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Town of Jasper Updates

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Gronk! said:
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A bus out to Maligne Lake with a stop at Maligne Canyon one day would be awesome, and given the distance only on per day in each direction could work at the start for day hikers, canoers etc. 7 AM departure with an 8 AM arrival at the Lake and a 4 5 PM departure with a 6 PM arrival back in Jasper would work for most I think. It could even work as a way to hike the Skyline Trail without needing your own vehicle and to avoid hitch hiking, which would be an added bonus.
 
I don't really like the precarity of just one bus in each direction per day (what if you take longer than expected coming back from a hike and miss the only bus back to town?). Also, it would be beneficial to ridership to attempt to attract those not just trying to spend all day in one place. I don't think they need to be super frequent, at least not initially, but more than once per day would be a good start (maybe 3-5 departures in a day?).

Regardless, glad for Jasper to finally catch up to Banff-Canmore. Unlike those places, there's also regular train service, which means that you could easily do Jasper carfree in a way that's more annoying with Banff. Yes, there are buses from Calgary, but the prices are often quite steep when I've looked and so it feels like the assumption is you drive to Banff and then take transit there to avoid parking/traffic issues, which is a bit silly. Jasper allows the complete package with this bus system, almost like Switzerland.
 
^regular train service is a bit of a stretch. Twice a week from Edmonton leaving at 0001 if its on time and arriving in Jasper at 0620. What do you do with your luggage for up to 8 hours before you check in. But you are right that it is a very important step in the right direction. Now if we could get daily service and have the Edmonton train station moved near Blatchford Gate LRT, then wow, this would be awesome.
 
There is a shuttle to Maligne Lake that is aimed at Skyline Trail hikers, selling one way tickets. I took it years ago and at that time I believe you could do a round trip. $42 is a steep one way price but worth it for the Skyline Trail in my opinion. It would be good to have at least a private company offer round trips that hopefully wouldn't be cost prohibitive. https://maligneadventures.com/shuttle/
 
Avenuer said:
A bus out to Maligne Lake with a stop at Maligne Canyon one day would be awesome, and given the distance only on per day in each direction could work at the start for day hikers, canoers etc. 7 AM departure with an 8 AM arrival at the Lake and a 4 5 PM departure with a 6 PM arrival back in Jasper would work for most I think. It could even work as a way to hike the Skyline Trail without needing your own vehicle and to avoid hitch hiking, which would be an added bonus.
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I wish there was more bus service to Jasper from downtown to allow LRT connections. People who don't drive or don't want to drive could then easily get a bus to Jasper, sped a night or 2 in Jasper and go up to Maligne or any trail and then head back to Edmonton.
 
EdmTrekker said:
I wish there was more bus service to Jasper from downtown to allow LRT connections. People who don't drive or don't want to drive could then easily get a bus to Jasper, sped a night or 2 in Jasper and go up to Maligne or any trail and then head back to Edmonton.
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Yeah I agree. As nice as it is to still have VIA Rail access (unlike Calgary or Regina), our station is in a terrible location. Maybe they could move it to where the Coliseum is now or next to Blatchford's LRT extension. That would make it far more usable.

But having actual public transportation in Jasper is incredibly important and this feels like a good first step. Really, we shouldn't need to have access to a car to experience Banff, Jasper, Elk Island, Drumheller, etc. Europe and Asia aren't like this with natural attractions.
 
I know that this was brought up a while ago, but just wanted to voice my excitement for the opening of the new Knob Chair as well as the new advanced terrain along the Saddle and Marmot 2. I consistently go to Marmot at least once a year and the Knob chair is one me and my ski companions tend use a lot less than other areas like Eagle Ridge and Outer Limits, despite the excellent snow and terrain found in the upper mountain that is found nowhere else on Marmot. It always feels very rickety and is only a 2 person quad. They also need to skip every third chair, which doesn't inspire confidence. Those two things mean that it has fairly bad capacity and even relatively short lines can take a while for the chair to get through. Opening a brand new quad on the route alleviates this tremendously. Also the fact it now goes higher on the mountain is a great addition, though I'm not sure why it doesn't just go to the summit at this point. The new chair could mean that I could potentially convince some of my ski companions to brave the now much shorter trek to the summit with me. Additionally the new Marmot Cirque runs, while they will require a fairly difficult and strenuous hike to reach will offer potentially some of the best and most challenging lines that aren't in the backcountry, anywhere in the Rockies. I've seen people come down from these spots before while on chairs, and while I could never brave it myself it's always interesting to watch people do these extreme difficulty runs.

All that to say I will definitely be checking out some more of the areas I haven't explored as much off the Knob Chair, like Suzie's and Charlie's Bowl. I have long been an Eagle Ridge purist but maybe this expansion could change that.
 
Continuing on the topic of skiing in the Northern Rockies, it appears like the Valemount Glacier Resort project has some potential to get off the ground, and I believe work has already started. Meaning it has already gotten farther than Jumbo. Reportedly there have been some funding issues, here's hoping they get ironed out right away. It's about time we got a new, world-class resort in the northern Rockies. Though I'm not sure of the feasibility here, Valemount is extremely remote from any international airport and this resort is planning to be absolutely massive, it's marketing itself as a destination type of resort that people from all over the continent and the world will come to. Not sure how well that will turn out, as the closest international airport is Prince George which is 3 hours away, and definitely isn't a big hub by any means. Next is YEG at over 5 hours and YYC at 6 hours. Valemount does have an "airport" (it's just a runway), but it's not feasible to even remotely close to capable of servicing an international destination.

I'd certainly visit this resort if it ends up finishing, but I'm wondering how they think they're going to make a go of it considering the scale of the project and the remoteness of the location. Maybe day trippers from Jasper? Or may they think that the year-round aspect will give them enough of an advantage to keep running even if they might be less busy than resorts like Sunshine and Lake Louise just simply due to location.
 
If you want a remote ski resort, there is Powder King which is about halfway between Prince George and Dawson Creek.
 
Powder King isn't nearly as big or ambitious as Valemount Glacier is planning to be though.
 
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