- We're the Troutman family!

- And on this episode of "Great Family Adventure," we're exploring?

- Banff!

- And?

- Lake Louise.

- [Nick] Let's go!

(upbeat music) Let's go, I'm so excited.

(pins thudding) (Emily screaming) - Oh my god!

(upbeat music) - [Emily] I'm Emily, and this is Nick.

As world champion whitewater kayakers, we're not just navigating the rapids, we're navigating life on the road with our kids, Tucker and Parker.

- [Nick] Join us as we tackle the wild ride of parenting, homeschooling, and competing, all while exploring the great outdoors.

- [Both] This is our "Great Family Adventure."

Funding for Great Family Adventure is provided by Collette offers small group exploration tours, destinations and local experiences.

Explorations by Collette.

Guided travel since 1918.

Alaska by rail.

Passengers can travel the coasts and wilderness of Alaska with baggage, service, meals, and wheelchair access.

Information available at AlaskaRailroad.com Vivid-Pix memory station and software allows users to scan personal history items like photos and documents, record voice narrative, and share what has been conserved.

More online at Vivid-pix.com.

Host- And by these additional sponsors ♪ upbeat music (gentle music) - We're going on an adventure.

- [Emily] This week, my family is experiencing a Canadian winter, and what a better place to experience winter overall than here in Banff and Lake Louise.

I cannot get over how picturesque this whole region is.

It's definitely a winter wonderland.

- [Nick] Growing up in Canada, I've definitely spent many winters here, though the kids haven't had and experienced that many winters in Canada.

So I was really excited to just get them in the mountains and show 'em what winter is all about.

(gentle music) (playful music) - Who's ready to put these funny-looking sticks on our feet?

- I am.

- Let's do it.

So I grew up spending some time on skis, but it was always downhill, I've never really gone cross country skiing before and neither had anybody in the family.

- What we're gonna do is march like this.

You are gonna stay where you are, just march in one spot.

Cross country skiing is for everybody.

Of all the winter activities, it comes with the least amount of risk and the shortest amount of time it takes to learn how to do it.

Wait, where are you going?

Well, what about the rest of us?

- [Emily] I learned so much from Clare, and she's amazing with kids, which is always a huge bonus.

- I want you to stomp these skis into the snow.

Try to break those skis.

- [Emily] They were learning without even knowing it.

(guitar music) - The hardest thing so far about cross country skiing is maybe actually once you fall down, getting back up.

- I want you to see how long you can stand on one leg.

Where are you looking when you're trying to stand on one leg?

Should you be looking down like this?

(Clare grunting) (Clare falling) It's really hard to do that, isn't it?

(Clare screaming) There he goes, daddy down.

Should we teach daddy how to get back up?

- A great lesson that Clare helped teach us was not just how to fall, but also how to get back up, as we certainly needed that 'cause there was a lot of falling.

Parker, whoa!

(Nick thudding) (Nick laughing) - [Emily] Parker's down and- (Nick screaming) (Nick and Emily thudding) - [Clare] With Parker, she's got the shortest legs.

She's always gonna be in the back.

So we bring out tools for cross-country skiing so that we can keep a level playing field.

So we pull out a jet pack, also known as two inner tubes tied together.

- [Nick] I think you got the easy route.

(playful music) - [Emily] As a parent, nothing makes me happier than watching my kids wanna reciprocate kindness.

So Clare pulled Parker for a majority, but Parker, sure enough, wanted to pay it back and give her a little boost too.

- It's nice to have somebody tow the guide once in a while.

They need a break too, you know, so.

(laughing) There we go!

- Keep going, keep going.

- Just like those doggies, move, move, move, mush, mush.

(playful music) - I absolutely love just getting to look around at the mountains and really kind of just get out there where you get to see views that you're not gonna get from the parking lot or from your hotel room.

Well, actually we get some pretty incredible views from our hotel room too, but anyway.

(laughing) (upbeat music) - [Emily] Today was a day of lessons.

We started off getting an awesome lesson on cross country skiing, but now it was dad's turn to teach us something truly Canadian as well.

Safety first always.

- [Nick] It really was about time that I taught the whole family how to skate.

Maybe play a little bit of hockey.

- I haven't spent a lot of time on skates, but I did marry a Canadian, which means that every Christmas holiday, when I had the opportunity, Nick would try to teach me.

