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O’Hara 2013 • Published by the Lake O’Hara Trails Club, Box 98, Lake Louise, AB. T0L 1E0 • www.lotc.ca • Conrad Kain and Lake O’Hara There were many significant painters who turned to Lake arrived at O’Hara on July 23rd after a two-hour train ride O’Hara as their fount of inspiration. There is also the tale of from Banff, followed by a day-long horseback ride to the the stellar trail-building efforts of George Link and Lawrence camp. Most of the following week was spent setting up camp Grassi, so insightfully told by Jon Whyte in Tommy and Law- which began August 1st. Kain was a guide most days, and rence: The Ways of the Trails of Lake O’Hara. But, before the Mount Huber (11,049 ft) was the peak of choice for most at coming of the creative artists and the building of the trails, the camp. Kain mentions leading a few at the camp to the there was Conrad Kain and the 1909 Alpine Club of Cana- summit of Huber and down on a rather nasty snow-thick da’s mountaineering camp at Lake O’Hara. day when others had turned back. The group Kain led re- There is little doubt that Conrad Kain (1883-1934) was the turned safely to camp, but Kain wondered how Wheeler finest and fittest mountaineer in the first generation of would greet the tardy but safe climbers. Wheeler was amply mountaineering in Canada. The Swiss Guides hired by the delighted by Kain’s leadership, but Kain makes it abundantly CPR are often given their rightful nod and due, but none clear in his letter that the Swiss guides (rented from the CPR of the Swiss Guides did the challenging peaks or took their for the 1909 camp) were none too pleased with all the atten- clients on the questionable climbs that Kain did. Kain, a na- tion he was getting from Wheeler and many others at the tive of Nasswald, Austria, was brought to Canada in 1909 by camp. Needless to say, the Swiss and Austrian guides had the Alpine Club of Canada (Arthur Wheeler, the club’s first many a tension point. president, hired Kain). There is a lovely section in the letter in which Kain describes, There remains some lingering dispute about whether Kain in poignant and evocative detail, the sheer delight and plea- was the first to climb Mount Robson in 1913, but in 2013 sure he had in being in the O’Hara area. He mentions how it (100 years after Kain reached the snow-packed summit of so reminded him of the Swiss or Tyrol mountains. He com- Robson), many is the ascent planned to commemorate his ments on how he took a gun into his tent when bedding historic standing on the roof of the highest peak in the down for the night, and the charm of Oesa, the “Ice Lake”. Rockies. Kain tends to hold the imagination of many, and Porcupines even occasionally made a visit to his tent! But the myth and lore of Kain is fated to continue. The 2009 re- there can be no doubt - the serenity and grand beauty of publication of Kain’s edited autobiography Where the Clouds O’Hara charmed Kain. Can Go (original foreword by J. Monroe Thorington, up- Kain went on to become one of the Rockies’ best-known dated foreward by Hans Gmoser, and new foreword by Pat guides in Canada’s “golden age of mountaineering”, but it is Morrow) signalled once again, the abiding significance and interesting to note that his Canadian guiding career began relevance of Kain. He was the outstanding pioneer of Cana- in the meadows and on the peaks of Lake O’Hara. dian mountaineering, who rose, like Mount Robson, above Ron Dart the lesser peaks of the Swiss Guides. What, though, is this climber’s relationship with the Lake O’Hara area? Conrad Kain was hired to be one of the main guides for the Alpine Club’s annual mountaineering camp at Lake O’Hara in 1909 – the club’s first camp at O’Hara. Lil- lian Gest, in her somewhat dated yet suggestive missive, His- tory of Lake O’Hara, had this to say: “This club (Alpine Club of Canada) held 13 camps at or near Lake O’Hara. The first camp was in 1909 in the alpine meadow with 190 persons. …The veteran, world-famed mountaineer, Edward Whym- per attended the 1909 camp. He brought greetings from a number of the most famous English mountain climbers of the day” (p.34.). Kain wrote a lengthy letter to his Austrian friend Amelie Malek after the 1909 camp at O’Hara, describing, in varied Members of the 1909 Alpine Club of Canada Mountaineering Camp. Conrad detail, the many events that occurred at the camp and his Kain at far left. Photo courtesy Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, v263- participation