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Bow Hut Registers
https://archives.whyte.org/en/permalink/descriptions57641
- Part Of
- Alpine Club of Canada fonds
- Scope & Content
- Sub-series of hut registers from the Bow Hut produced by the Alpine Club of Canada between 1968 and 2019. Registers include entries from visitors to the huts which pertain to individuals' hiking and climbing trips; details of specific events which occurred while staying at the hut, wildlife sightin…
- Date Range
- 1968 - 1977
- 1983 - 2006
- 2010 - 2023
- Reference Code
- M200 / IV / F
- Description Level
- 4 / Sub-series
- GMD
- Textual record
- Organization record
- Part Of
- Alpine Club of Canada fonds
- Description Level
- 4 / Sub-series
- Fonds Number
- M200
- V14
- S6
- Series
- M200 / IV: Hut Registers
- Sous-Fonds
- M200
- Sub-Series
- M200 / IV / F: Bow Hut Registers
- Accession Number
- accn. 2023.32
- accn. 2023.15
- accn. 2023.20
- accn. 2014.8293
- accn. 2023.19
- accn. 8002
- accn. 7779
- accn. 2023.10
- accn. 6465
- accn. 6623
- accn. 6766
- accn. 2376
- accn. 3296
- accn. 3970
- accn. 5215
- accn. 2023.06
- accn. 2024.20
- Reference Code
- M200 / IV / F
- Responsibility
- Registers produced by the Alpine Club of Canada
- Date Range
- 1968 - 1977
- 1983 - 2006
- 2010 - 2023
- Physical Description
- 66 cm of textual records (34 volumes)
- History / Biographical
- According to the Alpine Club of Canada website and their Backcountry Huts: Bow Hut Info Sheet: "The original Bow Hut project was initiated by Peter Fuhrmann, funded by Peter and Catharine Whyte and was constructed in 1968 by members of various groups including the Calgary Ski Club and the ACC. The hut was built near Bow Glacier to facilitate ski tourers and mountaineers entering the Wapta via Bow Lake, the easiest and most natural route to the icefields. Fiberglass igloos had been established at both the Peyto Glacier and Balfour Pass in the years prior, and with the building of a deluxe 14-person facility at a location between the two, the vision of a system of huts on the Wapta/Waputik Icefields was taking shape. None of those responsible for the project, however, could have predicted the amount of use and the level of abuse that the original Bow Hut would endure. The hut was abused from the beginning, and saw very little regular maintenance or upkeep. By the 1980s the place was a total hole. The hut was used as a flop house, the snow within several hundred feet of the hut had been contaminated by the outhouses and by indiscriminate waste disposal, and some estimates put the number of users per year at 7,000 (19 people per night at a facility which was built to sleep 14!). The hut which was described upon its completion as the “the Ritz” had metamorphosed into the “Bow Ghetto”. By the mid-1980s it was evident that the facility required radical change. In 1989, under the direction of the ACC’s Huts Committee Chairman Mike Mortimer, that radical change took place. The original hut had been built on a site which was non-porous and therefore had no drainage – a problem that led to the contaminated water and snow. Plans were made for a new hut in a more environmentally sensitive location and fund-raising began. The new Bow Hut was constructed for $98,000, raised primarily through the Calgary and Edmonton sections of the Club. Design concerns in the new hut included proper waste disposal, spacious and bright common areas and sleeping rooms which were both increased in size from the original hut and separated from the common areas to facilitate use by may groups at one time. The palatial new Bow Hut was opened in the fall of 1989 to rave reviews and is presently operated by the ACC. The hut today is a far cry from the original Balfour and Peyto fiberglass igloos, which a Banff Warden predicted in the late ’60s “will only serve the few hardy ski mountaineers who can accept the hardships of carrying and skiing with heavy loads and are willing to put up with discomfort during the night in bad weather”. It’s an even further cry from the abused state of the original Bow Hut and now serves as a stopover for many summer and winter trips."