But his sense of humor involves pushing me as fast as he can and then letting go and seeing how well I could stop.

- You're like a pro here.

- Yeah, I look so graceful.

I still can't stop, I have to spin in circles to stop.

You know, I feel like if I was to fall, I'm gonna break my nose.

Skating is not my thing.

- [Nick] I've spent a lot of time over the years teaching the sport of whitewater kayaking, though I haven't really spent much time or any time at all teaching people how to skate.

Yeah, there we go, whoa, that happens, and glide, push.

(laughing) (playful music) Parker!

Whoa!

- [Parker] Mom!

- [Nick] Let's just say it got a little chaotic, and I might need to work on my lesson plan a little bit.

Look at daddy, my nose and my knees and my toes are all in line.

(light music) - Okay.

- You're doing it, here.

Whoa.

- Ow.

- Oh, it's coming, whoa, ah, you okay?

(gentle music) Tucker was really into playing hockey and scoring goals.

We're going, and shoot it in.

Yeah, the crowd goes wild!

Each goal had a celebration, and let's just say his celebration was what someone might call unique.

- [Emily] I would absolutely love to see the NHL players celebrate their goals the way that Tucker was celebrating his.

- [Nick] Nice shot, son.

- [Emily] Woo hoo!

- [Parker] Dad, I have a present for you, come here.

- [Nick] Is it a big Hug?

- [Parker] It's a big warm hug.

- [Nick] Is it?

- [Emily] I think for the kids, anytime they see snow, it's like a trigger.

They're like, "Oh, that means snowball fight."

(playful music) - Ah, ah.

(light music) - This is Ice Magic.

It's a international ice sculpture competition.

Throughout the weekend, there's eight international teams trying to compete for prize money and glory.

- I would say that my family is pretty artistic, so to explore ice magic and see them sculpting out of blocks of ice is really amazing.

- [Nick] Being the size of the blocks and the weight of the ice, they really just build them right there on site in front of you and it gives this opportunity to be up close and personal with the sculptors.

So we were able to ask questions and kind of get a whole educational process, which was perfect for the kids as well.

That's pretty cool.

- Wow.

- [Nick] I thought it was really unique to be able to see the different tools and techniques that they use.

- [Larry] Sculptors use chainsaws, die grinders, hand chisels, clothing irons, aluminum plates.

The possibilities are endless.

- [Nick] It was just cool to see the different styles and really how unique each sculpture and each sculptor really is.

(upbeat music) - Some things in life are fleeting and I think what we were taught in Ice Magic is that's one of the beauties in sculpting with ice.

- [Larry] You can show so much detail and so much emotion in the ice sculpture and you know it's not gonna last, but that's what pictures are for.

- [Nick] The ice is only there for a short period.

But it was cool to just watch the whole evolution of going from a block of ice into the masterpiece.

- [Emily] Just knowing that time is of the highest currency and that spending it together, but also doing things that you love.

And that was something that I noticed with all of the artists.

And so I really appreciated that and I think we all learned a little bit from that as well.

(upbeat music) - I'm Lloyd, I'm a teamster.

I take people up and down the trail here.

(horses galloping) The tours here today is we're taking people down to the end of the lake about a 45-minute ride, and we take 'em down to there's a frozen waterfall down there, but lots of times we will get ice climbers up on there.

- [Nick] Our guide Lloyd was a total character and I don't think you could get more of an Alberta cowboy than him.

He was great with the kids.

He told jokes.

- Do you know what one snowman said to the other snowman?

- I don't know.

- [Larry] Do you smell carrots?

- Do you smell the carrots?

- Do you smell carrots?

- 'Cause they've got carrots for noses.

As a father, I love the dad jokes.

(Larry laughing) - [Emily] One thing I learned while on this trip is that Western Canada experiences these things called Chinook, where it's warmer weather coming through, which means unexpectedly you may have some snow falling off the tree.

So was not expecting that.

- [Nick] Whoa!

- [Larry] Everybody alright?

- [Nick] What happened, Parker?

- When it gets really, really cold.

- [Nick] Yeah?

- the branches get stiff and all those snow clumps hang on the trees.

And so as it gets warmer, the branches get some spring in it and let the balls come down.

