Alpine Club volunteers building new backcountry hut near Lake Louise

Hundreds ofvolunteers with the Alpine Club of Canada have been busy this summer building new digsthat will allow backcountryenthusiasts toexplorea remote area of Yoho National Park.

"We are using helicopters to fly all the materials, all the volunteers into the site," said LawrenceWhite, the club's executive director.

"It'snot a cheap price tag by any means, which is one of the reasons why we haven't built one in the last 20 years."

White says through donations and arobust membership, theclub raisedabout$550,000 to build the hut,located northwest of Lake Louise, Alta.

The largest gift came fromRichard Guy, a98-year-old retired University of Calgary math professor.

Guy and his late wife, Louise, were avid mountaineers whovolunteered with the Alpine Club of Canada (ACC)for more than four decades.

White saysThe Louise & Richard Guy Hutwill providesafer backcountrytravel on theeast-west ski traversebetween Bow Lake and Little Yoho Valley on the Wapta Icefield.

Currently, the north-south route from Peyto Lake to Wapta Lake which is served by four ACC huts ismost popular route across glacier.

"By providing one more facility in that area, it will take a little bit of pressure off that north-south direction...let people explore the westerly edges of Banff Park and then the easterly slopes of Yoho," said White.

In order to not disturb bear habitat, he says the shelterwill only be open in the winter months.

The two-storey structure willsleep18 and providebunk beds, sleeping pads and cooking equipment.It's expected to open its doors tobackcountry guests inJanuary 2016.