Sign up for a course on how to navigate the Rockies’ vast wilderness using a map and compass. Learn to identify which native Rockies plants are safe to eat. Or discover how to use a small camping pot and stove to cook backcountry dinners so tasty you’ll lick the pot clean. Outdoor education programs are available to adults, children and teens interested in learning the basics to skiing, backpacking, rock climbing or whitewater kayaking. For some activities, including rock or ice climbing, which can often be intimidating arenas for some women to enter, female-only courses are often available, providing caring and nurturing environments in which to get past those first few tentative kick-steps.

As well, some local instructors and guides specialize in outdoor courses for children and teens, providing a learning environment that stimulates and captivates age-specific imaginations. Local experts are also available to teach masters courses for experienced skiers or mountaineers looking to refine their skills. Options for corporate retreats are available too.

Consider enrolling in one of the Banff Centre’s world-class courses in music, poetry or writing. As Canada’s only learning centre dedicated to the arts, leadership development and mountain culture, the Banff Centre has served artists’ needs as well as business and community leaders for more than 70 years. Beginning as a modest summer theatre school in 1933, the Centre’s first campus on Tunnel Mountain in Banff was built in 1947. Until 1978, it was affiliated with the University of Calgary. The renowned learning institution provides resources and instruction for advanced artistic development to artists of various disciplines – from opera singers to classical musicians to abstract painters and accomplished novelists, all in an inspiring mountain setting. The Centre is also home to a world-class conference facility that offers year round programs designed to enrich professional practice beyond traditional educational parameters.