(light music) - Here we go, let's jump off!

- Look at that.

- Ready?

Let's go.

The sleigh ride took us around Lake Louise and into that valley at the back where you get to look back across the lake.

We gotta see the Fairmont.

Again, you're just surrounded by these mountains.

(light music) - While we're in the very back corner of Lake Louise, I am looking around looking at the beautiful scenery, but my family had other plans.

Sure enough, it turned into another snowball fight.

- [Nick] Oh gosh.

(upbeat music) - (laughing) You got me.

You got me.

I think I'm losing the snowball fight over here.

One of my favorite parts of the Baker Creek cabins was not only the fact that we're submersed in the Canadian wilderness, but after a cold day outside, we decided to get inside to warm up.

And when you're cut off from internet and cell service, it invites the perfect opportunity for family game night.

- It' bucking you, it's bucking you .

No, you're, yeah.

- Mechanical bull.

(group laughing) - Being able to just disconnect, play some board game, eat some popcorn, be in each other's company, and Cozy was exactly the kind of evening I was looking for.

(light music) (light music) And then here, eight times eight equals what?

- I know.

- We use a homeschooling program and the reason being is because I truly believe that travel is the best education of all.

- It really gives us the opportunity to be very hands-on with their learning.

So for us being here in Canada, we definitely did some homeschooling that was more related to the Canadian winter here.

- I felt a little bit bad for Tucker because Parker had an easier afternoon of a mostly art class and he had to do some math and spelling.

- 60 divided by six would be 10.

- Yeah, so write 10 down.

I got a trick one for you.

- Okay.

- Skiing, we try to kind of keep them on track with that homeschool schedule.

(light music) (dogs barking) (upbeat music) - And if you're wondering what all the commotion is, we are about to go dog sledding and the dogs are ready to go.

- Let's go, I'm so excited!

They're going fast now.

- [Megan] Canada and dog sled is similar to Canada and the canoe.

We travel by dog team 'cause we are a snow country.

- [Emily] I have never been dog sledding before and neither had anyone in my entire family.

- [Megan] Dog sledding is a chance to really share Canada's heritage and that's something that I'm really happy to share with all the guests that come here.

At least daily I hear from guests, "This has been the highlight of our whole trip."

- It feels so smooth.

- I don't know if we can get a better day than this.

- Yeah.

Woo-hoo.

- [Megan] The only breeds I use to pull a sled that work here is called the Alaskan Husky.

And the Alaskan Husky is a super athlete of the dog sledding world.

It's the dog that runs 1,000 miles across Alaska in the Iditarod Dogsled Race.

They are bred for endurance and toughness and resilience and recovery.

They're fantastic animals.

Alright, here we go!ú Whoa!

= Good dogs.

- Into the woods we go.

(light music) I was really impressed to see the power of these dogs and to have a team of dogs pull three humans in one sled, the dogs are just really amped up to pull.

(light music) To have that energy within all these dogs kind of really just builds up the energy within you.

And I think everybody got really excited.

Are you putting your hand in the snow?

Whoa.

I would say this unique experience certainly put a smile on my face from start to finish.

And it really was just the quintessential experience of going dog sledding in the mountains in the wintertime.

You can't beat that.

- [Emily] Both of my kids absolutely loved dog sledding, but also on top of that, they got to reward the dogs at the end.

Basically saying, "Thank you for pulling us through the woods."

- Raptor.

- Wobbles.

Wobbles.

- After it was all said and done, both Emily and Parker wanted to adopt the dogs, and these dogs are pretty high energy, so I think we might just have to leave the dog sledding to the professionals.

(upbeat music) (dog barking) (Tucker barking) - Are you done?

(upbeat music) - [Nick] We certainly take as much opportunity as we can to be outside and playing in the snow.

But every now and then it's good to get back inside.

And for us, one of the coolest parts was to go bowling with the family.

- It was pretty fun to have a moment being a part of the Banff community.

There's a DJ playing, there were beer.

Everyone's eating good food.

Thank you.

(upbeat music) It was really cool to see the livelihood of the bowling alley.

It's just a neat place for everyone to come together.

(pins falling) (upbeat music) - Couple strikes in a row.

- I don't want the bumper on next time.

- Okay, we can take it off.

