After historic flooding in Canmore and Southern Alberta, our community is now working together to clean up the damage caused by the flooding rivers and mudslides. Natural disasters such as what we had in Canmore really do bring out the best in most people. Our faith in humanity is being constantly renewed when we see the outstanding support of community – individuals working together to try to save homes, endless donations of food, clothing, blankets and toys and ongoing offers from people opening their homes to those who were evacuated. In times like these we remember what matters most in life: helping those in need and appreciating that we can still wake up and enjoy another glorious day.
The Yamnuska Mountain Adventures office is safe and sound and the evacuation order has been lifted for our building. Our office and vehicles were spared any flooding and our staff did a great clean-up of the area surrounding the building.
While some programs did not go as scheduled, we expect to run all of our upcoming trips, courses and programs. With highway access slowly returning to normal, we anticipate full operations for programs to resume immediately.
We are in the process of contacting all of our guests from southern Alberta who are scheduled for programs this weekend but so far most of them are just as keen to get out into the mountains as we are! For those clients who have been displaced from their homes or jobs as a result of the flooding we are working with them to develop options given the extraordinary circumstances. Where guests have had to cancel their participation on programs we have been flexible with our normal cancellation policies.
Training locations, climbing routes and access points will start being scouted mid week. In what has been an incredible few days, we are returning to normal and wish all the best to our friends, clients and colleagues who have been affected by the flooding. Homes, businesses and livelihoods of thousands have been impacted by this once in a lifetime event and our thoughts go out to those who were not spared damage.
As a colleague wrote today, ‘now more than ever, people should seek experiences in nature to heal and calm.’ The stunning scenery still gives us pause to enjoy. People have returned to riding their bikes, sharing their stories and putting their lives back in order.
