverboy Michal Jurik was up to his old tricks in a new location recently, exploring ice claws in a stealthy location not far from the Icefields Parkway. // LADA D

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The Jasper Local // ISSUE 181 // MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2021

EDITORIAL //

Local Vocal Even if you aren’t paying attention to the game of provincial politics, it’s hard to miss how badly the UCP is fumbling the ball right now.

Between selling off Alberta headwaters to Australian coal miners, ripping off teachers’ pensions, pushing out doctors or gambling away a billion bucks on the KeystoneXL Pipeline, Premier Jason Kenny’s government continues to demonstrate that they are out of touch with what Albertans want and need.

And while it’s easy enough for progressives to tally up the self-owns and figure that in a couple of years the UCP will be booted out like so many eliminated contestants on The Bachelorette, many Albertans who traditionally poll conservative aren’t necessarily going to flock to the Official Opposition, unless Rachel Notley and the NDP have a tenable platform.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve got plenty of friends and family members who work in the energy industry or offshoots thereof, to whom voting NDP is akin to sticking hot pins in their eyes. Although they, too, are fed up with the UCP’s egregious displays of cronyism, corporate shilling and refusal to consult with constituents, no matter how much red they’re seeing, without a better alternative, I don’t see them voting orange.

Ms. Notley is a savvy speaker and social media user and I for one like the values and passion she brings to the table, but I’m not the type of voter she needs to convince. She needs to be able to reach the hardhatwearing, diesel truck-driving pipefitters, haul truck operators and well testers who have traditionally made up a large percentage of the UCP’s base.

Farewell, Grandma Barker

On January 16, Jasper lost one of its elders. Janet Barker, matriarch of the Alpine Summit Seniors Lodge, tireless advocate for our healthcare system and community fundraiser extraordinaire, passed. She was 92.

I met Janet 13 years ago, when I had the opportunity to work with The Jasper Community Team. She’d sit through our over-long meetings, waiting until members had talked themselves hoarse before dropping a succinct pearl of The NDP is good at pointing out the blunders and wisdom that always cut right to the chase. She was compassionate, efficient missteps of the ministers and minions that make up our current government, but frankly, so are you and I. and effective. Despite her small stature, The problem is, the NDP’s current vision, as outlined at people looked up to her. a recent Calgary Chamber of Commerce meeting, still She had the ear of high ranking government officials. MLAs and MPs strikes me as piecemeal and undercooked. who wanted to make in-roads in Jasper

This province needs a large-scale industrial transformation strategy. Supporting small businesses and providing affordable childcare are important goals, but they aren’t going to provide a landing place for all of the workers displaced by the death of the hydro-carbon energy sector. We need a plan that gives workers in those waning industries viable options for a post-oil career.

In time, it shouldn’t be hard for the UCP’s political opponents to pick up the ball that this government continues to boot down the field, but the pertinent question is: When they do, what’s their game plan?

BOB COVEY // thejasperlocal@gmail.com

knew they’d better pick up the phone if Janet Barker was calling.

She was a prolific newspaper reader, and wouldn’t shy away if she thought officials were making a mess of things.

Her bailiwick was seniors care and auxiliary hospital services, but she had her finger on the pulse of all community issues. When she wasn’t talking politics, she knit beautifully.

Like many in Jasper, I’ll miss my visits with Janet. I can still hear her croaky laugh and feel her soft skin.

It’s said the spirit of those who pass live on in those who loved them. Janet was loved by many, so I know Jasper will continue to feel her presence every day.

- Bob Covey

The Jasper Local //

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// LOCAL BACKCOUNTRY

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2021 // ISSUE 181 // The Jasper Local // PAGE A3

OPEN OR SHUT CASE // Ski mountaineering in Jasper National Park’s Tonquin Valley could be off limits if Parks Canada acquiesces to conservation groups’ recent lobbying efforts. // TRISTAN NISSEN

Jasper backcountry skiers blindsided by Alpine Club’s push to close Tonquin Valley Jasper skiers are upset that the Alpine Club of Canada is urging the federal government to close Jasper’s Tonquin Valley to skier access and lodging operations all winter long.

