They call them signature experiences for a reason. They are activities that are quintessentially Canadian, or experiences that can only be enjoyed in this country and send visitors home feeling exhilarated and amazed.
Destination Canada’s Signature Experiences Collection added three new inductees to its program in July and Canmore Cave Tours was one of them.
The company operates out of Canmore and takes daily tours to Rat’s Nest Cave on Highway 1A all year, providing visitors with an experience like no other; one that challenges and educates them on a variety of levels.
Owner Adam Walker said receiving the distinction from the country’s destination marketing organization is an honour for the business and a recognition that the cave tour is one of three wild cave experiences available in Western Canada – “and we are one of the largest.
“It is rare for people to have the chance to have a wild caving experience. It is incredibly rewarding to be able to offer people that.”
Part of the reward, he said, is that many people are scared to enter a cave – this one goes deep inside Grotto Mountain – but once they finish the tour they find the challenging experience incredibly rewarding.
Along with the physical and mental challenge, the tour involves a lot of interpretive elements, with guides providing natural history, geology and information on the unique character of the cave to participants.
“It has a huge diversity of topics and I think that is what appeals to a lot of people – it is the full package,” Walker said.
The naming of these once-in-a-lifetime signature experiences is part of Canada’s federal tourism strategy and represents active nature pursuits, wilderness and wildlife encounters and connecting with Canada’s people and past.
Other inductees announced were the spring caribou migration at Arctic Haven Wilderness Adventure on Ennadai Lake in Nunavut and the historic Li-lik-hei mine expedition at Copper Cayuse Outfitters in Pemberton, B.C.
“Our goal is to make Canada an easy destination to buy, to enjoy and to tell others about,” said Destination Canada president and CEO David Goldstein. “Canadian Signature Experiences help do that by putting some of our industry’s most innovative products front and centre in the window. Along the way, the CSE program helps inspire more entrepreneurs to rise to a new level of international competitiveness.”
While Canmore Cave Tours may be a name and experience still new to many Bow Valley residents, it has been around since 1992 when Chas Younge started the company and began taking people to Rat’s Nest Cave.
Two years ago and nearing retirement, Walker bought the business after having guided tours for several years.
Earlier this year at the persuading of Travel Alberta and Canmore Business and Tourism, he applied to the signature experience program and was happy to be one of three new inductees.
“It is pretty exciting for something that is not on the radar for most people,” Walker said. “It has been a bit surreal. It has been so off my radar and I have been focused on the business this summer.”
The signature experience program currently has 186 members across the country and six that are members of CBT, including Alpine Helicopters and White Mountain Adventures’ Mount Charles Stewart heli-hike, Brewster Canada’s Columbia Icefield glacier adventure and Discover Banff Tours’ Johnston Canyon Icewalk. In the region, the program includes a number of other experiences in the Rocky Mountain national parks.
Walker said the platforms that TripAdvisor and Facebook offer for exposure have also been great for the tour company. With a five star rating on TripAdvisor, Canmore Cave Tours is listed as the No. 1 activity in the valley and in the top five for Alberta.
He has recently begun offering a new product, the discovery tour, which is more accessible for families with younger children. It takes the group up to the entrance of the cave where child-friendly activities are experienced in the entrance, like looking for fossils.
“This is really one of those bucket list, unforgettable type experiences,” Walker said. “It is one thing you have to try even though so many people are afraid.
“That is the most rewarding part of the job. I get to challenge people in there to break down those barriers and have them experience how fun it is.”
Go to www.canmorecavetours.com for more information on Rat’s Nest Cave and the experiences offered.