- Scope & Content
- Sub-series of hut registers from the Bow Hut produced by the Alpine Club of Canada between 1968 and 2019. Registers include entries from visitors to the huts which pertain to individuals' hiking and climbing trips; details of specific events which occurred while staying at the hut, wildlife sightings, custodial issues and updates, and related topics. The sub-series is separated into individual hut registers, arranged by date:
- M200 / IV / F / 1: Bow Glacier Hut [1968 - 1971 register]
- M200 / IV / F / 2: Bow Glacier Hut Register [1971 - 1973]
- M200 / IV / F / 3: Bow Glacier Hut Register [1973 -1975]
- M200 / IV / F / 4: Bow Hut register [1975 -1977]
- M200 / IV / F / 5: Bow Hut [register 1983 - 1984]
- M200 / IV / F / 6: Bow Hut Register [1984-1986]
- M200 / IV / F / 7: [Bow Hut Register Dec. 17, 1986 - June 19, 1989]
- M200 / IV / F / 8: Bow Hut [1989 - 1991]
- M200 / IV / F / 9: Bow Hut 1991 - 1993
- M200 / IV / F / 10: [Bow Hut Registers 1992 - 94]
- M200 / IV / F / 11: "Bow Hut Register" Sept. 30, 1994 - Aug. 28, 1995
- M200 / IV / F / 12: Bow Hut Register Sept. 16, 1995 - June 27, 1996
- M200 / IV / F / 13: [Bow Hut Dec. 1995 - March 2000 Register]
- M200 / IV / F / 14: Bow Hut Register June 29, 1996 - Mar 29, 1997
- M200 / IV / F / 15: Bow Hut register Mar 29, 1997 - Nov. 14, 1997
- M200 / IV / F / 16: "Bow Hut Register" November 24, 1997 - September 26, 1998
- M200 / IV / F / 17: Bow Hut Register [2000 - 2001]
- M200 / IV / F / 18: Bow Hut Register [2001 - 2002]
- M200 / IV / F / 19: Bow Hut Apr 18, 2002 - Feb 24, 2003
- M200 / IV / F / 20: Bow Hut Apr 8, 2003 - July 18, 2004
- M200 / IV / F / 21: Bow Hut July 18, 2004 - Aug 4, 2004
- M200 / IV / F / 22: Bow Hut Register 2004 - 2006
- M200 / IV / F / 23: Bow Hut Register 2006
- M200 / IV / F / 24: Bow Hut Register April 2009 - August 2010
- M200 / IV / F / 25: 2010 - 2012 Bow Hut Register
- M200 / IV / F / 26: Bow Hut 2012 - 2014
- M200 / IV / F / 27: Bow Hut Register [2014/15]
- M200 / IV / F / 28: Hut Register Bow Hut [2015-2016]
- M200 / IV / F / 29: Bow Hut Register, 2016 - 2018
- M200 / IV / F / 30: Bow Hut Register 2018-2019
- M200 / IV / F / 31: [100 YR SWISS CENTENNIAL CLIMB 1999: Faye Summit notes. Bow Hut OCT - DEC 1998]
- M200 / IV / F / 32: Bow Hut Register [2018-2020]
- M200 / IV / F / 33: Bow Hut Register [2021-2022]
- M200 / IV / F / 34: Bow Hut Register [2022-2023]
- Name Access
- Alpine Club of Canada
- Subject Access
- Huts
- Cabins
- Cabins and shelters
- Environment
- Environment and Nature
- Mountain
- Mountaineering
- Parks
- Parks Canada
- Sports and recreation
- Winter sports
- Geographic Access
- Canada
- Bow Glacier
- Banff National Park
- Lake Louise, AB
- Access Restrictions
- Restrictions may apply
- Reproduction Restrictions
- Contains personal information
- Language
- English
- French
- German
- Spanish
- Related Material
- M200 / V / A / 156
- Biographical Source Notes
- The Alpine Club of Canada website: https://www.alpineclubofcanada.ca/bow-hut/ The Alpine Club of Canada Backcountry Huts: Bow Hut Info Sheet pdf: https://www.alpineclubofcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/BowHut-InfoSheet.pdf
- Title Source
- Title based on contents of sub-series
- Processing Status
- Processed
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