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Wild Women of the WoodsCopyright © 2007-2009 Travel Alberta, All Rights ReservedWritten by: Travel Alberta If you don't hike or camp in the Canadian Rockies (an hour west of Calgary, four hours from Edmonton) because you're afraid of getting lost in the woods or encountering a hungry bear, a day trip with Brenda Holder of Mahikan Trails mountain guides will prepare you for almost anything. Born and raised in the mountains in Jasper National Park, Holder and her husband Dave operate the only Aboriginal adventure tour company in the Banff and Canmore area, with half-day and multi-day programs that teach the kind of hands-on skills which build confidence, especially for wilderness wary women. Their Wild Women in the Wild Woods program offers women-only groups a unique mountain education from finding your way out of the woods without a map to starting a fire without matches and fashioning a whistle to effectively signal for help. Set on Alberta hiking trails in Kananaskis Country and Banff National Park, the program teaches women how to be safe and confident when travelling in the mountains. At the end of the day, there's comfortable lodging in an authentic teepee in a spectacular mountain setting. Holder's programs for women teach how to navigate and hike, bike or ski safely. But she teaches other skills, too. "There are so many things to do with women," she chuckles, "like how to pee in the woods. A lot of women are afraid of that." With a sharp Morra bush knife dangling in a sheath around my neck and the few natural "supplies" at hand, I'm ready to learn a few of the Holder's bushcraft lessons. As Dave explains, these "survival skills" creating fire, navigating by the sun and stars, braiding a natural-fibre rope are really everyday living skills for indigenous people around the world. Soon we are splitting small logs, shaving "feather sticks" and gathering dry grass to start our fires. Striking our carbon steel blades against a rough flint creates a shower of sparks that soon have our piles of tinder and foraged fuel smoking. It's a strangely powerful feeling to see the flames begin to leap, and learn that a bit of spruce gum, mixed with dryer lint from a pocket or a cotton ball from a make-up kit, might be the basis for a life-saving fire if you're lost on a mountain trail. Soon we're fashioning shrill whistles from strips of aluminum pop cans, peeling the bright green inner bark from a willow branch to twist into a length of strong rope and chewing on a piece of freshly-cooked bannock, roasted over our own crackling campfires. For more details call (403) 609-2489. While this is a Rocky Mountain wilderness experience for the uninitiated traveller, more challenging adventure tours are available for women, too. Women's Programs Stretch Deep into the Canadian Rockies Marmot Women's Summer Mountaineering Camp is for serious female mountaineers, designed to develop leading skills and provide opportunities for women to summit mountain peaks in an all-women setting. Based at the Wapta Icefield in Banff National Park, the six-day camp runs July 24 to 29 with guides Alison Andrews and Jen Olson. For fit women with rock climbing skills and the will to reach high mountain peaks, this is the ultimate summer camp run by the Alpine Club of Canada. Canmore's Yamnuska Inc. (403-678-4164) is a longtime Alberta mountain school offering full- or half-day rock climbing, mountaineering, hiking, ice climbing and ski tours. Yamnuska has special programs for all skill levels, and affiliated company, Ascending Women, has a full range of courses for women only. Join Ascending Women in the Canadian Rockies for climbing clinics, weekends and advanced week-long climbing tours or join guides Abby Watkins and Annie Keeling of Alala Women's Mountain Adventures for all-women mountain climbing, hiking and backcountry ski trips. Alala's 2005 Summer Mountaineering Camps include their Women's Introduction to Mountaineering for beginners, rock-climbing clinics, a Mt. Robson Expedition to the top of the highest peak in the Rockies in August, and week-long alpine camps for experienced women climbers, with lodging in spectacular alpine huts. Or join Alala's more civilized Chix in the Stix weekend in September learn to climb by day then unwind with a massage, a glass of wine by the fire, a great meal and comfortable lodging at the Lake Louise Alpine Centre Hostel (contact Hostelling International at 1-866-762-4122 to reserve). If all of that sounds too strenuous and scary there are guided mountain tours for like-minded, 55-plus women offered by ElderHostel. Their Wild West Women's Adventure tour in the Canadian Rockies in September 2005 lets women explore the seven "C's" - chateaux, cowgirls, creeks, canyons, chocolatiers, comedians and concerts while learning about the wild women who pioneered the Canadian west. Along with hikes in Banff National Park, there are indulgences like a tour of Bernard Callebaut's Calgary chocolate factory, a trip to an ammolite gem factory and lodging in a comfy country inn in a pretty mountain town. Horsewomen can join Holiday on Horseback for a five-night backcountry pack trip Sept. 7-12, celebrating the spirit of the adventuresome women of the Rockies. Retrace the footsteps of the powerful women who first explored the wild west on this women-only trip through Banff National Park. The ride begins and ends at the luxurious Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, with accommodation along the way at the tent camps of Stoney Creek, Flints Park, and Mystic Valley. As program host Holly Woods of The Fairmont Banff Springs promises: "There are no cell phones, demanding kids or hungry husbands in the backcountry, it's you, your horse and the wilderness, it can be a life-altering experience." About The Author:
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