in them. Kain mentions in the letter how he na71-49. Tribute to Michael Laub Lake O’Hara has lost Michael promptly established that the vision for Yoho its greatest champion National Park held by Parks Canada was also the vision and ambassador. Mi- for Lake O’Hara Lodge - to celebrate and protect the heri- chael Laub died De- tage of a stunning and magical backcountry setting. That cember 28, 2012 in heritage included a bold landscape, a rich ecology and a Banff, after a hard- relatively short human history beginning with First Na- fought battle with tions, horse access, the railroad and then very modest de- cancer. He was 69. velopment. The transition that began in 1975 saw the trail Michael was raised in system enhanced and maintained through collaboration Calgary, taught eco- with Parks Canada and the Lake O’Hara Trails Club. A res- nomics at the Univer- ervation system for the bus was introduced. Le Relais (a sity of Manitoba and, rustic backcountry visitor centre) was established and the in autumn of 1974, lodge season was extended to fall and winter. Michael was made the biggest de- instrumental in all these advances, quietly guiding nego- cision of his life. He tiations, proposing solutions and responding to concerns. left Winnipeg with He played a leading role in everything Lake O’Hara has his wife Marsha to embark on a 37-year journey as owner- become over the years. operator of Lake O’Hara Lodge. Along the way Michael Family was Michael’s most important priority. His care, and Marsha raised two beautiful and talented daughters, guidance and leadership extended to the entire Lake Marika and Aviva. Marika loved O’Hara, excelled in school O’Hara Family - a family that included friends, staff, lodge and was an accomplished cross-country ski racer when we guests and visitors to the area. Michael was always willing lost her at the age of 17 in a tragic car accident. Aviva grew to listen to a challenging question, consider a difficult is- up in Banff with summers spent at Lake O’Hara and went sue or help solve a thorny problem. There were many who on to become a nurse in Victoria, BC where she currently went to him for advice and came away with a new perspec- lives and practices. tive, an idea or a direction they had not considered. This Lake O’Hara was at a crossroads in 1975 when the Laub was Michael’s genius. He taught us the value of hard work, family bought in and began a new era of management at determination, patience, contemplation and respect. the lodge. Parks Canada had made it clear that there was to We will miss Michael dearly, but our sadness in losing him be no expansion in the size of the lodge operation, camping is comforted by the legacy and challenge he has left for was restricted to the designated campground, and there was future generations - to protect and celebrate this very spe- to be a quota on the number of people entering the area by cial place. bus. There was even talk of phasing out backcountry op- Tim Wake erations like Lake O’Hara Lodge. It was a delicate time that called for careful navigation of these transitions. Build a Legacy at Lake O’Hara When Lawrence Grassi began building the stone steps on NEW!!! Make a gift to Lake O’Hara online! Use the “Do- the Lake Oesa trail and Tommy Link and A. Carson Simp- nate Now” button on our website at www.lotc.ca and you son blazed a trail to the Cathedral Plateau, they were creat- can make a gift securely online through a group called ing legacies for generations to come. “CanadaHelps”. You will receive a charitable gift receipt You can be a proud part of that tradition of building legacy from CanadaHelps, and the Trails Club will receive your by including the Lake O’Hara Trails Club in your estate gift minus a 3.9% processing fee. (You may want to con- planning. A legacy in your will ensures that the Club is sider increasing your gift to account for this fee.) This sys- able to continue with our work of preserving and enhanc- tem will keep the Club’s administration costs down, and ing the Lake O’Hara area while your estate may benefit will make it easier for you to support your Trails Club. from a charitable gift receipt. Contact us at message@lotc. We are tremendously grateful for all of our supporters and ca for more information. donors, and hope that the next time you visit Lake O’Hara, you might take a moment to remember the contributions of so many who trod these trails before us.

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