Looking back: the story of the ACC’s Club House
The Canmore Clubhouse opened its doors in 1973 and it turned 50 years old this spring. On this occasion, we’re looking back at a bit of the history of the original; the ACC Club House that was built decades earlier, further west in Banff, overlooking a different valley.
This story was originally published in the spring 2023 issue of the ACC Gazette magazine.
The ACC’s Canmore Clubhouse House today sits on a sunny bench east of the bustling mountain resort town of Canmore, AB, overlooking the Bow Valley. It is the only Clubhouse that most of our membership have ever known, and many may be surprised to learn that there was another, original “Club House” that served ACC members in Banff up until the early 1970s.
After the formation of the ACC in 1906, the need for a club headquarters and a place for members to stay, meet up and climb in the mountains became clear. At the 1907 annual meeting— held around a campfire at the summer camp in Paradise Valley—it was resolved that such a place would be built on a piece of land that had been leased in Banff.
Alpine Clubhouse, Banff, exterior. Byron Harmon Fonds, ref V263 / NA - 17. Courtesy of the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies.
Motivation was high, things moved quickly, and by July 1, 1909, the ACC Club House was opened on the slopes of Sulphur Mountain.
The First Club House
The early Banff Club House included a large meeting room with a grand stone fireplace, a kitchen, office and an upstairs smoking room. There was a place to house the club’s library, which would grow rapidly in the coming years. Meals were served in a dining tent and accommodations were in tent cabins on the property—structures with wooden floors and canvas walls—a rough version of what we might think of today as “glamping.”
Day-to-day operations of the ACC’s first accommodation facility were performed by a managing hostess, one of the first of whom was Clara Wheeler, the wife of A.O. Wheeler, the club’s president at the time. Later Club House hostesses would include Nancy Lyall, who held the position for 17 years, and Phyllis Munday in the 1950s. The building was fronted with a large porch that greeted guests and overlooked the Spray River Valley and the western slopes of Mt. Rundle.
The cost of building the Banff Club House was in the neighbourhood of $8,000, which was raised through a mixture of donations and loans from members, including a $2,000 loan from President Wheeler himself. Fixtures and furnishings ranging from a grandfather clock to dishes and silverware were donated by ACC members. In later years much of the repair work and modifications were done by club members, particularly by members of the Calgary Section who very early on took responsibility for looking after the facility.
The Club House in use
Very quickly, the Banff Club House became a meeting hub and climbing destination. In 1909, some of first guests were notable British mountaineers of the day; they had come to Canada for a science meeting in Winnipeg and spent time in Banff climbing and taking in the club’s summer camp.
The great Austrian mountain guide Conrad Kain, hired by the ACC, arrived in Banff in 1909 and also contributed to the building and operation of the Club House.
The accommodation became an important source of revenue for the club and improvements continued over the years. In 1919 baths were installed (before this, guests had been using the facilities at the nearby Upper Hot Springs) and the 1926 season saw the installation of electric lights. The property boasted trails built by Lawrence Grassi and tent houses that had been built by Conrad Kain.
Sleeping cabins were eventually built to replace the tent houses, ultimately numbering 13 throughout the property, many of which were financed through donations from club members or club sections. For more than 60 years, the Club House in Banff was the hub of climbing in the Canadian Rockies.
The building was open in the summer season only, and by the late 1920s it was seeing up to 500 overnights a summer, many from south of the border. Guests came to climb Mt. Edith, Mt. Louis, Mt. Norquay and other Banff peaks. Many tourists would come up the road from Banff looking for climbing information.
Shortcomings and a big move
But for all its advantages, there were also some serious issues with the Club House. The original building had been put up quickly, and it lacked a solid foundation. There was no central heating or running water—outhouses served as toilets. It wasn’t insulated or winterized and could only be occupied in the summer months. It was closer to what we would recognize as a backcountry hut today than anything resembling a hotel or modern accommodation.
In the 1960s, the club, led by architect Philippe Delesalle, proposed a redevelopment of the site, but Parks, citing zoning issues in the area and a desire to tighten the footprint of the town of Banff, declined. So in 1970, the club voted to sell the property to Parks and began building a new clubhouse in Canmore, then a relatively unknown coal mining town 20 minutes to the east.
Canmore Clubhouse. Photo LCR Photography.
Time flies, and this spring we celebrated the 50-year anniversary of the Canmore Clubhouse. With half a century of history now permeating the halls and walls of this building, the club continues to imagine ways that we can carry on the tradition of providing a special place in the Rockies for our members, one that is a welcoming base for mountaineers from all walks of life who wish to join us here and make their own mark on the club’s history.
This heritage story was crafted with the assistance of Chic Scott, who is presently writing a comprehensive history of the ACC.
Fundraising Campaign
The ACC is raising funds to help expedite the process of updating the archive at the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies in Banff — a process we're undertaking for writers like Chic Scott who is currently writing the ACC's history book, and for members everywhere.
The national office has kick-started a fund-raising campaign with a $25,000 donation. But more is needed. You can help by giving today to the ACC’s Bev Bendell Library Fund. Any donation, large or small, is appreciated, and will go a long way to making our legacy better known to future generations.
If you're as interested as we are in the buried secrets and untold stories of the ACC that will be unearthed, please consider donating. Thank you.