page_title: Fay hut
section_title: Access
hierarchical_section_title: Fay hut / Access
caption_attribution_description: Fay Hut in Winter
context_page_description: The Fay hut was an alpine hut located above Prospectors Valley in Kootenay National Park, British Columbia. Although the higher Neil Colgan hut superseded it as a base for climbs in the Valley of the Ten Peaks area, it still served as a convenient base for hikers and skiers doing day trips in the area, and as an overnight stop for mountaineers continuing on to the Neil Colgan hut. A new hut was built in 2005 to replace the original Fay hut, which was destroyed by a forest fire in 2003. The Fay hut was maintained by the Alpine Club of Canada.
  The new Fay Hut burned down in April 2009. It was unoccupied at the time. The last occupants left at 11 am on April 2. The next group came in on April 4 and found the building burned to the ground. The most likely cause was the ignition of the roof material caused by pyrolysis of the wooden components from leaking hot exhaust gases from the wood fireplace. The last occupants at the hut were using the fireplace and the fire occurred shortly after the last occupants had left the hut. The solid foam plastic insulation in the attic likely contributed to a hot fast fire dripped down in burning streams to the floors below.
context_section_description: In both summer and winter, start from the Marble Canyon parking lot 6.5 kilometres (4.0 mi) west of the Alberta border on British Columbia Highway 93 (the Banff-Radium Hiqhway).
  In summer, follow the well-marked trail along Tokumm Creek for about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) and then turn right at the trail sign indicating the route to the hut. The trail gains elevation and after about 1.5 km (1 mi) ascends a 50 m (160 ft) high rocky headwall. A rope hanging from the top of the headwall provides some help. The hut is only a few hundred metres east of the top of the rope. Note that the trail gains 450 of the 600 metres of elevation in the last 2 kilometres. The route should take about 4–5 hours.
  In winter, the trail follows the same route, but route-finding after leaving Tokumm Creek can be difficult. After crossing the small bridge at 10 kilometres (6.2 mi), watch for the signpost directing you into a drainage to the east. Head along the small creek for about 50 metres (160 ft) and, after encountering a small ice wall on the right, start the climb up. There is a fixed rope to help with a short section, although it may be buried by snow. At the top, the hut is a few hundred metres to the right, but without a defined trail or a GPS you may have trouble finding it. This route should take about 5 hours, but may take up to 11 if trail breaking is required, and many groups have had to bivy overnight near the headwall.
caption: Fay Hut in Winter
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "SONY", "Image Model": "DSC-S60", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS3 Macintosh", "Image DateTime": "2008:01:08 15:04:57", "Image HostComputer": "Mac OS X 10.4.6", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "288", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "814", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "7445", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/400", "EXIF FNumber": "28/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Landscape Mode", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "80", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2006:02:11 15:52:21", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2006:02:11 15:52:21", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "8", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "6", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "300", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "210", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Landscape", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal"}