Expedition Yukon 1967

The first ascent of Canada's highest peak, Mount Logan, in 1925 was celebrated as "Canada's Everest."

Canada’s Centennial was as much about celebration as it was commemoration. The events that were planned were designed to forge a sense of national unity, celebrate Canada’s achievements as a country, and foster optimism for the future. In a recent article for the Canadian Historical Review, PearlAnn Reichwein investigates one Centennial activity, but challenges the dominant narrative of nation-building that surrounds it.

The Yukon Alpine Centennial Expedition (YACE) was first proposed to the Centennial Commission by the Alpine Club of Canada and the Yukon Government in January, 1966. YACE was made up of three expeditions: an ascent of Mt Vancouver on the international border between Yukon and Alaska, thirteen ascents of the newly named Centennial Range peaks in the St Elias Range, and a month-long mountaineering camp at the foot of the Steele Glacier.

Mountaineering has long been used as a metaphor and mechanism of nationalism, and as such, was a natural activity for Canada’s centennial celebration. Mountain climbing evokes all the notions of modern nation-building — namely exploration, discovery, and conquest. The first ascent of Mt Everest occurred in conjunction with Queen Elizabeth’s coronation and was “celebrated as a British triumph.”

YACE was similarly surrounded by notions of nation-building. In particular, the second climb was a symbolic representation of Confederation, with each of the thirteen teams representing a different province and territory and one representing the Centennial. As put forth in YACE’s proposal, the climb was, “‘a symbol of the unity and freedom [that] characterizes the parts of Canada, each pushing into the unknown, challenging and overcoming obstacles as they are met.’”

However, as Reichwein explains, not everyone subscribed to this nation-building narrative. Research of climber’s journals and memoirs revealed that they constructed their own meanings, which rarely had anything to do with Canada’s Centennial. YACE participants recorded weather details, provided technical accounts of their climbs, and tended to reflect more on their relationship with the environment than with the anniversary of Confederation.

Further, the legacy of YACE extended much beyond the Centennial celebrations. Following the expeditions, the Alpine Club of Canada was one of the key proponents for the creation of northern national parks. They also supported a greater investment in tourism, as a way to alleviate the region’s economic reliance on natural resources.

Rather than reducing YACE to a nation-building activity, Reichwein says that we have to consider the multiple narratives and memories that surrounded the expedition. As she concludes, “the ambiguities and silences of commemoration can be the missing and the lasting landmarks of a different nationhood and heritage."

PearlAnn Reichwein is an historian and Associate Professor, Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation, at the University of Alberta. "Expedition Yukon 1967: Centennial and the Politics of Mountaineering in Kluane" can be found in the September, 2011 issue of The Canadian Historical Review.