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Feeling the wilderness, beyond the infinite, living free nature

Text Marta Manzoni

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It’s election time in Canada. In our hotel some polling stations have been set up and the citizens have lined up in a row to express their opinion on who should lead the government of their country. 

According to the polls, the possibility that Andrew Scheer, called by someone the ‘Canadian Trump’, wins is concrete. “I like our prime minister Trudeau, because he’s moderate. I really fear that the right-wing candidate could win” our guide Darcy tells us.

We are in Banff, the most famous and most ancient natural park in Canada and the fourth oldest in the world, after the Bogd Khan Uul National Park, Mongolia (1783), the Yellowstone National Park, USA (1872) and the Royal National Park, Australia (1879) . Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it stretches between the Rocky Mountains on an area of 6,641 km² and is located 128 km west of the city of Calgary. We are here to do some ‘plogging’: a neologism invented in Sweden formed by the words “plocka upp” (collect) and “jogging”, it is a sport activity which consists in collecting waste while running, combining physical exercise and cleaning environment. We – the journalists – have crampons and countless layers on, they – the locals – are in shorts and sneakers.

We cross coniferous forests and wonderful alpine views. But they give us no satisfaction. In three days of walking up and down the slopes we don’t even find a cigarette, while our Alps are full of them. Here sustainability is part of the national knowledge heritage since before the word “sustainability” was coined. Nature is wild and powerful and children are taught to respect it. A country in line with the values ​​of Gore-Tex, which perhaps for this reason has chosen it to offer us the possibility of testing the jackets made with the new Gore-Tex Pro technology, created to be resistant, elastic, breathable and waterproof and to protect against the most extreme weather conditions.

“Taking care of clothes significantly extends their life cycle and is one of the most relevant elements for having a sustainable product” said Bernhard Kiehl, Gore Fabrics Sustainability Leader. “It is important to pay attention when cleaning the jacket: remember to close the zips and pockets, then simply hand wash it or use a washing machine at medium temperature and then let it air dry, in order to not to use other sources of energy. All the details are shown on our website”.

We walk immersed in a Zen silence. A group of bright red jackets: we have many red fruits, ideal as a snack of a grizzly or a puma, two of the 53 species of mammals that inhabit the Banff National Park. These woods are home, among others, to moose, bison, coyotes, reindeer, wolves, foxes, deer, Canadian lynx and ibex. This incredible diversity of wildlife is a reflection of the many habitats found in the park, due to variations in altitude, climate and flora. In order to  avoid becoming a predator’s snack, a spary is given to each one of us before the hike to keep bears away. And here we are on the shores of the beautiful Lake Louise: a spell seems to have taken possession of it. The freshly fallen snow magically envelops the landscape. We head towards the Tea House. “Don’t expect to find pastries or teapots!” The guide warns us. And it is good to specify it, considering who he is dealing with: Europeans, used to going to the mountains often to enjoy polenta, pizzoccheri and beer. During these days of hikes we don’t even find a shelter. People of all ages just out of school or from the office pass us by with a decisive step, headed for a happy hour at high altitude: once there they just take their stuff out of their backpacks, feast, clean everything minutely and then go down. “Within Banff National Park there are only a couple of places that work like in Europe, where you can order food and drinks. In the other ones you have to bring your own food, drinks and sleeping bag” explains the guide. Here the spaces are endless and the population density is very low (3.79 people/km² compared to Italy with its 199.82 people/km²).

The landscape is super wild, characterized by waterfalls, lakes, glaciers, caves, canyons and mountain peaks. Pure air stimulates creativity. Perhaps the unspoiled nature was the muse of the Banff Mountain Film Festival: born in the city of Banff in 1976, it is probably the most important mountain film and book event in the world, with international guests, authors, directors, mountaineers, climbers and explorers from every corner of the globe. “I’m very satisfied: Electric Greg, my documentary, is competing in the Banff Mountain Film Festival world tour: it will reach more than 45 countries, about 550 cities and I hope it will inspire people”. Greg Hill, freerider and Gore-tex ambassador, tells us during the hike. As his short film recounts, the athlete saw the effects of climate change in person and realized that the way he was approaching the mountains was aggravating the problem. So he changed his approach and lifestyle. Now he travels by electric car, he is vegetarian from Monday to Friday and climbs the peaks without burning fossil fuels. Greg is in good company.

During these days we got to know two other athletes involved in reducing their environmental impact, both Gore-tex ambassadors: the climber Stefan Glowacz and the mountaineer Tamara Lunger. Stefan realized a sustainable expedition from the beginning till the end, starting from his home in Munich by electric car, sailing on the Atlantic and skiing on the eternal Greenland ice. As we walk, Tamara Lunger tells us that she has just returned from Mongolia, where she discovered, on foot, the country and its exceptional nomadic people who live in a simple and authentic way. “I felt an extraordinary connection with people and nature there and when I got back to the city I had a lot of nostalgia. I felt very loved in that wild environment and I experienced a sense of pure freedom”. The feeling that Tamara had on the other side of the Earth seem incredibly close to those experienced in Canada. We wake up the next morning and Darcy, our guide, breathes a sigh of relief. Trudeau has won the elections.

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