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Centennial Facilities

	Centennial Campaign		Mountain Culture		Sections’ Centennial Celebrations
	Centennial Events		Facilities		The Winnipeg Centennial Celebration
	Mountaineering		Leadership		About the Centennial Logo
	Past ACC Presidents		Centennial Hut

As part of our centennial celebrations, the Alpine Club of Canada is looking forward to a number of projects, including replacing the Pat Boswell (Toronto Section) Cabin and the successful rebuild of the Fay Hut.

The Pat Boswell (Toronto Section) Cabin project

Pat Boswell (Toronto) Cabin Photo: © Lawrence White

With the Fay Hut project completed, Carl Hannigan and ACC Facilities Committee members
will focus their efforts on the plan to build a new cabin at the Canmore Clubhouse site, replacing the aging Toronto Cabin. This project is also half funded thanks to a generous donation by Stephanie Boswell in memory of her husband Pat - a former Manager of the ACC – and a donation by the Toronto Section. A building permit is expected any day, with work starting this fall. There is enough money to get the new cabin framed in, but another $65,000 is required to finish it in time for occupancy next summer or fall.

The Fay Hut

The Fay Hut, Fall 2005 Photo: © Bruce Hardardt

Built in 1927, the Fay Hut was the first alpine hut constructed by the Alpine Club of Canada. The Abbot Pass and Elizabeth Parker Huts are older, but both were built by the Canadian Pacific Railway. Located in Kootenay National Park, the Fay Hut facilitated climbing expeditions in the vicinity of the Valley of the Ten Peaks. It was extensively renovated in 1991 through the efforts of the Rocky Mountain Section and the Alpine Club of Canada.
The Fay Hut was named in honour of Professor Charles Fay, a past President of the Appalachian Mountain Club and a founder of the American Alpine Club. He made 25 trips to the Canadian Rockies between 1890 and 1930, and participated in first ascents of Mt. Victoria and Mt. Lefroy among others.

The Fay hut was successfully rebuilt in the summer of 2005. A countless number of volunteer hours, labour and donations, went into what is the first tangible result of the Clubs Centennial celebrations.

Many of you may wonder why I choose to give my time and make a significant financial donation to the Alpine Club. Despite never having held an office on the national Executive, I have found the Club to be a major source of enjoyment, whether it was slogging up a long hillside to a mountain peak or putting in hours on various projects. Not only is there a personal gratification in working on Club projects, but also one in being part of a huge volunteer team within the ACC. This volunteer team, with the assistance of the office staff, of whom I was once a member, keeps the Club going and makes projects such as the Fay Hut and Boswell Cabin a reality. Reality is today and tomorrow, for those of us active today and those who will become members tomorrow.

— Bev Bendell
Fay Hut Project Donor
Canmore and Edmonton, Alberta

Visit the Fay Hut page for an update on its reconstruction and information on volunteering with the work crew.

Other Facilities

The Scott Duncan Hut on the Wapta Traverse needs extensive renovations and the Neil Colgan Hut above Moraine Lake is scheduled for upgrading.
The Clubhouse in Canmore has a whole new look thanks to the efforts of Bruce Hardardt and his committee members, but the Panabode cabin should be upgraded for staff accommodation, and the Toronto and Field cabins are in need of replacement. These improvements are expected to cost $195,000.

In 2003, the ACC assumed operation of the new Kokanee Glacier Cabin in southern British Columbia, which is proving to be very popular with backcountry users in both summer and winter. Facilities Committee Chairman Carl Hannigan is evaluating similar opportunities elsewhere, and is investigating potential locations for a new hut to commemorate the Club’s centennial in 2006.

All together, reconstruction and renovation of existing huts and Clubhouse facilities will cost an estimated $565,000 just in materials and helicopter time. All the design work, project management and labour is provided by volunteers. Another $65,000 is needed to follow up on new hut opportunities, and a Centennial Hut could cost $400,000. That amounts to just over $1 million in facilities related projects over the next five years