Why is Canada owing so much to Switzerland?

The fact that 15 peaks in the Rocky Mountains came to be given common Swiss names is part of a story not being shared enough.

Canada’s mountains are in the province of Alberta, and more specifically the Rocky Mountains. Canadians started exploring them in the 1800’s, and were able to gain access through trains and railway across Canada. There was a big company in particular called “Canadian Pacific” who wanted to build a huge railway across all of Canada, passing into the rockies mountain range.

Eventually a vision came to flourish to explore more of the mountains, because of its outstanding beauty. Canadians built fancy hotels, with the Banff Springs Hotel being the first in 1888. Unfortunately, it’s really hard to navigate the Rockies. It’s an extremely dangerous endeavour. Explorers were scouting the mountains to see where to lay the railway, but in 1896, there was an accident.

A climber by the name of Philip Stanley Abbot died while climbing Mount Lefroy. Philip was a lawyer with a Harvard Graduate degree and was also an experienced mountain climber who had made expeditions to the Alps and had even once ascended the Matterhorn. On August 3rd, 1896, Philip slipped and fell down while free climbing.

This was the first documented mountain climbing death in North America at the time. It was displayed in every newspaper and seen by most Canadians. That event scared everyone, and Canada decided to stop exploring the mountains.

At that time, the Swiss were the known mountain experts. Canada’s mountains were known to be identical to the Swiss. Eventually, Canadians asked help from the Swiss to guide them into the Rockies safely, and share their wisdom. The Swiss agreed to pass-on all the knowledge they had to their Canadian allies. They sent the best mountaineers they had. The three dozen mountain guides brought over by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) were very well organized and had brought crafty tools that facilitated the expeditions.

Once the Swiss took-over the mountain expeditions, there was not a single death in the 50 years the guides were employed by the railway. That gesture really left a mark on the Canadian culture.

Over the course of the 1900’s, the Canadian Rockies became very popular. Canadians built resorts, roads and very expensive hotels to kick-start a fledgling tourism industry. The Rockies became so famous that it was stapled as the identity of Canada.

The tourism industry bloomed, and Canadians really benefited in terms on economy. Eventually the Swiss guides returned home, but they left behind a large supply of Swiss mountain gear. And that equipment, clothing and gear really caught on to the fashion that Canadians use till this very day.

It was the Swiss guides who made it all happen. They sacrificed the comfort of their own homes to help ours. Today, there are 15 mountain peeks that were given Switzerland names as a commemoration to the friends across the sea who helped cultivate the Canadian mountains as we know them.

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If you want to know more about Banff you can go to Top 6 things to see in Banff & Jasper

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