ITINERARY

Wednesday, November 11 – Evening Travel to the North

Wednesday's itinerary will consist mostly of travel. We will attempt to get later flights to avoid disruption to Wednesday’s academic schedule. We will land in Calgary and travel to our rental house(s) in Canmore, which neighbors Banff.

Thursday, November 12 – Calgary Conference & City Highlights

We will spend most of our day in Calgary on Thursday. The students will participate in the conference at Mount Royal University but will also visit highlights of the city. Our team will create and present their research in the form of interpretive posters and will also attend a few lectures on relevant topics to our projects, given by professors from across the globe.

We will break for lunch at the conference and then have dinner at the famous subculture dining establishment, Boogie's Burgers, following the conference. After our full day in Calgary, we will return to Canmore for the evening.

Friday, November 13 – Banff National Park

After a traditional Canadian breakfast at Tim Hortons, we will head to Grotto Canyon. Grotto Canyon is a beautiful hiking destination located less than thirty minutes from Canmore. This is one of the most beautiful hikes in Alberta and is seldom visited compared to many surrounding trails. Visitors can hike to the cave at the end of the canyon, where they can see pictographs created by First Nations peoples hundreds of years ago.

We will warm our bones while enjoying lunch at Magpie & Stump in Banff and then continue toward Lake Louise and Johnston Canyon for our second hike. Johnston Canyon is one of the most popular hiking destinations in Banff National Park. In November, the canyon often begins its transformation into a winter wonderland, with frozen waterfalls and snow-covered trees creating spectacular scenery.

We will continue on to Lake Louise after Johnston Canyon. Lake Louise is one of the most iconic destinations in Canada, known for its stunning mountain setting and turquoise waters. We will head back into Banff for dinner at the Elk & Oarsman.

Saturday, November 14 – Ski Sunshine Village

We will hit the slopes early on Saturday and spend most of the day enjoying the fresh powder. Sunshine Village Ski Resort is located high in the Canadian Rockies at an elevation of 7,160 feet, giving it a long season with plentiful snowfall.

The resort has three mountains—Mount Standish, Goat’s Eye Mountain, and Lookout Mountain—which offer a variety of terrain for skiers and snowboarders of all ability levels. Because of the various dining options available, students will have lunch on their own.

After a long and exciting day on the slopes, we will reload on carbs at The Old Spaghetti Factory in downtown Banff for our farewell dinner.

Sunday, November 15 – Travel Home

We will likely book travel to get us home as early as possible, but regardless, there will not be any activities beyond traveling to the airport and returning home.

Accommodation Details

We will be staying in four-bedroom chalets in Canmore. More specific details will be shared as soon as we have our final travel numbers, but each chalet we've reserved is very modern and quite luxurious. This is pretty standard in Banff and the surrounding areas, as it is comparable to ski destinations like Vail.

By staying just outside of Banff, we are able to realize significant savings. We will be renting four-wheel-drive SUVs for our ground transportation.

Pricing

The price will be $2,500, which will include roundtrip airfare, four nights of accommodations, most meals, ground transportation, excursion costs, and conference fees.

This price DOES NOT INCLUDE dinner on the way to Calgary, lunch at Sunshine Village Ski Resort, and lunch on the return day.

Pricing is based on shared rooms. To guarantee a spot, please email and I will share ways to submit payments.