New backcountry hut proposed for Yoho Park
Backcountry skiers could soon have a new alpine hut east of des Poilus glacier, which provides an important link to the world-renowned Wapta Traverse.
The Alpine Club of Canada has received approval from Parks Canada to design the hut and consult with the public.
“We’ve been working on trying to connect the Bow-Yoho traverse for a number of years now,” said Lawrence White, executive director of the Alpine Club of Canada.
The des Poilus hut would be built on the Yoho traverse at the midway point between Bow Hut in the north and the Stanley Mitchell Hut in the south.
“As it is, people have to carry their tents and fuel,” he said. “It’s a really long push to go from Bow Hut all the way over to Stanley Mitchell, so this halfway point is ideal to have that experience and get back into the Little Yoho Valley.”
As part of the ongoing process, Parks Canada requires the alpine club to submit its designs and an environmental assessment.
“We’ve worked closely with the ACC to examine the feasibility of this additional hut,” said Alex Kolesch, manager of land use, policy and planning for Yoho National Park.
There are at least 15 individual glaciers and 20 summits in the Wapta and Waputik icefields, which straddle the Great Continental Divide, so the hut is expected to improve visitor safety in the area.
“It’s a key piece in that system of huts and it’s going to continue to provide outstanding wilderness experiences to folks with the skills to travel in that kind of backcountry environment,” Kolesch said.
“It’ll give people access to a large and really remarkable area with the glacier-clad mountains on that side of the divide.”
It would, he said, be restricted to winter use because the proposed hut is in well-known grizzly bear habitat.
Should the hut get all the necessary approvals, the alpine club hopes to start building by the summer of 2014 — and have it ready in time for winter use.
The proposed hut, which doesn’t yet have a cost attached, is expected to be a 1,000-square-foot, two-storey building with room for 16 to 18 people.
It would include sleeping pads, cooking and eating utensils, stoves, tables and benches.
The des Poilus hut would bring the number of huts run by the alpine club to 31 across Canada.