Emily's actually a pretty good bowler, though in this game Tucker excelled and actually beat Emily, that may have stung a little bit for her.

- Tucker actually beat me at this bowling game.

I'll say it, I'm looking away from the camera so you can't see the anger coming outta my eyes.

But the cool thing was, Tucker actually put the bumpers down for a majority of his throws and so cool to see how much he's progressed.

(upbeat music) - The Fairmont behind me has a cool pool and by cool pool, I mean it's pretty warm, like a giant outdoor hot tub.

(water lapping) Pretty amazing.

Feels good to relax.

- I know.

- Just get some you and me time.

- Mm-hm.

Who would've thought that would be outside in the middle of winter in warm water?

- In the Rockies.

- I know.

At a castle.

Hard to beat.

I think you planned this little piece of the trip just for me.

Maybe.

- Maybe.

(lips smacking) (light music) (upbeat music) - We're movingm heading up the mountain 'cause today we're going tubing.

When we first arrived to the tubing hill, we looked up and Tucker was a little intimidated.

He thought that was a really big hill, but I was trying to encourage him that it wasn't so bad.

But once we got up there, it actually was pretty big.

And as soon as we took off, I recognized just how fast we were gonna go.

Here we go!

Going tubing at Mount Norquay with Tucker was pretty fun because I got to see the whole range of emotions as we're sliding down this hill, going from "This is an absolute blast" to "I am terrified for my life."

- Adrenaline is the word that comes to mind when it comes to the tubing experience at Norquay.

- That was like the impact of going on a rocket.

(Nick laughing) - Nick's a bit of an adrenaline junkie.

So when it comes to doing things with the kids, he gets really excited about "What can we do that's gonna scare mom?"

And sure enough, tubing is what got me.

(Emily screaming) Oh my gosh.

I don't like this.

Holy (beep).

(wind blowing) (Emily laughing) - I myself am a bit of a thrill seeker and I can see that my daughter, Parker, has really inherited that same streak.

She wanted to go to the biggest hill, to the fastest hill.

I can really see myself in her and that scares me a little bit.

- It's fun and I like fast.

- You like fast?

(upbeat music) (light music) - Johnston Canyon is a majestically beautiful canyon here in Banff National Park.

It's a perfect spot for hiking.

(light music) Essentially all the rock around us used to actually be part of a mountain called Mount Ishbel.

And over time, Mount Ishbel came tumbling down.

And actually North America's biggest landslide, a rock slide, in history ever that's been recorded.

- Wow.

- And when all the rock came down, there was a really pretty stream.

It got blocked up by the rock, but water's always gonna choose that path of least resistance.

So it started to creep through the little cracks and crevices of that rock pile.

And over time, through erosion made this beautiful canyon around us today.

(light music) - Wow, this is just incredible through here.

- Banff and the Lake Louise area are such a great place to visit in the winter time just because of how much stuff there is to do and how much of a unique experience it is.

And when you first think of a winter vacation, it's usually skiing.

And we absolutely do have beautiful ski hills here that are amazing.

But we have so much other stuff such as snowshoeing, horse sleigh rides, dog sleigh rides.

- [Emily] We're a very active family and to have the opportunity to try so many different things in one trip makes it an amazing place to visit.

- You can see pictures in a book.

You can see images on the internet.

But to be there in real life and to get to have that full sensory experience, it really creates the lasting memories that hopefully will last a lifetime.

- It's a lot quieter than it is in the summertime and it's absolutely beautiful.

- This is incredible.

Look at these views of the mountains.

- That's majestic, when it's snowing here, it looks like somebody's shaking a snow globe.

- It's a magical Narnia experience of solitude, beauty, and serenity.

- You can't get a better backdrop than the glacier, anywhere in the world.

So what's not to like about it?

(light music) Funding for Great Family Adventure is provided by Collette offers small group exploration tours, destinations and local experiences.

Explorations by Collette.

Guided travel since 1918.

Alaska by rail.

Passengers can travel the coasts and wilderness of Alaska with baggage, service, meals, and wheelchair access.

Information available at AlaskaRailroad.com Vivid-Pix memory station and software allows users to scan personal history items like photos and documents, record voice narrative, and share what has been conserved.

More online at Vivid-pix.com.

Host- And by these additional sponsors ♪ upbeat music (light music)