The ACC has aligned with the David Suzuki Foundation, the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society and other conservation groups to urge Parks Canada to keep the Tonquin backcountry closed to human access all snow season, instead of opening the area on February 16 as has been the practice since 2009.

“Recreational users and conservationists come together to protect Tonquin caribou,” the headline on CPAWS’ press release reads.

Jasper ski advocate and trail ambassador, Loni Klettl, takes issue with that narrative. As a recreational user and longtime

supporter of the Alpine Club of Canada, Klettl was disappointed to learn that the ACC was asking its members to stay out of the Tonquin backcountry—a sign that, she says, indicates the club doesn’t respect the history of conservation research and consultation put in by Jasper National Park scientists.

defended the organization’s decision to align with environmental NGOs. He added the ACC shouldn’t be perceived as “neutral.”

“Parks was not making fly-by-night decisions when they restricted access until February 16,” Klettl said.

White said the ACC has a long, respectful history with Parks Canada. He said the ACC is asking its members to make up their own minds.

The ACC, which has approximately 10,000 members across Canada, just lost at least one.

“I have always respected and admired the neutrality of the ACC who promotes and defends mountain use in our national parks,” Klettl said. “My choice is to believe JNP’s info rather than this construed twist.”

Lawrence White, Executive Director of the ACC,

“The club has always been involved in conservation initiatives,” he said. “It’s not a stretch to align ourselves when we feel strongly enough about a particular issue.”

“I understand the love people have for skiing in the Tonquin Valley but we’re deferring to people’s judgement whether or not to go there.”

Parks Canada was not available for comment before our February 1 paper went to press.

B COVEY // thejasperlocal@gmail.com

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The Jasper Local // ISSUE 181 // MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2021

LOCAL HEALTHCARE

The COVID pandemic has been unrelenting for healthcare staff. Pictured are some of the folks who have risen to the occassion in the past year. // Supplied

Behind the scenes healthcare staff key to quality of care The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed much about our community’s ability to come together for a common cause, but perhaps no group of people have had to meet the challenges more head on than the staff at Jasper’s Seton Healthcare Centre and adjacent seniors lodge.

health staff organizing vaccines; from the lab and x-ray technicians to the physio and occupational therapists; from the purchasing staff to the administration support; and from the nurses to the environmental services staff, Jasper healthcare workers have met the challenges the pandemic has thrown at them with dignity and dedication, Chisholm said.

Through it all, Chisholm and her team have learned how to support one another. They’ve learned that we have a myriad of resources and connected agencies.

They’ve learned how to cope, and how to help others cope. Yes, the hospital has policies and procedures when it comes to responding to a pandemic, but the deciding factor in how an organization comes out of a crisis, she said, are the staff themselves.

People often forget that hospitals aren’t run by doctors and nurses, and that to ensure patient care is compassionate and holistic, an entire ecosystem of staff and systems have to be working in concert.

Lorna Chisholm, site and seniors manager for the Seton Healthcare Centre, said that since March, and particularly during the December coronavirus outbreak at the hospital, the entire body of Jasper’s healthcare staff have gone above and beyond the call of duty.

“We’ve learned a lot, we’ve endured a lot and in many ways we’ve gained a lot,” Chisholm said.

“We need that framework, but at the end of it all it’s not what’s written in black and white, the thing that actually makes a difference is the human factor— the willingness of staff to step up, to empathize and to make someone’s journey easier.”

“To see that human spirit show itself day after day has been incredibly humbling,” Chisholm said.

From the screeners at the door, to the public

Healthcare workers in Jasper aren’t unfamiliar with responding to crises. Avalanches, multi-vehicle collisions and other viral outbreaks have, in the past, stretched Jasper’s resources and response capacity.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been different in its unrelentingness.

“We’re used to these situations being shortlived,” Chisholm said. “But this COVID situation felt like the crisis didn’t end, especially over the last few months.”

Chisholm said that Jasper can be proud of its healthcare system’s “shining stars.”

“I entrust my life and my family’s life in their hands,” she said. “Not only those providing clinical skills but the care and knowledge of those somewhat behind the scenes.”

