Cliff Swanlund

This limber pine has marked the eastern edge of Alberta’s Crowsnest Pass for an estimated seven centuries. It was named The Bermis Tree after a coal mining town which thrived here in the early 1900s.

The tree had become a symbol of endurance for the people of the Pass.

In 1998 the tree lost its battle with the wind and toppled to the ground. The community refused to leave it lying in that state so a partnership of governments and private citizens raised and stabilized the dead tree.