Things to Do in Alberta

At small, café-style tables, visitors of The Clayground Ceramic Painting Studio let their creativity bloom and imbue blank ceramics with their personal touches. More than 300 pieces line the wooden shelves, including plates, mugs, figurines, and jewelry boxes. Use of the studio’s brushes and paints is included with each piece, letting budding artists avoid the hassle of making a brush from a clump of one’s own hair. Should a visitor not complete their project, they are welcome to leave it with the studio and return within 90 days to finish it, free of charge.

Bounding over the rolling hills of central Alberta, Whispering Pines Golf & Country Club Resort’s 18-hole course spans 6,041 yards lined by aspen, poplar, and evergreens. Water hazards lay in wait at the edges of multiple fairways and greens alongside bunkers filled with soft, non-tropical and non-cornbread-based grains of silica sand. The relatively difficult course features multiple memorable shots, including an approach onto an island green lined by native grasses and populated by a marooned Tom Hanks at the par 5 ninth hole.

Along with pin-hunting pleasures, Whispering Pines offers guests a wide variety of outdoor activities as well as overnight stay and play accommodations. Paddleboats and other aquatic conveyances churn the waters of Pine Lake (Whispering Pines makes slips available at the marina for guests with their own boats), as sand-forged castles and statues of Wayne Gretzky slowly crumble at the beach. The resort also encompasses an indoor swimming pool, exercise facilities, and a restaurant that overlooks the lake.

Course at a Glance;

• 18-hole, par 72 course

• Length of 6,041 yards from the farthest tees

• Course rating of 73.1 from the farthest tees

• Slope rating of 125 from the farthest tees

• Three tee options

• Link to scorecard

Players duck behind the husks of one-storey huts, towers, and abandoned cars as they navigate a grassy labyrinth. Others dart between industrial concrete walls, firing at the enemy from behind padded barriers. On seven more outdoor fields, teams advance in tandem between towering spruce trees or over hills and valleys, seeking the refuge of wooden fortresses and the coziness of trenches. Whether competing on the Okotoks location's 80,000-square-foot outdoor field, the Calgary location's 28,000-square-foot indoor arena, or Millarville's 55 acres, visitors to Rampage City Paintball immerse themselves in a range of capture-the-flag scenarios. Experienced staff oversees each 15-minute game, and outfits players with Tippmann gear and protective bodysuits. They also supply gear upgrades such as semiautomatic Tippmann guns, goggles, and temporary-invisibility dust.

"It's not just about art. It's about learning a little bit, and doing art, and letting them create too," explains Kristine Godziuk to the St. Albert Gazette. As the owner of 4Cats St. Albert, a children's art studio with one-day workshops and extended classes, Godziuk drives this viewpoint home by lacing her curricula with age-appropriate art history. While crafting a piece of pop art by silkscreening a soup can, students may learn about Andy Warhol's 25 pet cats named Sam. A self-portrait session gives way to a discussion on Frida Kahlo. During a six- to seven-week Artist of the Month series, children dig into the work of two artists per class, letting small fingers experience the challenges of their respective media. Artistic adventures and further learning continue beyond each class with accompanying 4Cats art books and collector cards with links to educational cartoons on the studio's website. The franchised company, with locations throughout Canada, the U.S., and Mexico, was named for Picasso's favorite café, Els Quatre Gats, where he pondered various shades of blue and took inspiration from townsfolk who could turn their faces inside-out.

Though the nearest mountain is almost 200 kilometres away, Canyon Ski Resort still manages to send skiers shushing down 164 metres of vertical slopes. Equipped with 6 lifts and 18 runs, the canyon skiing terrain allows adventurers to take the plunge on evocatively named green-, blue-, and black-diamond slopes including Powderhorn, Springbok, and Wine Skin. In addition to slopes, the resort hosts a terrain park and super pipe, as well as lights for night skiing. The resort sits directly between Edmonton and Calgary, and allows visitors to greet expansive views of the landscape while enjoying hot or cold beverages in one of many fireplaces.

Brightly colored paintballs whiz through fresh lakeside air until they collide with a tree, patch of grass, or someone's body. On three outdoor fields, this colorful carnage unfolds as mask-wearing participants take aim and fire their semiautomatic paintball guns from lookouts, behind bunkers, and under trees. Sylvan Lake Paintball's grounds also house a pro shop staffed by seasoned paintballers, where patrons can load up on everything from paintballs and CO2 canisters to barbecue burgers not booby-trapped with a surprise paintball filling.