BOB COVEY // thejasperlocal@gmail.com

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LOCAL RECREATION

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2021 // ISSUE 181 // The Jasper Local // PAGE B2

SkyTram’s the limit: Everest Challenger completes winter fat bike feat Peel talked Anderson through his mechanical issue, and together they determined that servicing the bike was not feasible.

“I think he just needed someone to tell him to ditch the bike,” Peel said.

Jasper Local readers might remember Fortunately, Anderson had a spare. He and Kristin Anderson from a similarly audacious assault headed back to the hotel to make the swap and two on Signal Mountain in August, 2019, wherein hours later, he was back on the road. the St. Albert resident chugged up and down Unfortunately, the replacement bike was older, the eight kilometre, 800 vertical metre heavier and had a harder gear ratio. Anderson fireroad 11 times in order to equal the height was losing steam. His legs were pedalling, but his of the world’s tallest peak (8,848 m). head was drooping. Drowsiness was causing him On January 14, Anderson was back in Jasper to drift all over the road. Motivation was getting National Park, having traded his single speed harder and harder to summon. Suddenly, just as mountain bike for a chunky-tired fattie and he was starting to lose the battle to the dreaded his polyester jersey for fleece. Instead of Signal sleep monster (Everest Challenges forbid sleeping TEAM EFFORT // Kristin Anderson has supported her husband Dean’s “EverMountain, he was taking the Everest Challenge to est” challenges in Jasper National Park. // BOB COVEY PHOTOS and walking), a vehicle approached. The driver the SkyTram Road. What didn’t change, however cheered him on. Anderson rallied. (besides his preferred snacks: Clif bars and “That snapped me out of my delirium,” he said. hotrods), was Anderson’s desire to test himself.

As daylight broke, Anderson gradually perked up.

“I like the challenge,” he said. “I look at is as testing Not long after, Peel checked in, followed by a car my limits.” of curious locals who’d got word of Anderson’s Anderson had efforts on social media. More cars encouraged originally hoped to him. At 3:30 p.m., with five laps left to go, a complete the Everest couple of sympathetic cyclists (full disclosure: Challenge on the “I like the challenge, one of them was myself) rode alongside Anderson Pyramid Mountain I look at is as for a few laps. The support went a long way in fireroad, but 25 cm getting him over the hump, Anderson said. testing my limits.” of fresh snow made “Those visits were such a huge lift,” he said. riding a bike—even one with soft, floaty At 6:39 p.m., 31 hours and five minutes after he tires—next to impossible. Plan B was the SkyTram initially set out, Anderson climbed the last pitch of Road which, thanks to the Parks Canada plow, the SkyTram Road for the 36th time. He was done…

STILL SMILING // Dean Anderson rode 232 km and climbed 8,848 vertical made for much easier rolling. The change meant almost. Besides biking nine vertical kilometres in metres in 31 hours to complete an Everest Challenge on the SkyTram road. his wife’s dreams of supporting her husband’s a day and a half, besides becoming the first person adventure from the toasty Pyramid Lake Resort to complete a winter Everest Challenge on a fat bike it’s too far,” he said. were suddenly dashed. Instead, she’d be car camping. and besides raising $3,345 for the St. Albert Food Bank, At 3:30 a.m. on January 15, approximately 16 hours Anderson had one more goal. He needed to continue “My cozy hotel basecamp at Pyramid Lake Resort was and 22 laps after he began, Anderson’s bike decided his consecutive-days-biking streak, which was sitting at no longer in play,” Kristin Anderson laughed. it had gone far enough. His pedals were spinning, 404. Even though his Everest Challenge took place over Dean Anderson, a 47-year-old structural engineer, has but the back wheel would not. In a sleep-deprived two days, his digital fitness tracker would only count the done his fair share of self-supported, ultra-distance daze, Anderson used his lifeline: he rang up local continuous motion as one ride. He needed to get in a few cycling, including the Banff-to-Mexico Tour Divide, bike mechanic and fellow long-distance cyclist (and more kilometres. He straddled his bike once more. the Alberta Rockies 700 bike packing race and the hotrod eater), Jasper’s Chris Peel.

“I like the challenge,” he said. notoriously savage, 300-mile Arizona Trail Race.

