Alberta is known for its epic winter beauty and many of us take advantage of our awesome nature and get out and ski, snowshoe, or snowmobile.
But have you tried any of these lesser-known, uniquely Alberta winter adventures?
Check these seven must-do winter activities off your to-do list to wear the badge of authentic Albertan!
Wild Skating
All across Canada, people go out and skate on lakes and ponds in the winter, but that is just ‘skating outdoors.’
Only in Alberta do we have “Wild Skating.”
What is the difference?
The scenery!
Where else can you skate across lakes with a backdrop of towering peaks above and crystal-clear water below the ice?
Alberta has more snow-free ice in a mountain setting than anywhere else in Canada. The rain shadow of the eastern slopes and chinook winds keeps some lakes snow-free, sometimes for most of the winter.
So grab your skates and head out and try Alberta Wild Skating.
For more information about the where’s and how’s, check out our detailed article on Wild Skating here.
Bubble Hunting
Want to do some hunting that is uniquely Albertan?
Well, head out to the same mountain lakes where you go for wild skating and hunt for methane ice bubbles.
The decomposition of decaying matter in the water creates bubbles. These bubbles, primarily made of methane, rise to the surface. Water freezes around them as they ascend, trapping them under the ice.
As the ice increases in thickness, layers of bubbles form, looking like a bubble-layer cake.
The result is amazing and attracts people worldwide in a quest to view the bubbles.
The snow-free ice of lakes in the Rockies, like Lake Minnewanka near Banff or Abraham Lake near Nordegg, makes ice bubbles visible throughout the winter.
The best time to see ice bubbles is in late December through the end of February when the ice is thick and safe and before warm temperatures ‘fog’ the clear ice.
Watch for our upcoming guide to where and how to safely experience this classic Alberta winter thrill!
Ice Diving
Where else in Canada can you scuba dive under the ice and view ice bubbles from underneath the ice?
Now Instagram that!
If you dive in the summer at Minnewanka Lake, you can visit “Minnewanka Landing,” a once bustling town that hosted restaurants, cottages and even hotels and is now 18m underwater. The glacier-fed waters of Minnewanka have helped to preserve what remains of this cultural site.
Unfortunately, accessing the old ghost town in the winter is difficult, so you must be satisfied with epic under-ice views instead.
The thought of diving under the ice probably has many feeling claustrophobic, but with proper training and guidance an ice dive is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Alan Keller has been organizing two ice dives yearly on Lake Minnewanka, usually in February. Each dive lasts 20 to 30 minutes until you need to come up to get warm, Alan and his crew have a warming tent set up to handle the cold.
If you are interested in the event contact alanmkeller@me.com for more information.
Watch the video below to learn more about Alan and diving at Lake Minnewanka.
Redneck Hot Tubbing
Redneck hot tubbing might be practiced elsewhere in Canada, but only in Alberta do we have the triple requirements of scenic wilderness plus know-how plus attitude to do this right.
What is a redneck hot tub?
These hot tubs are homemade contraptions fashioned from galvanized stock feeders, like a horse or cattle watering tub.
In its simplest form, it is a steel tub filled with water over a campfire.
In tricked-out form, it can be as deluxe as any commercial hot tub with water filtration, bubble jets and cup holders.
But for a truly Albertan ‘redneck’ tub, the contraption needs to be portable. Something you can haul into the bush in your F-150 pickup and set up in the wilderness.
Maybe we should rebrand redneck tubbing as Wild Hot Tubbing, but we’ll leave that to the marketing wizards at Travel Alberta.
Winter Hiking
One of the benefits of living on the rain-shadow side of the Rockies, characterized by reduced snowfall and frequent chinooks, is that many of the eastern slopes remain snow-free.
Snow-free slopes provide excellent opportunities for winter hiking without the necessity for skis, snowshoes, or ice picks
If you love hiking but not with all that extra winter gear, pick a warm winter day and head off to one of the trails recommended in this guide.
Don’t forget your hiking poles, just in case part of the trail is icy.
Night Tubing
Not into skiing but want the thrill of hurtling down a hill at break-neck speeds?
Try tubing at Mount Norquay; no experience is needed.
It is super fun.
Just jump on a big inflatable tube, rocket down the hill on a dedicated tubing lane and have a safe, slow landing at the end of the run.
Tubing is great for the whole family, as anyone 4 years or older can join in on the rides.
Of course, you can ride the tube tracks during the day, but why not ramp up your Alberta adventure with a night run?
Night tubing is offered at Norquay from 5:00 to 8:00 PM on Fridays and Saturdays during the winter.
The tubing tracks are lit, so you are not in total darkness, but the opportunity to tube under the night sky provides an extra thrill as you zip down the hill.
To get a flavour of the tubing experience, watch the video below
Equestrian Skijoring
Cowboys and horses combined with skiing?
Can you get any more Albertan?
Even though Equestrian Skijoring was not invented in Alberta, we’ve made it our own!
After all, we are the cowboy capital of Canada, Alberta has the highest level of horsemanship and some of the greatest skiers.
Combine these, and you have epic results that can thrill an audience as much as any stampede. Think of Equestrian Skijoring as a winter rodeo on skis.
If you want to watch the pinnacle of performance in the sport, be sure to head to Banff Snow Days on January 20, 2024, to watch the spectacular demonstration of horse and ski athletics.
Of course, you don’t need to be an expert on horses or skis to try skijoring; you only need a little sense of adventure and book a trip with a local ranch.
Hartell Homestead near Diamond Valley offers a free skijor day each January, as long as there is adequate snow.
Watch their event page to see when the date is announced.
And just to inspire you further, watch the highlights below from Banff Snow Days 2020!
