What exactly is ‘schnerping’? Alberta coder develops way to make last-minute camping reservation

Daniel Thareja felt there had to be a better way.

One day the professional coder wanted a spot in a provincial campground but found himself far down a waiting list.

That’s how the idea for the website “Schnerp” was born – a passion project for Thareja.

“Twenty thousand people were in front of me,” Thareja told CityNews. “I had no idea that this many people were going to book on opening day at 8 a.m. And I was looking for a spot at Lake O’ Hara, backcountry spot that is super popular around here.”

The Canmore resident says he waited for an hour and a half in the online queue to book a spot at Lake O’ Hara. He didn’t get it. Instead of moping about it, he made a string of code that checked sold-out Parks Canada camping sites for cancelled reservations. And the result?

“I ended up getting a spot at Lake O’Hara,” Thareja said. “And I was like, ‘Whoa, this works. Let me see if anyone else wants it now.’”

And thus the website Schnerp.com was born. Eager campers can look up their preferred Parks Canada campground, enter in their preferred booking dates, and then they’ll be emailed immediately once a spot opens up to book it.

“I got an email (today) saying, site seven for Lake O’Hara backcountry popped up,” Thareja said. “So it’s happening all the time. And right now, about five to 10 people are ‘schnerping’ a spot that’s been cancelled per day.”

Thareja has turned “schnerp” into a verb, which he says means to scoop up something exclusive, maybe hidden, that’s a welcome surprise – just like the unexpected camping site cancellations.

“The whole point of this is to get people outside and off their computers to avoid that tedious refreshing process so that people can just do the thing they want to do – which is be outside, in the first place,” he said.

Thareja expects more cancellations to happen as we get closer to the long weekends, so schnerping may be the answer for those unable to find a camping spot.