December 4, 2022
Legacy of a Local Namesake, Elizabeth Rummel
By Jacqueline Louie
Lizzie Rummel, ‘the Baroness of the Rockies,’ was generous in sharing her deep love of the Rocky Mountains with everyone who met her. A Canadian Rockies legend, Order of Canada recipient, and beloved Canmore resident, Lizzie Rummel ran backcountry mountain lodges for more than three decades. Her name graces two lakes, a creek, an elementary school and a street. (Rummel Lake, Rummel Creek, Rummel Pass, Kananaskis Country; Elizabeth Lake in Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park; and Elizabeth Rummel School and Rummel Place in Canmore).
“People really admired her. She drew people to her,” says Rummel’s biographer, Ruthie Oltmann, author of Lizzie Rummel: Baroness of the Canadian Rockies.
Elizabeth ‘Lizzie’ von Rummel was born into an aristocratic family in Germany in 1897. Her father, Baron Gustav von Rummel, was an actor and an officer in the German army and her mother, Elsa, came from a wealthy family. In 1911, when Lizzie was 14, Elsa brought Lizzie and her two younger sisters to Alberta, to a ranch southwest of Priddis that Elsa had purchased, “sight unseen, at a dinner party in Munich,” Oltmann recounts.
In 1914, with the outbreak of World War I and unable to return to Germany, the von Rummel family turned their ranch into a working ranch, and Canada became their home.
In 1938, Lizzie Rummel moved to Banff, working summers for Erling Strom at Mount Assiniboine Lodge and working winters in Banff until 1941. From 1943 until 1949 she managed Skoki Lodge (now designated a national historic site) in the backcountry 11 km northeast of Lake Louise, and from 1947 through 1949 managed Temple Chalet and Lake Louise Ski Lodge as well. She also served as a backcountry ski guide. In 1950, Rummel purchased a lodge at Sunburst Lake, by Mount Assiniboine, and ran her lodge for two decades, hosting climbers, skiers and hikers from around the world.
In his book, Banff-Assiniboine: A Beautiful World, hiking guidebook author Don Beers writes of Rummel: “Her generosity and kindness are legendary. Strangers would be invited for tea. Knowing her helper was carrying supplies over Citadel Pass, in winter she would break trail to Og Lake.”
Author Chic Scott writes about Lizzie Rummel in his book, Mount Assiniboine – The Story:
‘“At Sunburst Lake, Lizzie was completely at home. She was one with the trees, the flowers and the deer that would visit her place. In the winter she loved the snow that almost covered her cabin, and she enjoyed to glide on skis through the larches and over the hills around her. I think there has seldom been a situation where a person was so much a part of a place. In a way she was like Mount Assiniboine itself. She stood out above all around her — not domineering but like a beautiful spirit” (as remembered by Hans Gmoser, Order of Canada recipient, and founder of Rocky Mountain Guides, which eventually became Canadian Mountain Holidays).
‘She was a friend to all who sought peace in the mountains and a support to aspiring climbers. According to Bridget Headley, who worked for Erling Strom, “Lizzie was kind of our refuge. We would go over to Lizzie’s to tell her our troubles or just to enjoy her. She always welcomed us. Her little cabin was such a welcoming place.”’
After Rummel sold Sunburst Lake Lodge to the British Columbia government in 1970, she moved to Canmore.
In 1980 she received the Order of Canada for her contribution to mountain culture. Her citation reads:
‘Mountaineer par excellence, protector of the environment, authority on local flora and fauna, and friend to countless hikers in the mountains near Banff. She has enriched her country by sharing her deep love of the Rocky Mountains with all who meet her.’ – from Mount Assiniboine – The Story, by Chic Scott
Long after she had died, in 1980, Lizzie Rummel was still ministering to people, Oltmann says. As just one example: When Oltmann was working at the Barrier Lake Information Centre, “a couple of ladies came in. One of them had been in the hospital for depression and somebody gave her my Lizzie Rummel book to read. Well, she read the book, put it down and walked out of the hospital cured. She realized her life was not nearly as tough as Lizzie’s life,” Oltmann recalls.
“Sometimes we think people’s lives are over when they die, but their lives are not over – they are still there.”
Since this article was written, Ruthie Oltmann, author of Lizzie Rummel: Baroness of the Canadian Rockies, has passed away.
https://cochranecountryfuneral.com/oltmann-charlotte-ruthie/
Hike: Rummel Lake
Rummel Lake, located approximately 40 km south of Canmore, is a wonderful hike for summer and fall.
The Rummel Lake trailhead (unsigned) is directly across the road (Highway 742, the Smith-Dorrien Trail), from Mount Engadine Lodge.
Read more about Lizzie Rummel:
Lizzie Rummel: Baroness of the Canadian Rockies
https://ruthieoltmann.ca/books/
Mount Assiniboine – The Story, by Chic Scott (available at Pages on Kensington in Calgary; and at the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies in Banff) https://assiniboinelodge.com/buy-our-book-mount-assiniboine-story;
Alberta Originals: Stories of Albertans Who Made a Difference, by Brian Brennan
