This page features long-form stories and historical accounts that stretch across decades, weaving together the experiences, places, and people that shaped the Edmonton Section of the Alpine Club of Canada.
1. Remembering Margaret Gold Brine
Margaret Gold Brine (1898–1985) was a pioneering Edmonton mountaineer of the 1920s and later a leading arts benefactor. Known for climbs of Mount Assiniboine, Mont Blanc, Robson, and the Matterhorn, she helped shape both the Alpine Club of Canada’s Edmonton Section and Edmonton’s cultural life through her enduring generosity.
In this story from the Edmonton Section’s 2012 centennial project, Ernst Bergmann recounts a modern expedition to retrace the 1920 first ascent of “Mount Edmonton,” originally climbed by Cyril Wates, Dr. Harry Bulyea, and Margaret Gold. The 2010 party, led by Bergmann and Neil Bosch, followed the historic route to the summit plateau, revisiting Wates’s cairn and the mountain’s lore nearly a century later. Though the original summit record was missing, the journey revived the spirit of the section’s early pioneers and highlighted both the history and humor that continue to define the Edmonton Section’s mountaineering legacy.
