Canada’s most brutal mountain cabin

This is Canada’s most bizarre mountain cabin. But there’s bad news, because soon you won’t be able to go there anymore.

The mountain hut has become too dangerous. It is a historic cabin high in Canada’s Yoho National Park and is now slated to be demolished. Park officials say this because the rock and soil beneath are eroding, putting the 100-year-old structure at risk of collapsing.

Canada’s brutal mountain cabin

It is a mountain cabin high in the mountains with phenomenal views. It stands on a historic site, stretching across the continental divide near Yoho National Park. According to Parks Canada, at 9,600 feet above sea level, the refuge has long been a popular destination for hikers and a jumping-off point for rock climbers looking to climb some of the nearby peaks.

Built in 1922, the cabin sits on a slope that was once covered by a permanent layer of snow and ice, which held the ground and rock below in place. This has changed due to climate change and there is no longer permanent snow.

Too dangerous

The cabin was closed to visitors in 2018 and work began on preserving the structure; Parks Canada poured over $600,000 into installing rock anchors under the cabin. But the following year, work stalled due to bad weather, and in 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic further delayed proceedings. Last year, the erosion worsened, with more than 4,000 cubic feet of material falling from the slopes below the cabin. That prompted park officials to decide to disassemble the structure altogether for safety reasons.

“We are absolutely saddened by the loss of this mountain refuge due to the effects of climate change,” told Alex Kolesch, senior advisor at Parks Canada, told Inside Climate News. “We look forward to exploring ways to continue to commemorate this important part of Canada’s heritage and this national historic site.”