Jasper Tramway

June 19, 2010

Up and ready!

Before sleeping the night before I set my alarm for 7:00am because I wanted to get to the tram early in the morning, well that didn’t work too well, but I was out of the campsite and up the hill by 10:00am.

When I got to the tram there was a long line. I almost decided not to go on it, but decided not to skip it. It would probably be the only attraction I would be able to get on due to my schedule. Although halfway through my waiting I almost opted out because it was torturous.

Such a foreigner

I hated every second that I waited to purchase my ticket. The first reason being the fact that no one, I mean NO ONE spoke English. Now don’t get me wrong, people spoke English to buy their tickets because I guess everyone must know it for business such as that, but no one spoke it besides that. Everyone spoke another language for their social conversations. I mean there was French, German, Dutch, and lord knows what else, everything, but English or Spanish. It made me feel so left out because mostly I had no freaking idea what was going on or what they were saying. Now I don’t like snooping into other people’s conversation, but not knowing what anyone was saying made me feel so out of place and hated that I was not trilingual or Canadian. So that was reason one.

The other reason I hated it was because this definitely made me feel the loneliness of driving and being by myself for such a long time. For the first time I was wishing someone was with me to enjoy the experience. Yet, there was no one there to talk to or share stuff. So, it was a pretty miserable line.

Finally!

Once I bought the tickets the waiting time for the tram was not long. 10 minutes and I was on it going up the mountain. It wasn’t really scary at all, except for when it passed the tower and it swayed for a bit. I didn’t look much on my way up because I don’t like that feeling much. I took a picture and faced the crowded tram until we go to the top.

Once at the top I could feel that it was a little colder, but it wasn’t too bad. The tram doesn’t actually take you to the very very top, it takes you probably 30-45 minutes from the summit. Then it is up to you if you want to climb up to the top. Although the sight from their little shop was more than enough for some people.

I decided to climb it. It did seem pretty steep, but not something I hadn’t done before. So I put my jacket on and climbed up. The first five-ten minutes were fine, until I passed the 10 minute mark, then I began running out of breath rather fast. I don’t think it was the mountain because I had done those types of walk before and although they had been hard for me, they weren’t impossible. This one, I walked for like 3 minutes and had to stop and take deep breaths in and my heart was racing. I think it was the air, at least that is what I think. Anywhoos I tried it a couple of times and got further up, but after a while I gave up and decided to just go back down. It was taking me too long and I needed to get back on the road, that and it was tiring. :(

I was happy enough with my view, took a few more pictures, and headed down to the shop. I jumped on the tram and headed down. This time the tram was way more empty than on the way up and I was able to enjoy the view down comfortably. Although I did have to look away quite a few times, didn’t want to get scared. My heart jumped a beat when the people next to me were talking either Portuguese or Spanish. I really couldn’t tell since I really couldn’t hear/understand them at times, but I was just happy to hear a language that was similar to mine. I just smiled wide :D.

The tram is definitely a place to stop if ever in Jasper National Park. They also have another tram at Baniff National Park if you pass the one in Jasper or are coming from the south. I think the one in Baniff actually takes you all the way to the summit. I definitely enjoyed it, with the exception of the line, but that was a personal misery. Enjoy the pictures.

^^ The look coming down from the mountain.