Edmonton Outdoor Activities

Certified by the World Golf Teachers Association, Steve Lawrence's instructional expertise acquired over 11 years continues to evolve, as he operates out of a technologically refined indoor environment for comprehensive golf instruction and practice. In private lessons, Steve augments his own purview of knowledge with TrackMan Performance Studio software, which records swings in high definition and gathers invaluable data, including swing path, club-face angle, and spin rate without having to inject nine-irons with a truth serum. The studio boasts hitting bays for full swing practice as well as a 600-square-foot putting-and-chipping area, all of which are put to use in training programs developed for juniors and adult tournament players. The academy also specializes in golf fitness training, which helps develop more efficient swings by strengthening the core, building muscle memory, and bench-pressing golf carts.

Blair Oko draws on more than two decades of experience as a CPGA Class A professional as he presides over his eponymous academy—a 10,000-square-foot indoor facility in which experts help students up their game with the aid of technology. The instructors rely on video swing analysis, which helps them mentor pupils hoping to develop a swing powerful enough to launch a fallen meteor back into orbit. The facility also hosts four Full Swing virtual-golf simulators, which plunk players into more than 60 championship courses. After getting their fill of computer-generated feedback, golfers can practice their endgame on the indoor putting green or hone their swings on the indoor driving range.

Although mainly dedicated to golf, Blair Oko Golf Academy also invites hockey aficionados to polish their skills on a blade skating treadmill. After quality time with their 9 iron or skates, athletes can unwind in the facility’s lounge, watching sports on flat-screen TVs while sipping a beverage and snacking.

The windswept, coastal hillocks of the Old Course at St. Andrews and the seaside cliffs of Pebble Beach both come to life in the aboutGolf Simulators of The Golf Den. Showcasing massive, high-definition screens, the four simulators let golfers—armed with their own clubs or sawed-off curtain rods—play rounds at digital replicas of 40 of the world’s top courses. Players can also work on their swings in the practice modules, which feature systems of high-speed cameras that project the flight of each shot.

Before warping into digital Scotland for a round of 18, golfers can perfect their form with a lesson from one of The Golf Den’s CPGA-certified instructors. During lessons, the staff use V1 Video swing-analysis software to provide visual feedback for each shot, and FlightScope technology to track the ball’s trajectory. Guests in need of replacements for aging clubs or sand wedges that have taken jobs as firewood axes can browse The Golf Den’s inventory of Callaway clubs.

The imaginative designers behind the Homes for the Holidays Tour join creative forces every year, bedazzling five local residences with eye-grabbing cheer from the inside out. All of the homes have sufficiently prepared for Santa’s arrival, boasting walls strung with holly, trees adorned with twinkling lights, and cabinets stocked with cookies and barrel-aged bourbon. Homeowners invite touring parties to explore their winter wonderlands and garner inspirations for their own holiday decorations. All proceeds from the Homes for Holidays Tour support all of the charitable foundations supported by the Junior League of Edmonton, including the Kids Help Phone.

More than 40 acres of downhill trails, some extending as long as a mile, traverse the tree-dappled slopes at Rabbit Hill Snow Resort. There are three terrain parks here, all filled with enough boxes, rails, tubes, and jumps to keep you shredding and flying through the air all day. To help visitors surmount trails ranging from green circles to double black diamonds, instructors lead one- to three-day private and group lessons and multiday skiing and snowboarding camps.