Swiss Guides

The story of the Swiss guides at Lake Louise is the story of how the Canadian Rockies were transformed from an impenetrable obstacle into a world-class mountaineering destination. In the late 1890s the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) realized that to sell the “50 Switzerlands in One” experience they needed professional alpinists. That decision launched a golden age of mountaineering (1899–1954) that shaped the culture of Lake Louise for good.

The pioneers. After the death of Philip Stanley Abbot on Mount Lefroy in 1896; the first mountaineering fatality in North America; the CPR moved to import safety. In 1899 Eduard Feuz Sr. and Christian Haesler Sr. arrived from Interlaken as the first professional guides hired by the CPR (initially through Thomas Cook & Son). They brought the “Swiss pace,” proper ice-axe technique, hobnail boots, and the authority of the lead guide; Feuz guided Lord Minto up Mount Avalanche (1900), Haesler led the first ascent of Mount Assiniboine (1901). Over 55 years the Swiss guides led thousands of climbs without a single client fatality. When the Alpine Club of Canada was founded in 1906, Feuz and Haesler acted as official instructors at its inaugural camps; training a generation of Canadians.

Second generation. The first guides were seasonal; the second generation often made Canada their home. Edward Feuz Jr. (eldest son of Eduard Feuz Sr.) became perhaps the most legendary figure in Lake Louise history, with over 100 first ascents and climbs on Mount Victoria into his 80s. Rudolf Aemmer, with the Feuz family, made the Chateau Lake Louise their headquarters after other mountain houses closed. These guides were celebrities as well as climbers; they appeared in promotional films, worked as stuntmen for Hollywood crews, and were familiar faces at the Lake Louise boathouse.

Glacier House and Edelweiss. While working across the Rockies, the guides’ spiritual home was Glacier House at Rogers Pass; they wore traditional Swiss velvet jackets and hats, living attractions in the remote BC wilderness. To retain guides who returned to Switzerland in winter, the CPR built Edelweiss Village in Golden, BC (1912); Swiss chalets that established a permanent Feuz and Haesler community.

Lasting landmarks. Their legacy is written into the landscape. Swiss guides built Abbot Pass Hut (1922), the stone hut at 2,925 m between Mt. Victoria and Mt. Lefroy (demolished 2022). The Plain of Six Glaciers Tea House was built in the 1920s at Edward Feuz Jr.’s suggestion; the Feuz family ran it for decades. Feuz Peak and Mount Haesler in the Selkirks honour the patriarchs.

Modern mountain culture. The guides did more than summit peaks; they established the technical systems still in use. Walter Perren, who arrived in 1950, is often called the father of modern mountain rescue in Canada. He pioneered the use of helicopters and technical rope systems that became the standard for Parks Canada rescue operations.