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Abbot Pass Hut — Swiss guides, Banff

The small stone Abbot Pass Hut sits on a rocky saddle at the foot of a huge layered cliff in the Canadian Rockies, photographed in 2018
Artwork FileLake Louise, Canada

Abbot Pass Hut

Gone2022

Swiss guides Ed Feuz and Rudolph Aemmer · 1922 · Abbot Pass, between Mount Victoria and Mount Lefroy, Canada

Photo: andrew.jk / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0), as published in Street Art Utopia.

Abbot Pass Hut was a stone refuge on an alpine col at 2,925 metres between Mount Victoria and Mount Lefroy, on the border of Banff and Yoho national parks. According to Parks Canada it was built in 1922 at the behest of Swiss guides Ed Feuz and Rudolph Aemmer, with the support of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and was designated a national historic site in 1992. After the ground eroded from under its foundation in 2021, Parks Canada removed it in 2022; only a piece of wall, some stone steps and a plaque remain. Source Source Checked

Gone 2022: the Rocky Mountain Outlook reported that removal work began on 17 June and the hut was removed on 30 June 2022, and Global News reported on 13 July 2022 that only a piece of wall, some stone steps and a plaque remain. In February 2023 the Alpine Club of Canada announced a plan to build a replacement near the former site. Source Source Source Checked

More photos

Abbot Pass seen from the Alberta side in September 2010, with the small stone hut on the col between Mount Victoria and Mount Lefroy
2010 The hut on the pass, from the Alberta sidePhoto: Florin Chelaru / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

💡 4 things to know

  1. Built by Swiss guidesParks Canada says the hut was built in 1922 at the behest of Swiss guides Ed Feuz and Rudolph Aemmer, with the support of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Source Checked
  2. One of Canada’s highest sheltersWhen it closed in 2018, CBC News called it the country’s second-highest habitable structure, at 2,925 metres. Source Reported
  3. The ground went firstParks Canada says slope instability was first reported in 2016, and in 2021 the ground eroded from under the foundation of the hut. Source Checked
  4. Names in the wallsCrews taking the hut apart in June 2022 found names inscribed into the walls by the Swiss guides who built it, the Rocky Mountain Outlook reported. Source Reported

📍 Where it is

Abbot Pass, an alpine col between Mount Victoria and Mount Lefroy on the Alberta–British Columbia border, above Lake Louise and Lake O’Hara. The hut is gone; a piece of wall, some stone steps and a plaque mark the site. Source Source Source Checked

Open in Maps

Opens a map at the former hut site on Abbot Pass.

🗓️ Sightings

  1. 20103 Sep

    Hut on the pass, from the Alberta side · Florin Chelaru

  2. 20185 Aug

    The stone hut photographed · andrew.jk

  3. 201810 Aug

    Closed over slope erosion · CBC News

  4. 202224 Feb

    Parks Canada announces the hut will be dismantled

  5. 202230 Jun

    Removal completed · Rocky Mountain Outlook

  6. 202213 Jul

    Only wall, steps and plaque remain · Global News

  7. 202316 Feb

    Replacement planned near the former site · Alpine Club of Canada

Green stamps mark dated photographs; amber stamps mark records, events and reports; red stamps mark loss. Publication dates are not camera dates.

🗞️ In the sources

CBC News10 August 2018

Historic Abbot Pass Hut on Alberta-B.C. border closed due to slope erosion

“Country’s 2nd-highest habitable structure shut over safety concerns as Parks Canada evaluates slope stability”

Read the source →

Global News13 July 2022

Historic hut in Rocky Mountains dismantled due to erosion of slope

“Parks Canada says a hut built by Swiss guides a century ago in the Rockies has been substantially removed.”

Read the source →

✅ The facts

Built at the behest of
Swiss guides Ed Feuz and Rudolph Aemmer Source Source Checked
Backing
Canadian Pacific Railway support (Parks Canada); the Rocky Mountain Outlook says the guides worked for the Canadian Alpine Association Source Source Reported
Elevation
2,925 m Source Source Checked
National Historic Site
Designated 1992 Source Checked
Operator
Alpine Club of Canada, from 1985 Source Checked
Closed
Temporarily closed in 2017 (Parks Canada); closed indefinitely over slope erosion in 2018 (CBC) Source Source Checked
Removed
Spring 2022 (Parks Canada); work began 17 June and the hut was removed 30 June 2022 (Rocky Mountain Outlook) Source Source Checked
What remains
A piece of wall, some stone steps and a plaque Source Reported
Named after
Philip Stanley Abbot: Canada’s first mountaineering fatality (Parks Canada); the first recorded in North America (Rocky Mountain Outlook) Source Source Reported
Replacement
Planned near the former site, funded by Lake Louise Ski Area and Charlie Locke (announced 16 February 2023) Source Reported

🔗 Related

All sources & image credits

Last checked: 12 November 2026 · How we verify art