ACC Gazette Section Stories: Jasper/Hinton
Mount Alberta Centennial
A 100-year-old tale of legendary climbing, a 'silver' ice-axe, and the uniting of nations
Images courtesy of Jasper-Yellowhead Museum & Archives
One of the coolest stories of mountaineering in the Canadian Rockies happened in Jasper exactly 100 years ago. It’s the story of the first ascent of Mt. Alberta – perhaps the most difficult peak in the range – in 1925.
At the time, all the other high peaks of the Rockies had been climbed, but Mt. Alberta remained as a prize that Canadian, American, and European climbers were eyeing.
When the peak was finally climbed, it was by a Japanese party led by Yuko Maki during the first ever Japanese overseas climbing expedition.
Their route up Mt. Alberta involved extreme climbing, loose rock and a nervy human-ladder shoulder stand to overcome an overhang. They carried pitons (new to Canada) and an extra ice axe (made of ordinary wood, not silver as legend had it), that they left on the summit. The ascent effectively ended the first great era of exploration and climbing in the Canadian Rockies, but the story was only beginning.
The second ascent of the mountain was made in 1948 by an American party that found and retrieved the ice axe – or at least the top part of it, as the wooden shaft broke when it was removed from the ice of the summit cairn where it was planted by the Japanese 23 years earlier. This top part of the axe lived in the American Alpine Club office in New York until 1995, when it was returned to Jasper.
Interestingly, the broken off bottom part of the axe was retrieved by the fourth ascent party in 1965, also a Japanese team. They didn’t immediately understand the significance of the piece and took it with them back to Japan.
It wasn’t until 1997, during the preparations for the 75th anniversary celebration of the 1925 ascent, that it was discovered that the two pieces – one that had made it to a Jasper museum by way of New York City and the other in Japan – were from the same ice axe. Ceremonies were held in Japan and in Canada joining the two pieces together and they now reside permanently in the Jasper-Yellowhead Museum and Archives as one of the most important symbols of the advancement of mountaineering on the continent.
2025 is the 100th anniversary of the historic Japanese ascent of Mt. Alberta and this July, the ACC’s Jasper/Hinton Section celebrated. The section invited ACC members to join in the celebrations, including presentations and guided walks. Twenty members of the Japan Alpine Club also attended.
The town of Jasper will also be creating a lasting legacy of the event in the form of a mural in town honouring the first ascent.
If you are in Jasper this summer, plan to take in the Mt. Alberta Centennial events, and stop by the museum to see the legendary “silver” ice axe.
Regional ACC Sections are the Alpine Club of Canada’s strength. Membership in an ACC Section enables members to participate in numerous summer and winter mountaineering, rock climbing, and skiing activities, coordinated by experienced amateur leaders in their local area. The majority of activities offered by sections are either free or are offered on a break-even basis to their members. Through ACC Section trips you’ll learn all the basics you need to travel safely in the mountains, while meeting new friends to enjoy your experiences with.
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