Fess up: Are you cocky enough to think you know every item on Alberta’s all-star list of adventures? Be honest, have you really done “the daring dozen”?
Have you truly travelled the length and breadth of the province . . . off the ground, into the water and under the earth? We’re willing to wager you’ll consider at least a few of the challenges here worth another well-earned notch in your accomplishment belt.
So get going! Prussik (in a cave), barrel roll (on your sailboard) and pry (in your kayak) your way to an ultimate Alberta adventure!
1. Heli-bike the Rockies 
It’s all downhill from here! Well, not quite, but it is a rare ride out of the backcountry that would otherwise take you two days to reach. As Ralph Sliger of Icefield Helicopter Tours says, “We take you back into the heart of the scenery.” The whirly-bird flight up the Cline River Valley includes a guide, a bike (BYO safety gear), a gourmet lunch and a trail to match your technical skill, with up to 1,000 metres (3,280 ft.) of down-driving vertical.
2. Sea Kayak Lesser Slave Lake
The thrill, or the danger if you don’t know what you’re doing, is waves that can go from fun to VERY BIG in no time at all. Cross to the remote north shore (unreachable by road), where the beaches are Bahama-like, the walleye and pike are plentiful and eagles, osprey, wolves and moose are the only other tourists. On this lake, you get far enough from shore so that you definitely feel like a small craft in big water. Wildside Wilderness Connection will guide you, feed you and find you a great beach for camping.
3. Fondue with a view, Wander Wood Buffalo
Chocolate fondue on the Great Divide? Or on the Little Beehive overlooking legendary Lake Louise, or—if you prefer more of a challenge, on Castle Mountain Lookout lording over the panorama of the Bow Valley? You bet! Lake Louise’s Great Divide Nature Interpretation will supply the guide, the Bernard Callebaut chocolate and the fresh fruit. The fondue recipe remains, alas, top-secret.
4. Wander Wood Buffalo National Park
Think of it as Alberta’s own Bermuda Triangle, do you know anyone who’s ever visited that vast, untrammeled tract? A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Wood Buffalo National Park is home to one of the world’s largest self-regulated bison herds, the last nesting grounds for the endangered whooping crane, some of the finest examples of gypsum karst topography in North America and the Peace-Athabasca Delta, one of the largest inland freshwater deltas in the world. You can drive from Ft. Smith, NWT, but the truly adventurous (those with plenty of wilderness experience) arrive by canoe from the west via the Peace River or from the south via the Athabasca. You can also fly into Ft. Chipewyan, the province’s oldest settlement, with your own gear. For rentals and guided excursions, contact Points North Adventures out of Fort McMurray.
5. Bi-Plane the Prairie 
Here’s one for the romantics: an Indiana Jones-style adventure that sweeps you off your feet and takes you back in time. Climb into the open, two-person front seat of a vintage bi-plane and soar into the wild blue yonder above the rich farmlands of central Alberta. The open cockpit is to flying what the motorcycle is to driving: a reach-out-and-touch-it kind of immediacy that perks up your pulse and puts roses in your cheeks. Ride the thermals to the Rockies’ edge, pack a picnic and pre-arrange a landing for lunch at Rocky Mountain House. Fly over your own farmstead and buzz your neighbour. This is freedom! Contact Central Aviation.
6. Climb into Wapiabi Cave
If you’ve done Cadomin and Rat’s Nest-Wapiabi (a.k.a. Chungo) Cave should be next on your list. For starters, it’s a challenging approach: a three hour trek in and up, with the entrance above treeline, boasting a breath-taking view. Inside, it’s a technical workout that requires roping down steep verticals. Wapiabi is a water—formed series of tubes—it’s as if they were made by giant earthworms. Cauliflower-like formations add to the thrill, as does the knowledge that you’re moving through a mountain where very few folks have gone before. Obviously, you do this with an experienced, insured guiding operation. Check out Inroads Mountain Sports and the Centre for Outdoor Education, among others.
7. Windsurf Waterton
Waterton’s famous wind has no problem reaching 100 km/h (62 mph) on a regular basis. The lake is famous for its Wa-Wa’s, walls of wind and water created when the sheer strength of the wind whips the water off the surface, building a wall visible for miles down the lake. Wear your wetsuit! This is glacier-fed H20, set amid stunning beauty, but cold as ice. For more information, visit Windsurfing Alberta.
8. Paddle like Palaeontologists
Early palaeontologists canoed the Red Deer River into the fabulous fossil beds that are now Dinosaur Provincial Park. You, too, can drift a canoe or kayak down this easy river through ranchlands, badlands and endangered cottonwood stands. Over-night in a cabin or campsite near the river, then trek into the living sculpture of the landscape. Go fully geared and guided with H2O Expeditions or geared and self-guided, with River Getaways, and access the badlands through the public programs in the Park.
9. Finesse the Falls 
One of Alberta’s most awe-inspiring sights, remote Kakwa Falls is 27 metres (90 feet) of crystal-clear, aquamarine water in a spectacular setting. On a Wild Kakwa Safari day-trip, you’ll be guided in on an ATV to a viewpoint 40 metres (130 feet) above the falls. Eight river crossings on the way add to the adventure, as does the wildlife-viewing side trip up 2439 metre (8,001 foot) Mt. Ida.
10. Go Fishin’ Expedition-Style
The Canadian Shield cuts across the far northeastern corner of the province, bringing with it unnamed, untouched lakes, a fisher’s dream. You can fish a lake that nobody’s 
fished before, and your chances of landing a big one are exponentially greater at places such as Andrew Lake Lodge. In addition to the lodge’s regular fly-in fishing experience, the company offers the ultimate: they’ll fly you and the necessary gear to the lake you specify (based on geography or fish species). All you have to do is drop your line in and wait for that 13 kilogram (29 pound) pike or lake trout to swim by and grab it.
11. Drive a Dune
Ride an ATV to the top of a sand dune for a commanding view of Brule Lake and the unmistakable profile of Roche Miette. With Hinton’s Canadian Rockies Adventures providing guided access to miles of dunes, you can follow the wind as it shifts the sand, constantly exposing and creating something new to see. This dune exploration is part of the Maskuta Creek Crossing Tour, available as a full or half-day. Don’t rush the experience: book the day and give yourself plenty of time to write an opus (or a love letter!) in the sand.
12. Race with Rigour
Are you up for an extreme foot race, through a 5182 metre elevation change over three mountain summits and a 125 kilometre course? Then you’re a candidate for Grand Cache’s Canadian Death Race, held the first long weekend in August (that’s Aug. 4-7 in 2006).
A Few More for the Road
Alberta Must-Do’s You May Not Have Done …
• Tour the Columbia Icefield
• Tour the Athabasca Oilsands
• Ride a gondola up a mountain in Lake Louise, Banff and Jasper
• Go ballooning with Windship Aviation or Rainbow Balloons
• Take a trail ride
• Climb the Calgary Tower
• Sail on the Edmonton Queen