“I told him he could call anytime if he needed help,” BOB COVEY // thejasperlocal@gmail.com “I think it’s about trying to see how far can I go, before Peel said. “I didn’t think he actually would.”

A foot of snow, a broken bike and 9,000 metres of elevation gain couldn’t stop Dean Anderson from completing the first recorded “Everest” challenge on a fat bike.

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The Jasper Local // ISSUE 181 // MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2021

Prolonged Pandemic Po

I have been here before, but the checkpoint always comes up faster than I expect.

A string of idling vehicles cough exhaust into the air. I press on my brake pedal, slowing my van to a crawl as I inch up to the vehicles in front of me.

PROMOTIONAL

In park, I listen to my music, watching ahead for the string of cars to pull forward, one at a time. I gaze out my window, taking in the view.

We move forward one car length, then two. There are now only two cars in front of me. I ready myself.

Mask up, music down, passenger window open. I know what they’re going to ask, I have been asked it or read it over a hundred times before.

The staff member is professional,

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thorough…a little bit robotic, albeit I would be too.

There are three questions, the same three questions. Over and over again.

No, no, no I answer, always with the slightest hesitation, wondering if… maybe…am I lying? Or is this just a feeling I get from years of attending Catholic school?

I reach out, sleeve pulled up, revealing my arm. A gun beeps. The staff member stares at it. You’re good to go, he announces. Have a great day.

I slowly drive away. There is no way would I call this annoying; certainly not inconvenient, compared to what could be. But it is different, not something that I would have ever expected to see, especially here.

This is going for a skate at JPL

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onderings

Words/art by Emilie St-Pierre

warm. You’re away from everyone else. In the box you don’t have listen to the one-sided phone conversations.

You’re in your own little cocoon The door opens and the line slithers, of warmth; a welcome hush before like a snake. Dogs stop to sniff.

Milestone Three, the cacophony of the Their owners tug awkwardly at their inside. There, you stand on a single leashes, urging them forward. With so dot on the ground, awaiting the call, many eyes on them, they don’t want to beckon you to the end. to stop for too long. They don’t want The line is moving quickly now, but to be breaking the rules. at because at any moment, something I’m closing in on a milestone: “the (or rather, one of the line-goers) could steps.” Next will be “the box.” In the throw a wrench into the mix and box you are privy to inner workings, bring this line-up to a screeching halt. witness to the hustle and bustle The line slithers forward. inside. You’re still on the outside, technically speaking, but you’re This is the post office.

The line up slowly shuffles forward. I’ve never seen it this long.

For months now I have been constructing a bird’s eye view of the lay of the land.

In order to maximize time and efficiency, I’ve plotted out my journey.

My mental map notes the forks in the road, tucked away from the main route, which threaten to derail my most carefully-laid plans.

In auto-pilot, I zip around with astounding speed. Sometimes when I am in a hurry I skip a section, sometimes two. I don’t need them today.

I hold my breath at the bottleneck and press on through. This corner is

dangerous. On several occasions I have had near collisions; no one is really sure who has the right of way here. Is it a one-way stretch?

I turn the corner. This is where I need to pay attention. My journey is half-over, but this is where I could get distracted and my strategy could crash.

Visual stimulation attacks my eyes. I am tempted, but I soldier on.

But now I’m stumbling slightly at an unexpected item! Stick to the plan, I tell myself. I’m not running, but neither am I walking. Two wheels come off the ground. Fifteen more steps and I am at the finish line, a conveyor belt.

This is the grocery store.

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The Jasper Local // ISSUE 181 // MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2021

LOCAL COMMUNITY

Glacier accident reveals foundational family support When he woke up on January 5, Joe Storms found himself in an unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar room.

Storms, a Jasper National Park Warden, had no idea where he was. He didn’t know the date. He didn’t know how long he’d been asleep.

Unsettled, Storms looked down to find his arms and legs were secured to the bed. He couldn’t move.

“I was bound, like in a prison,” he said. “It was confusing.”

He wasn’t in a prison, but he was in a hospital.

