Pursuit - Columbia Icefield Adventure Tour Road Maintenance Program

Pursuit has been operating the Columbia Icefield Adventure Tour on the Athabasca Glacier in Jasper National Park under a master agreement with Parks Canada since 1995. The tour takes guests on a 90-minute tour from the Glacier Discovery Centre to an observation area on the Athabasca Glacier, via bus to a Transfer Bay staging area and then in an all-terrain Ice-Explorer vehicle along a rock cut road across a scree slope, glacial moraine and to an observation area on the glacier itself.

This project considers the past and future maintenance activities required to maintain the moraine and ice portions of the road and observation area utilized by the Ice-Explorer vehicles. These dynamic road segments have been constructed on moraine features and the Athabasca Glacier and are subject to freeze-thaw, mass wasting and glacial processes that are continually altering the landscape. To maintain safe operating conditions for the glacier tour, dynamic road segments require regular, routine adjustments and re-alignment within a dynamic footprint boundary. Over time, these segments may fluctuate in size and location to accommodate operational constraints.

Pursuit is proposing to continue the maintenance activities for the dynamic sections of road that they are already undertaking. They are not proposing new maintenance activities for the road. They will complete a Basic Impact Assessment to fill in knowledge gaps and provide a fuller understanding of valued components, potential impacts, and mitigation measures for their maintenance and operations in order to continue the glacier tour in subsequent years.

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Latest update

April 30, 2025 - The assessment decision statement has been issued to the proponent.

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Contacts

Jasper National Park
Box 10
Jasper, Alberta T0E 1E0
Telephone: 780-852-6141
Email: evaluationdimpactjasper-jasperimpactassessment@pc.gc.ca


Disclaimer

This map is for illustrative purposes. The markers represent the approximate locations based on available data. More than one marker may be identified for a given assessment.

  • Location

    • Jasper National Park of Canada (Alberta)

  • Nature of Activity

    • Recreation and Tourism

  • Assessment Status

    Completed

  • Start Date

    2024-02-09

  • Proponent

    Pursuit Collection

  • Authorities

    • Parks Canada Agency

  • Assessment Type

    Project on federal lands

  • Reference Number

    87317

Nearby assessments

...within 200 kilometres
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