Fay Hut

Fay hut
alpine hut
Named for: Charles Ernest Fay
Country	Canada
Province	British Columbia
Region	Kootenay National Park
Location	Prospectors Valley
- elevation	2,108 m (6,900 ft)
- coordinates	51°15′45″N 116°12′29″W / 51.26250°N 116.20806°W / 51.26250; -116.20806Coordinates: 51°15′45″N 116°12′29″W / 51.26250°N 116.20806°W / 51.26250; -116.20806
Built by	Alpine Club of Canada
Style	Log cabin
Material	Wood
Built in	2005 (2005)
Governed by	Parks Canada
Operated by	Alpine Club of Canada
For public	Reservations required
Easiest access	via Tokumm Creek
Capacity	12 in summer or winter
Heating	Wood stove
Lighting / Cooking	Solar / Propane
Sleeping	Dormitory style
Drinking water	Creek (boil or filter)
Human waste	Outhouse (helicoptered out)
GPS coordinates	NAD83 11U 555256 5679315
Map reference	82N/8 (Lake Louise)
Grid reference	552793
Location of the hut in British Columbia
Website: www.alpineclubofcanada.ca/facility/fay.html

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 Although the higher Neil Colgan hut superseded it as a base for climbs in the Valley of the Ten Peaks area, it still served as a convenient base for hikers and skiers doing day trips in the area, and as an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 (ACC).

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. All that was left of the building was the metal from the roof, lying on the ground. The hut was not insured and was underutilized, so it is unlikely it will be rebuilt again.

The original Fay hut was built in 1927 as a base for climbing in the Valley of the Ten Peaks area. Although it was predated by the Abbot Pass hut and the Elizabeth Parker hut, it was the first hut actually built by the Alpine Club of Canada (ACC). The other two huts were built by the Canadian Pacific Railway and turned over to the ACC some time later. The Fay hut was named for Charles Fay, a founder and the first president of the American Alpine Club. Charles Fay made 25 trips to the Canadian Rockies, participated in the first ascents of Mounts Victoria and Lefroy, and was an honorary member of the ACC.