During my trip to Canada, I traveled along the Icefields Parkway, where there exists a thing that stretched several assumptions I had about the world–time, space, function and even enterprise. (By enterprise, I mean the businesses associated with this phenomenal natural feature in the Canadian Rockies). I’m talking about the Athabasca Glacier.
The Athabasca is only one of five fingers of the Columbia Icefield, one of the largest accumulations of ice and snow south of the Arctic Circle. The Athabasca glacier is nearly four miles long and 300 to more than 900 feet thick. Standing on it and thinking about the other four fingers pushed my sense of size to new boundaries.
The Athabasca Glacier is receding several centimeters a day and has lost half its volume over the past 125 years, which defies my everyday sense that glaciers are permanent fixtures in the world (even though I know better).
I learned that glaciers, when they are being formed, grind the rock and push the earth to either side, creating monstrous lateral moraines on either side. Riding in a “snow coach” up, over and then down the other side of the moraine at what seemed like more than a 45-degree angle from level stretched my assumptions of physics and function. How did we not slide down–or flip over? (The secret is in the engineering of the caterpillar-like bus with huge, heavy tires.)
All of this was accessible to me because of many businesses. First, there were explorers who sought patrons to pay for exploration. The first humans to see the glacier were Norman Collie and Herman Woollie. This is what Norman wrote about it: “The view that lay before us in the evening light was one which does not often fall to the lot of modern mountaineers. A new world was spread at our feet; to the westward stretched a vast Icefield probably never seen by human eye and surrounded by entirely unknown, unnamed and unclimbed peaks”.
After that, enterprising individual entrepreneurs led others to the glacier–for a price. In the 1920s, outfitter Jim Brewster guided hearty visitors along the edge of the glacier on “The Great Glacier Trail” horseback excursions.
The building of a railroad between Jasper to the north of the glacier and Lake Louise to the south led to more business, and after World War II concluded, business boomed. Brewster built the Icefield Chalet. The army came to test over-the-snow vehicles. In 1948, Allan Watt organized the first motorized glacier tour using a modified Ford truck.
After that, business continued to grow and evolve. Today, across the highway to the east of the glacier, you’ll find a state-of-the-art visitor and interpretive center run by the Canadian national park service, with restaurants, gift shops, tours and more. In 2014, a shiny new interpretive center will open. (I think I must go back.)
The glacier is unique, and I was very curious to see it when I researched my trip. But I found myself wondering why this natural feature, in a land of so many breathtaking natural features, inspired so much enterprise. Here is my guess:
— The imposing size of the glacier, along with a connection between eons of time and the glacier’s receding, breaks us out of assumptions we make about the world, and it intrigues us. We want to understand it. Even if we simply look at the glacier from across the road, it blows some cobwebs away. We have always suspected there is more to life than the uninspiring things we see each day, and in a way the glacier proves we were right about that. Seeing it is, for this reason, an affirming and energizing experience. It is also humbling, and that’s a great relief in this day and age when we are encouraged to bluster about in daily attempts to prove to the world that we are valuable. The glacier embraces you on behalf of the Creator, and you feel, in a way you haven’t felt before, that you ARE valuable. You are as integral to the world as this gargantuan hunk of ice and you know it, in part, because IT whispers to you that you are.
— Much more practically, I believe the Athabasca glacier has become the target of successful businesses because the opportunity was there. Brewster took advantage of the path Collie and Woollie forged. A gravel road and a railroad followed Brewster’s trail. Accessibility grew the Athabasca glacier into an enterprisable opportunity.
— The opportunity fits the mindset of the people who want to see the glacier. When I say this, I am connecting the glacier’s slow movement and quiet dignity with people on vacation. The glacier delivers peacefulness, not the wild-and-crazy adventures some vacation activities offer. But because it’s so amazing, it isn’t boring like a museum (in some people’s opinions). This makes the glacier unique. It has earned its place as a bonafide tourist destination in a way no Flintstone village or dinosaur theme park can.
The next question that enters my mind on the business side of the Athabasca glacier is who has the right to take advantage of this superior tourist enterprise opportunity. It is somewhat controlled by the government, because the Canadian Rockies are largely held within the boundaries of Banff and Jasper national parks. But a better answer is that the ones who deserve to be allowed to take advantage of the glacier are those who do it first, who are inspired to continue pushing boundaries, and who stay loyal to the evolving effort. The Brewster family still operates many businesses in the region, including the current fleet of 22 Ice Explorer buses.
That’s the business lesson I wanted to pass on. Look for something exceptional that inspires people and that you are inspired by enough to continue your loyalty to the evolving effort. I can see a parallel with my own business. A writing business is not easy, but there is something special about a well-written piece or a well-turned phrase. The words I write have the potential to push boundaries and inspire both others and myself–with inspiration enough that I can see myself remaining loyal to the evolution of my efforts.
