The Rocky Moun­tains of Cana­da are one of the wildest places on Earth. The thou­sands of square miles of wilder­ness is a major cor­ri­dor for the migra­tion of all kinds of wild ani­mals, from moun­tain goats to griz­zly bears. 

Your inner wild beast will feel right at home here among all those acres of great out­doors, as you explore that wilder­ness from the seat of your steed on this amaz­ing 6‑day trip. With 2 days of rid­ing in Fer­nie — one of the best moun­tain bike towns in North Amer­i­ca, 1 day in Inver­mere — the heart of the Rocky Moun­tain trench, 1 day at Nipi­ka Moun­tain Resort — a pri­vate and remote sin­gle­track par­adise, and 1 day in Kananask­is coun­try — a sam­ple of Alber­ta’s finest; you’ll get your fill of some of the world’s best moun­tain bik­ing on this Ride.

Is This Ride For You?

You’re a Strong-Inter­me­di­ate lev­el rid­er with sol­id bike han­dling skills, who can han­dle rocky ter­rain and nar­row sin­gle­track. You’re com­fort­able and con­fi­dent rid­ing a blend of cross coun­try and all-moun­tain trails (think long and some­times steep climbs paired with fun and semi-tech­ni­cal descents). Rid­ing mul­ti­ple days in a row, 3–5 hours per day is no big­gie to you. You live for long days on the bike, reward­ed by the com­forts of a post-ride hot tub soak or sauna, a gor­geous lodge and a chilled beer.

Itinerary

Day 1. Wel­come to the Rockies!

Our pri­vate shut­tle will meet you at the Cal­gary Inter­na­tion­al Air­port and dri­ve the group to our lodge in Fernie.

Upon arrival, we encour­age you to unpack, set­tle in and rest up for the week of adven­ture ahead. The lodge will be our home base for the next few days of Fer­nie trail riding.

Tonight, we’ll dine at The Bridge Bistro and enjoy the patio over­look­ing the Elk River.

Day 2.  Fer­nie Epics

After a good night of rest, you’ll awak­en to the smell of fresh­ly brewed cof­fee, with views of the Rock­ies to accom­pa­ny our hearty group break­fast at the lodge.

This morn­ing, we’ll review the incred­i­ble itin­er­ary and build our bikes. We’ll pro­vide bike stands, tools and help­ing hands for any­one need­ing assistance.

We’ll spend an hour warm­ing up with some skill review at the amaz­ing local bike park (believe us, there is always some­thing to learn!).

Once we’ve got the cob­webs cleared, it’s off to the trails we go, head­ing out into the mas­sive trail net­work of Fer­nie with over 80 trails to choose from, start­ing in Ridge­mont with some of the clas­sics such as Eco-Ter­ror­ist and Sidewinder.

We’ll head back to the lodge for lunch and a quick rest, then head out for a full after­noon of rid­ing in the direc­tion of Mt Proctor.

Tonight, we’ll head out for a group din­ner before head­ing back to the lodge for a good night of rest.

Day 3. Mt. Fer­nie and the Val­ley of Island Lake

After break­fast at the lodge, we’ll head out for a big day of true moun­tain bike adven­ture, as we aim to con­quer Mt. Fer­nie; the peak loom­ing over us in the North sky.

Today’s trail of choice is called “Slunt”, like slog and grunt had a baby. It’s not all leg burn and heavy breath­ing, as this trail ends with a sweet as pie down­hill, mak­ing it all total­ly worth it.

We’ll work our way along the val­ley and tack­le one more climb up to Island Lake Lodge for a top qual­i­ty lunch with unbe­liev­able views. After­wards, it’s all down­hill on the new Lazy Lizard flow trail. We guar­an­tee you’ll be sat­is­fied after this day of pedaling!

Tonight we’ll dine in one of Fer­nie’s excel­lent restau­rants — maybe some sushi, maybe a local pub on the main street?

Day 4. Road Trip! Inver­mere, Toby Creek Canyon & Nipika

After an ear­ly break­fast, we’ll pack up the van and hop in for an option­al short morn­ing ride around the trails of Mon­tane, or you can opt for a lit­tle time to relax before we head out.

Then we’re off for the super scenic 2 ½ hour dri­ve to Invermere.

We’ll check out a cute café in town for lunch, then head to the trail­head for The John­son and Kloosi­fi­er Trails. Hold on tight for this rolling cross-coun­try ride, skirt­ing along the edge of Toby Creek Canyon.

Cold bev­er­ages await at the finish!

There’s anoth­er hour of Rocky Moun­tain scenery to enjoy, as we dri­ve to Nipi­ka Moun­tain Resort — a back­coun­try par­adise with hors­es roam­ing free, rus­tic log cab­ins, and a wood-fired sauna.

Tonight, we’ll enjoy a BBQ din­ner pre­pared by your Guides.

Day 5. Nipi­ka Moun­tain Resort

After break­fast in our log cab­in, we’ll enjoy a full day of activ­i­ties in this vast and wild playground.

The pri­vate sin­gle­track par­adise of Nipi­ka is set along the Koote­nay Riv­er val­ley, bor­der­ing the Koote­nay Nation­al Park (part of the chain of Nation­al Parks that includes world-famous Banff and Jasper), and is sur­round­ed by jagged peaks and unlim­it­ed wilderness.

We’ll ride in the morn­ing, then enjoy lunch at the lodge before tak­ing a dri­ve upstream. Why? So we can float down­stream in the glac­i­er-fed Koote­nay Riv­er!   A cer­ti­fied riv­er guide from Nipi­ka will lead us on an amaz­ing 3‑hour pad­dle, pass­ing sev­er­al class 1 and 2 rapids in super sta­ble 2–3 per­son inflat­able canoes. Cold bev­er­ages await when we float right back to the lodge for dinner. 

