Calgary Outdoor Activities

Self-proclaimed as one of North America's tallest indoor climbing gyms, The Crux Climbing & Bouldering challenges participants of all ages and proficiency levels with 72-foot walls peppered with colour-coded holds and routes. Internationally and nationally certified staff members strap patrons into all necessary rental gear before releasing them to explore more than 12,000 square feet of climbing space. The Crux Climbing & Bouldering's courses—ranging in difficulty from introduction to advanced—instill climbers with the strength and skills to rappel down an 80-foot tower, manoeuvre through a 3,000-square-foot bouldering area, and ascend up multi-pitch routes with their mouths.

Eaglequest Golf oversees half a dozen courses and practice centres throughout Canada, including two driving ranges that have been named in Golf Range Magazine’s Top 100 Golf Ranges in America. These lauded stretches nestle alongside the 9-hole, par 27 course at Coquitlam and the 18-hole, par 65 layout at Coyote Creek, which also landed in the magazine’s Top 100 Golf Practice Centers and Learning Facilities in America. Near this award-winning pair, Eaglequest’s Nanaimo invites club swingers to traverse another 9-hole layout. Next door in Alberta, the Douglasdale Golf Course challenges them to work through 18 fairways while only swinging their clubs 60 times to make par—not counting whacks at rabid caddies.

Alberta is also home to the climate-controlled Eaglequest Golf Dome, where players hit as many range balls as they can during timed practice sessions. Nova Scotia hosts Eaglequest Grandview Golf & Country Club, where 18 wide, bluegrass fairways designed by Bill Robinson in 1988 unfurl in front of bent-grass greens, all updated by Robinson in 2007.

The course at Boulder Creek demands both strength and control as players knock dimpled orbs about the 6,963-yard Ron Ehlert design. Each challenger must remain wary of the terrain’s most prominent feature: the 30 acres of water that confront play on 14 of the 18 holes. Despite the daunting watery depths, the course caters to all levels of golfer with five sets of tee boxes that render the course as short as 5,272 yards or as long as 6,963 yards. Additionally, an on-site practice facility comprised of a 300-yard driving range and a putting green offers an ideal spot to limber up before a round or practice for the professional mini-golf circuit.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 72 course
• Five sets of tees per hole
• Total length of 6,963 yards from the back tees
• Course rating of 72.2 from the back tees
• Course slope of 125 from the back tees
• Designed by Ron Ehlert

During one full day, Bridal Expo Calgary showcases myriad wedding necessities all in one place, quelling the chaotic feelings one may experience when planning the big day. Ceremony and reception essentials such as florists and photographers eliminate the need to travel to far-flung vendors, whether it be a specialty dress shop or a buzzed-about DJ only available on the moon.

Named 1 of the Top 100 Golf Practice Centers And Learning Facilities In America by Golf Range Magazine in 2011, Eaglequest Coyote Creek Golf Course pairs its renowned practice facility with a par 65 course to foster improvement in players of all abilities. The 18-hole, 4,165-yard course facilitates fast rounds of golf with 7 par 3 and 11 par 4 holes, and 4 holes more than 300 yards in length, prompting players to use every club in their bags. Lines of trees stud the edges of nearly every fairway, a creek winds through the course’s gently undulating terrain to alter shots, and a tennis player with a racquet plays defense on the final hole.

Before golfers head to the first tee, they can loosen up their swings by launching high-calibre practice balls at Eaglequest's synthetic driving range. To further groom their games, clubbers can schedule lessons with one of the course's CPGA instructors, who remedy slice-prone swings, shaky short-game shots, and 9-irons stricken with the common cold.

Three seasoned ice anglers channels their 10 or more years of individual experience into showing others how to capture the likes of lake trout and whitefish using nothing but a rod, lure, and ancient Druidic incantation. In addition to ice fishing and fly-fishing lessons, they host three fully loaded trips that range from leisurely afternoons in warm ice huts to intense snowshoe treks through Mountain Lake.