Staying Safe and Staying Inspired
Normally bustling Banff Avenue is quiet mid-day in April. The mountain town reliant on tourism and visitors has seen disproportionate layoffs and business closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo: Todd Korol.
This year marks the publication of the third annual volume of The Alpine Club of Canada’s State of the Mountains Report. Of course, 2020 will certainly be remembered as a very strange and unsettled year for most of us. Mountains may seem to be immune to human crises and influences, but the Covid-19 pandemic is a stark reminder that all places on our planet are intimately connected.
In these uncertain times, the publication of the 2020 State of the Mountains Report has remained a high priority for the ACC, even while other operations have been severely impacted by the pandemic. For example, in March, as social distancing became a necessary public-health imperative, the ACC closed all of its backcountry huts (see story by Jim Gudjonson in 2019 Report). However, modified operations are planned to resume during summer 2020 with additional measures in place to ensure proper safety etiquette and cleaning practices. And unfortunately, the 2020 Mt. Mummery General Mountaineering Camp had to be postponed to 2021, the first time a GMC has been cancelled since 1906. The pandemic has also had a very significant impact on the livelihoods of Canada’s mountain guiding community, and this year we highlight their professional association in a feature by ACMG President Sylvia Forrest.
“The tumultuous times of 2020 have been a reminder to all Canadians of how fortunate we are to have wilderness spaces in which to recreate and to explore.”
The pandemic has demonstrated that unpredictable world events have a dramatic influence on our lives. Our feature article this year (Brent Ward, Glyn Williams-Jones, and Marten Geertsema) highlights the potential impacts from catastrophic events in the western Canadian mountains, such as landslides and volcanic eruptions. Hazards in mountainous areas have always presented a significant risk to people and property, and these risks are increasing due to climate change and increased human activity in the mountains.
In this volume, we also highlight a number of other impacts of anthropogenic activity in mountains, including the downstream impacts of mining (Erin Sexton, Chris Sergeant, and Jon Moore), the changes occurring in mountain glaciers (Valentina Radi´c), and elevational dependent warming in Canada’s highest mountain range (Scott Williamson).
We are very pleased to shine a bright light on several new initiatives that will raise the voices of both Indigenous mountain communities and youth, who are strong advocates for conservation and research. Over the past year, the new Canadian Mountain Network formally began operations (Norma Kassi), and the first Canadian Rockies Youth Summit was held in Jasper National Park (Benjamin Green et al).
The biodiversity of plants and animals in Canada’s mountains are also receiving more attention. Several contributions this year provide insights into our understanding of alpine species interactions (Anna Hargreaves), alpine butterflies (Felix Sperling, William Sperling, and Zac MacDonald), and the critical role of conservation data centres (Bruce Bennett and Syd Cannings).
We also take a closer look at some of the more hidden features of Canada’s mountain environments. John Pollack, Christian Stenner, and Chas Yonge take us deep into the caves of Canada’s mountains. Last November, Chas Yonge, a remarkable Canadian climber, cave explorer, scientist, and author, was recognized with the Sir Christopher Ondaatje Medal for Exploration from the Royal Canadian Geographic Society. Sadly, Chas passed away in January, just as this contribution was being finalized.
Finally, we take a deep dive to learn more about the submarine mountains in the oceans off of the west coast (Cherisse Du Preez and Tammy Norgard) and east coast (David Piper and Georgia Piper) of Canada. These seamounts are geologically diverse and provide habitats for a remarkable diversity of unique marine species. Other essays this year discuss public avalanche safety (Mary Clayton), changing plant communities (Lauren Erland and Susan Murch), and the geological origins of the cordilleran mountain system (Stephen Johnston).
We have also upgraded the SOTMR website, to make it easier to find, download, and cite all of the contributions since 2018. We see these as a collection of resources that will provide authoritative insight into the cultural, social, economic, biological, and physical state of Canada’s mountain environments. Over the past three years, some forty articles have been included in the State of the Mountains Reports, and we will continue to build on this foundation in the coming years. Check them all out, and please let us know if there is some aspect of Canada’s mountains that you would like to see included in future reports. If you want to learn more about mountain environments, we can recommend Mountains 101, an award-winning free online course, offered through Coursera, that was created by the University of Alberta in partnership with Parks Canada and The Alpine Club of Canada – by July 1, 2020, over 48,000 students from around the world have registered in the course!
Lastly, more than anything, the tumultuous times of 2020 have been a reminder to all Canadians of how fortunate we are to have wilderness spaces in which to recreate and to explore. As we stay closer to home and seek activities that are safe to do in a pandemic, more and more people are rediscovering our parks, trails, and mountain spaces. Let’s hope this leads to increased support for protection and conservation of these special places from coast to coast to coast.
Stay safe and see you in the mountains.
As for so many Canadians during the pandemic, Zoom meetings became a regular state of affairs. The Reports editors preparing Volume 3. Bottom: Lael Parrott; Top (L-R): David Hik and Zac Robinson.
Lael Parrott, Zac Robinson, and David Hik July, 2020.
Lael Parrott is the ACC Vice-President for Access & Environment, Professor of Sustainability, and Director of the Institute for Biodiversity, Resilience, and Ecosystem Services at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan.
Zac Robinson is the ACC Vice-President for Mountain Culture, and an Associate Professor of history in the Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation at the University of Alberta.
David Hik is an ecologist and Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, and Associate Dean (Academic) in the Faculty of Science at Simon Fraser University.