Built in 1910 and 1912 by the Canadian Pacific Railway, Swiss-style chalets offer a historic place to stay in Golden, which is surrounded by six national parks offering hiking trails and ski runs
I’ve always been drawn to historical properties.
Which is why, on my first visit to Golden, in southeastern B.C., I couldn’t have picked a better place to stay than a vacation rental connected to an important chapter of the city and the Canadian Rockies.
Edelweiss Village + Resort is comprised of six Swiss-style chalets built between 1910 and 1912 by the Canadian Pacific Railway for Swiss guides hired by the company to encourage tourists to visit their luxury mountain hotels.
Today, after standing vacant for more than a decade and once in serious disrepair, the newly renovated chalets provide a tangible link to Canada’s early mountaineering history.
“We believe the Swiss guides were the forefathers to adventure tourism in Canada,” said Brittany Newman, executive director of the Golden Museum and Archives.
“They hired guides to stop tourists from getting lost in the mountains and the guides had the first recorded ascents for all the mountains in the area.”
Newman added it wasn’t a coincidence CPR built the chalets on a hillside overlooking their rail line so train guests would be awed by the chalets, designed to make their Swiss guides, who had become a tourist attraction in their own right, feel more at home.
In total, CPR hired 35 Swiss guides for their mountain climbing expertise between 1899 and 1954. But the plan of creating 20 Swiss chalets never surpassed the six that were built.
However, CPR’s marketing campaign describing the Canadian Rockies as “50 Switzerlands in One” was deemed a success. The tourists flocked here as did alpinists from around the world excited to conquer new peaks since most of the major mountains in Switzerland had been climbed, said Newman.
By 1925, two generations of Swiss guides had lead more than 250 first ascents in the Rocky and Selkirk mountains.
The first two Swiss guides hired in 1899 by CPR were Christian Haesler Sr. and Eduard Feuz Sr. — the former best known for leading the first ascent in 1901 of Mount Assiniboine, often called the “Canadian Matterhorn.” Edward Feuz Jr., who joined his father in 1903, holds the record for making the most first ascents in the Canadian Rockies with 102 climbs.
All six brightly coloured chalets are named after Swiss guides like Haesler and Feuz. They were designed by a Calgary architect in the early 20th century, who had never seen a Swiss chalet but was given the task, then didn’t quite measure up. Some of the Swiss guides said the chalets looked more like pagodas, with their tiered facades and eclectic detailing and weren’t well insulated.
While the facades today still look as they did when they were first built, the chalets have been updated and are a lot more comfortable.
For my recent visit to Golden, I stayed at the sky blue Chalet Haesler Sr., the last of the chalets to open to the public this June after completion of a major renovation, started in 2024. The chalet interior kept the original footprint, with three bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs and a living room and large kitchen downstairs.
All of the woodwork, trim and windows have been saved with new electrical, water and heating systems now in place.
The interior decor mixes modern furniture with nods to the past, most noticeably photos of Swiss guides on local mountain peaks, vintage skis leaning in a corner, a Swiss cow bell on the mantle and a wool blanket with the Swiss cross on one of the beds.
The original front porch of Chalet Haesler Sr. offers a panoramic view of the Rockies where it’s easy to imagine Haesler Sr. and his son Christian Haesler Jr. surveying these same mountains and dreaming of summits they would climb.
During my stay at Edelweiss Village, I had lots of time to admire the view since the chalets do not have televisions.
That was intentional by the owners, who want to encourage their visitors to enjoy a simpler time. They provide board games and cards so I found myself playing solitaire and reading when not out exploring Golden and the surrounding area.
With the chalets spread out, it’s very private. The nearest chalet to mine was Chalet Haesler Jr., best seen from the road below with its bright yellow trim and construction year of 1911 boldly printed above its top floor windows with large decorative flowers on each side.
Walking up the old wooden stairs to my chalet’s upper landing, I could see three more of the chalets out the window, all with their own distinctive characteristics.
Among them, Chalet Edward and Walter Feuz, a four-bedroom chalet and once home to the pioneering mountaineers. While Edward lived here for only a few years, leaving in 1915 when his children started school, Walter Feuz lived here the longest. He was hired by the CPR in 1912 and had a short guiding career because of health reasons. However, he continued working for CPR as the custodian of Chateau Lake Louise and after retiring in 1962 moved to Edelweiss Village. He eventually bought the 50-acre property, with its six chalets, from his former employer, and stayed in one until his death in 1984.
His descendants inherited the property and sold it in 2023. But with no historic protection designation, the chalets could easily have been demolished.
To prevent that from happening, a non-profit community group was formed called The Swiss Edelweiss Village Foundation to spearhead efforts to try to save the chalets. Although the foundation wasn’t able to raise enough money to buy the property, it raised awareness about the village’s cultural and historic significance.
The village was purchased in 2023 by Montayne, a Canmore real estate development company that has roots in Golden and understood the importance of keeping the chalets.
One of the four owners, Davin MacIntosh, said while it would have been cheaper to demolish the homes, they too wanted to preserve the chalets for future generations to enjoy.
The chalets offer a unique stay for people interested in “heritage tourism” and want to experience a sense of the past, MacIntosh said.
“There’s a long and storied history here,” he said. “The Swiss guides had a perfect safety record and influenced mountaineering in Canada. It really is such an important chapter in the history of that valley and the Canadian Rockies in general.”
MacIntosh said the company is now building “The Tea House,” which will include meeting spaces and a spa with a sauna and cold plunge, expected to open in September. Additional spa facilities, including hot and cool pools, are planned for the summer of 2026.
Edelweiss Village + Resort is within easy driving distance to many of Golden’s top attractions, including Emerald Lake in Yoho National Park, which is a 45-minute drive away.
The park is one of six national parks surrounding Golden — Banff, Jasper, Kootenay, Glacier, Mount Revelstoke and Yoho National Park. On my three-hour drive back to Calgary Airport, I stopped at the aptly named Emerald Lake and watched visitors enjoy paddling canoes around the lake while others set off on hikes.
Hiking trails are numerous in Golden, with the closest to Golden at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, just 20 minutes away from Edelweiss Village. While it’s a popular ski resort in winter, there’s lots of hiking trails to do in summer and, if you are lucky, you might even see Boo, a resident grizzly who was brought to the resort as an abandoned cub after his mother was killed by a poacher. He has a 20-acre refuge to roam in and is out of hibernation usually between March and October.
I was also able to see wolves at Northern Lights Wolf Centre, home to six wolves, five born in captivity and one abandoned by its pack because it was sick, just a 15-minute drive from the resort. Owner Shelley Black started the educational facility in 2002 to help dispel the myths surrounding wolves and teach the public about their importance maintaining the health and biodiversity of our ecosystem.
Golden is also home to Canada’s highest suspension bridge, the Golden Skybridge, which stands 130 metres above the canyon floor with views of the Rocky and Purcell mountains.
This latest tourist attraction to open in Golden also provides lots of activities for adventure lovers from zip-lining, taking a giant swing over the canyon, rock climbing and riding a mountain roller coaster down part of the mountainside.
For those who prefer keeping their feet firmly planted on the ground, there’s a 10-km walk called Golden’s River Walk along the Kicking Horse River. I started the walk by crossing the Kicking Horse Pedestrian Bridge, which is the longest freestanding timber frame bridge in Canada, spanning 46 metres.
Kim Pemberton was hosted by Tourism Golden and Destination B.C., which did not review or approve this article. Follow her on Instagram at kimstravelogue where you can see more photos and video reels of her time in Golden.