Eventually, Storms learned that nine days earlier, while on what was planned as a mellow snowshoe tour in the Stutfield Glacier area, he had slipped down a steep chute of snow and ice. He learned that he landed head first on an unyielding, frozen ledge.

“We found him unconscious, bleeding from the head and ears,” Joe’s wife, Alita, recalled.

In the agonizing week that followed, before Joe gradually started to show improvement, doctors didn’t know if he would pull through. Exacerbating the ordeal for the family, Alita could only visit the Intensive Care Unit in Edmonton’s UofA Hospital for 30 minutes per day. The situation was desperate.

“I said to the nurses at one point ‘you’ll call me if it looks like he’s going to die, right?’” Alita said.

Alita and their daughter, Lydia, spent the week being consoled by family in Edmonton, but since gathering indoors would contravene Alberta’s COVID protocols, Alita and her supporters took to Storms in Two Valley Canyon grieving in places in 2015. // JASPER LOCAL FILES where restrictions were less rigid.

“We bring Joe along to stay safe,” she said.

“A lot of my good friends won’t go into the backcountry unless he’s there.”

In this case, the Storms were extremely grateful that they had planned their outing with a different set of good friends, Don and Terry Smith. The longtime residents “represent the true spirit of Jasper,” Alita said.

After Joe fell, Alita and Terry administered first aid while Don clamoured to a high spot and called for a rescue with his inReach satellite communicator. The Smiths only recently started carrying the device; that they were able to call for help at the accident site, instead of hiking out to the highway and then driving an hour to get cell service, very likely saved Joe’s life. As such, after only 90 minutes from the time Don sent the signal, a helicopter was whisking Joe to medical care.

“I knew we were going to be in good hands,” UNWAVERING // Jasper’s Joe Storms is recovering after a recent acAlita said. cident in the Stutfield Glacier area. Alita, his wife, has been with him every step of the way. // BOB COVEY And there Joe remained—albeit over nearly two weeks, his care was passed between different “We all went to the mall together, got coffee and sets of good hands. When he was discharged cried like idiots,” she said. “Or we’d go skating and from Edmonton on January 7 and could start seeing just go around in circles, crying.” local occupational therapists and physiotherapists, Alita knew they’d hit an important milestone.

Only when Joe’s condition took a turn for the better did the couple start to reflect on what had “Home is where the best healing can take place,” she said. happened. A month later, while the Storms can Storms bashed his clavicle and suffered damage to his learn some lessons from the accident itself, the inner ear. However, the most distressing injury is that overwhelming takeaway is that by being part of a which Joe’s brain suffered. He has no memory of the community, one gets back what one puts in. accident whatsoever; his recollections of the hospital are “Between work, our neighbours, our blurry at best; and sleep is hard to come by these days. community…the support we’ve had…it’s been “Things are pretty murky,” he said. absolutely unbelievable,” Alita said.

What is clear, however, is that without the quick What was initially unbelievable to many who know response of his friends, things would have turned out him was that Storms—a veteran warden, swift water rescue instructor and generally very safety-conscious a lot different for Joe on December 27. More apparent still, is how Alita—his wife of 20 years, his high school adventurer—would find himself exposed to the risk sweetheart for 10 before that and the mother to his of a high-consequence fall in the first place. child—has remained steadfast in her love and support.

“He’s Safety Joe,” said one of Storms’ Parks Canada colleagues. “You just don’t think this kind “I’m saddened that I subjected her to what I can only guess was a horrible experience,” Joe said. “Alita’s my hero.” of thing would happen to him.”

BOB COVEY // thejasperlocal@gmail.com Alita concurred. The irony was hard to digest.

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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2021 // ISSUE 181 // The Jasper Local // PAGE B6

LOCAL HISTORY

Joe Weiss was known for many things in Jasper, including being a pioneering mountain and ski guide who opened up skiing in the region.

Joe arrived in Canada from Switzerland in 1921 but his mountaineering days in Jasper began in the spring of 1926, when Lucerne had just been amalgamated into Jasper. That mountain lifestyle would continue for 40 years.

below Shovel Pass in the Maligne Range for skiing. Together with Curly Phillips they built the famous “Shangri La Cabin” that accommodated the tourists Weiss and the Jefferys guided in winter and summer, and that is still in use today.

