Reservations for camping for the season started at 9 a.m. Thursday, but for the second year running, the website crashed when people tried to book..The exact same thing happened in 2020 when camping reservations opened on May 14 after they had been closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic..Gilles Prefrontaine was just one of thousands of people who were left frustrated..“I’m EXTREMELY HAPPY that so many Albertans are excited to get out into THEIR @Albertaparks this summer. We knew they would be! So… While trying to be overly critical, why in the world would the #ABGov not be planning for this anticipated demand on their servers?” he tweeted..In an effort to avoid a deluge, Parks actually planned to reopen their website for different camping areas at different times..Camping fees have also increased this year by one to three dollars a site..Shower facilities will remain closed at sites and any cancellations for COVID-19-affected campers will receive a full refund..Alberta Parks released a statement late Thursday saying the website was “slow”.“This year, as of 4 p.m. today, there were 21.398 reservations made. This is 10,801 more than opening day of March 2020 (greater than a 100 per cent increase. There were also 105,548 user sessions on Reserve.albertaparks.ca, more than four times higher than opening day of 2020,” the statement said..“Many great sites and dates are still available, in fact there are sites at 26 campgrounds with reservations still available for the May long weekend. For those who didn’t get the reservation they wanted – there are always cancellations that happen, so check the Monday or Tuesday before the weekend of arrivals for availability. We will also have 5,000 first-come first-served sites across the province..“Due to extremely high traffic, the reservation website was slow today. There were more than 17,000 active user sessions on Reserve.albertaparks.ca when reservations opened this morning, between 9 and 10 a.m. We understand Albertans’ frustration and we thank them for their patience, as we worked hard to get people through the door as quickly as possible and process their transactions.”.Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com.Twitter.com/nobby7694