Tonight, per­haps horse­shoes, an evening disc golf ses­sion, and a camp­fire under the stars.

Day 6. Banff Nation­al Park and Goodbyes!

After break­fast, we’ll pack up and set off for Banff. It’s a breath­tak­ing dri­ve North through Koote­nay Nation­al Park, even­tu­al­ly join­ing the Trans Cana­da East through the mag­nif­i­cent Bow Val­ley Parkway.

In Banff, we’ll give you a lit­tle tourist time to stock up on bear para­pher­na­lia and “I love Cana­da” fridge mag­nets, and we’ll sit down for a nice lunch.

Then, we’ll make our way to Kananask­is coun­try for the fan­tas­tic final ride — Prairie View/Jewell Pass. This final spin­ning will leave you grin­ning, and feel­ing very sat­is­fied. You won’t believe how much awe­some­ness we jam into this 6‑day action-packed adventure.

We’ll load up the shut­tle and fin­ish the jour­ney back to Cal­gary. We’ll be arrang­ing drop-offs to the Cal­gary Inter­na­tion­al Air­port and the Acclaim Hotel Cal­gary Airport.


The fol­low­ing data rep­re­sents a typ­i­cal itin­er­ary, but adven­ture trav­el can be unpre­dictable and our Guides may need to make last-minute changes to ensure your enjoy­ment. Inclement weath­er, road clo­sures, changes to the itin­er­ary to accom­mo­date requests, and oth­er issues may affect the itin­er­ary. The ride data rep­re­sents an ‘aver­age’ itin­er­ary, and may dif­fer when you actu­al­ly show up to ride. Our guides make every effort to stick to the itin­er­ary as post­ed, but your safe­ty is our #1 priority. 

Ride Data: Rocky Mountain Rambler

Day Hours of rid­ing Dis­tance rid­den Ele­va­tion gained Ele­va­tion lost High­est ele­va­tion
1 0 0 0 0 0
2 4.5 17 2165 2165 4409
3 4.5 16 2395 2395 5200
4 4.5 18 2952 2952 5249
5 3.5 14 2099 2099 3182
6 3.5 10 1377 1377 3756
Totals 20.5 HRS

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Book Rocky Mountain Rambler Now

Dates chosen: Jun. 18, 2023—Jun. 23, 2023
Skill Rating: Blue Square
Fitness Rating: Blue Square
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Skill Levels
Black Diamond

The Black Diamond Rides are  suitable for riders looking for that edge. Maybe it’s the edge of a drop, the edge of a cliff, or singletrack requiring focus and fast reactions developed from extensive experience riding “the edge”. You will find yourself on steep trails of varied surfaces. In the Pacific North West that could be slick roots and loam, in Nepal you will find exposed granite in the Mustang Valley and in Guatemala it maybe narrow stairways through cliffside villages. While airtime is rarely required, the ability to find the backside or clean a tabletop should be comfortable or in a state of progress. Obstacles on Black rides are likely to be outside the range of your bikes ability to cover your goofs with its awesome suspension and grip.

Blue Square

In general, Blue trails are narrower than green trails, encounter unavoidable obstacles such as roots, rocks, and drops that are up to 8-inches tall. You will want to have a solid understanding of the fundamentals of mountain biking including body positions, powerful braking, cornering, riding on varied terrain, steep sections and experience riding trails that requires line choice. Airtime is not mandatory, but you will find yourself on trails with alternate lines giving you the option.

Double Black Diamond

A Double Black ride is for those that already know they are looking for a Double Black. It’s going to be very hard and require advanced bike handling skills. You will find yourself on trails with sections most non-riders would look at and say, “that’s totally nuts!”. You will know how to look at a line and contemplate where it will work and where it won’t. Drops of a couple feet should be comfortable and getting your bike off the ground should feel predictable and fun.

Green Circle

Typically, green Rides are safe for beginners. Green Rides may have both avoidable and unavoidable obstacles. Trails are generally low grade, wide, consistent surface texture and have minimal features. You are likely to come across unavoidable obstacles 2-inches or shorter, which is small enough for mountain bike tires to simply roll over. More challenging than tarmac, but in general, a wonderful Ride for those riders new to mountain biking or looking for a casual experience.

Fitness Levels
Black Diamond

A Black Fitness ride will test you. Aside from needing to be able to manage up to 6 hours on the bike, day after day, including distance up to 50km/30miles and elevation gains up to 1750m/5000feet of climbing, you will be adding extra challenges along the route like periods of hike-a-bike and the extra effort required by the whole body to safely dance with your bike over technical terrain. Generally, riders who are up for a Black Fitness ride, likely spend time on the bike a couple times each week.

Blue Square

Blue should be considered a good deal more effort than our Green Rides.  You should be able to handle 3 to 5 hours in the saddle covering up to 45km/30miles and be able to pull off a big day of 1000m/3000feet of elevation gain. Managing fuel is important as well.  You should have a good understanding how your body responds to multiple days on the bike. We will help with positive coaching, a manageable pace and plenty of trailside snacks.

Double Black Diamond

A Double Black will be for those with the strength and endurance to get to the top of anything they want and understand the term “turning the screw”. Distance could be quite high on some routes and elevation gain numbers could hit 2000m/6000 feet+ in a day. You are likely riding multiple days a week during the dry periods and have a trainer or belong to a gym for the rest of the year.

Green Circle

You should be ready to spend 2-4 hours per day on the bike. Mileage may be up to 30km/20 miles and elevation gain will be under 500m/1500feet. On e-MTB tours, numbers will be higher, however the approximate effort would be considered similar to a standard Green Circle ride. If you get on your bike once a week, you will be just fine. However, when preparing for a Ride, you will benefit from more rides and time in the saddle.