How tough was Joe? On one of his

After the war, Joe opened a small photography shop in Jasper which he ran until the mid 1950s. He was very proud of being a self-taught photographer, whose work was exhibited in Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto and internationally in the United States and Europe.

JYMA 84.37.01 // Weiss Chalet Commemoration photograph series. Ceremony commemorating the Weiss Chalet at Marmot Basin.

Joe was not easily discouraged. In 1932 he and the same four companions made the Jasper to Banff trip again following a different route. Joe is also credited with the first winter (ski) ascent of Snowdome. Russell Bennett, who accompanied Joe and had skied in many parts of the world, felt that the nearly seven-mile continuous run from the top of Snow Dome to the foot of the Athabasca Glacier was the finest he had ever made.

Along with the Jeffery brothers, Joe also promoted the Snowbowl just

___________________________ STUART TAYLOR

JYMA 2015.23.37 // Joe Weiss on the summit of Whistlers Mountain. The first ascent on skis (1927).

early guided ski tours into Shangri La, before retiring from an exhausting day, he learned that he had forgotten the eggs for the next morning’s breakfast.

While the other skiers slept, Joe spent the night making the 50-mile round trip into Jasper, returning with the eggs just in time to cook breakfast for the awakening guests (probably scrambled).

Joe’s last mountain work was at the Pallisades fire look out on a high ridge near Pyramid Mountain. Many of us who visited in the early 1960s would

One of Joe’s most bizarre adventures was as a guide of the Charles Bedaux expedition in the summer of 1938. This ill-fated circus travelled approximately 600 miles through the bush of northern Alberta and British Columbia.

It consisted of a convoy of two limousines, five Citroen half-tracks, 130 horses loaded with provisions, and more than 100 people including a film crew. Also along for the trip was the eccentric French millionaire Bedaux’s wife and his mistress. The logistical difficulties of moving such a large entourage through the northern bush were far beyond what Bedaux expected. The swamps, mountains and rivers destroyed the vehicles one by one (other than those Bedaux himself destroyed on purpose as part of the film, which did survive), but Joe helped get the people out safely.

Joe was also involved in Canada’s war effort. When the Lovat Scouts came from Scotland to Jasper in 1943 to 1944 to be trained in mountain warfare, Weiss was one of the guides who helped train them, frequently in the Tonquin Valley, Columbia Icefields and Marmot Basin, using snowmobiles and snowcats to transport the Scouts.

// thejasperlocal@gmail.com

Stuart Taylor is an amateur historian and former member of Hinton Town Council. Let him know what you think of his historical features or suggest another subject for him to cover.

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On January 15, 1930, Joe and four others left Jasper during a frigid winter for a 200 mile, two-week ski trip to Banff that closely paralleled the Parkway route. It was minus 30 degrees Celsius when they arrived at Athabasca Falls and minus 50 when they passed Sunwapta Falls. Remember, these were not the days of synthetic fabrics, portable stoves and lightweight aluminum or fibreglass tent poles. On that trip Joe and his buddies usually camped under a tree and cut their own wood to cook a simple meal.

Joe spent his remaining years in Edmonton where he passed away in 1993. But his spirit lives on, an inspiration to Albertans in these trying times.

“While the other skiers slept, he spent the night making the 50-mile round trip into Jasper returning with the eggs just in time to cook breakfast for the awakening guests.”

He guided the region’s first skiers, personally discovered the Marmot Basin area, and in the 1930s, blazed the first trail into Marmot up a route today’s road mostly follows.

He was a trailblazer in many ways.

Back then, snowshoes were standard for winter travel and locals looked down on cross country skis, with its wide clunky wooden boards and big clumsy boots. But Joe was physically tough and his adventurous spirit carried the day, as well as inspiring many monumental trips.

have been served tea by Joe. And in recognition of his long and important life in Jasper National Park, the Churchill range’s Weiss Mountain was named after him in 1972.

Look for the Mealshare Monday item in-restaurant or add $1 to your next order and we’ll provide one simple, healthy meal for a kid in need through Mealshare.

Proudly partnered with: Jasper Food Bank Society