Getting to the University of Calgary from the Calgary International Airport#

We recommend using a taxi or Uber to get to campus from the airport. Out of all the taxi companies, Checker (yellow cars) will be the cheapest, but Uber will still be the cheapest of options. For the destination, ask or put the Math Sciences Building at UCalgary (see next paragraph and screenshot below). Your driver will then drive you to the exact correct location. This is very important as the campus is large.

The ride is about 25 mins in low traffic conditions. The price of the Uber ride will be approximately 35 CAD, and the taxi is usually about 20 CAD more expensive.

It is also possible to get to campus from the airport with public transit, and takes just over an hour if you don’t miss your transfer. See the Calgary Transit website for information on schedules and how to buy tickets. A Calgary Transit ticket is $4 CAD.

Where to meet at the University of Calgary#

The meeting point at UCalgary prior to departure to Barrier Lake Station is the lounge on the 4th floor of the Math. Sciences Building; the lounge is room MS 461 and the abreviated name of the building is MS. The exact position of the entrance of the Math. Sciences Building is indicated on this Google Maps link. Here is a link to the UCalgary interactive campus map and room finder.

Enter through the door and follow the signs to the meeting point. If you cannot find us or this location, please contact us on the Signal group linked in our email dated May 29th.

If you have an early flight, you are welcome to arrive at the lounge as early as 10:00 am Sunday and hang out with us there until the bus to Barrier Lake Station arrives.

The bus headed to Barrier Lake Station will leave at 5PM sharp from the meeting point.

About the venue#

The workshop will be hosted at Barrier Lake Station, Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada. This venue belongs to the University of Calgary and provides accommodations, work facilities, and dining.

Accessing Barrier Lake Station#

Barrier Lake Station is in a remote area. The closest airport is Calgary International Airport (YYC). The venue is approximately a 1 hour drive from the Calgary airport.

We will organize ground transportation from the University of Calgary to the venue on the afternoon (Sunday June 7th) before the workshop starts (Monday June 8th). Therefore, participants are encouraged to stay a total of five nights at Barrier Lake Station. The trip to Barrier Lake Station will depart from the University of Calgary at 5:00 pm. The return trip will depart from Barrier Lake Station at 3:00 pm and arrive at the University of Calgary at approximately 4:00 pm. If necessary to ensure participants are able to make their return flights, we will have an earlier return bus departing Thursday evening or Friday morning. Please contact us at sagedays.westerncan@ucalgary.ca if you will need to leave early.

The University of Calgary is easily accessibly by public transit. Participants are responsible for arriving at the meet-up point in Calgary on time on their own.

Depending on the flight times available to you and how far you are travelling from (and your likelihood of flight delays), you may wish to arrive in Calgary the night before and stay at a hotel at your own expense. There are several hotels in Calgary near the Banff Trail CTrain LRT station, which is only one stop away from the University of Calgary station.

Accommodations#

Barrier Lake Station is a field station, not a hotel. Barrier Lake is mostly dormitories, with some duplex housing as well.

Each dormitory wing (up to 10 people) has a single shared washroom with one shower. Each bedroom in the dormitories has one bunk bed. We hope the beautiful scenery makes up for this!

There will be a male dormitory and a female dormitory (each dormitory has its own washroom).

If you are unable to stay in dormitory style housing, there is a limited amount of duplex housing available. Each duplex has a loft with two single beds a bedroom with four bunk beds, and one washroom. Duplexes may be co-ed. If you are unable to stay in the dormitories and require accommodations in the duplexes, please indicate so on your registration form.

See the videos on Barrier Lake’s website for more details.

Dining and food restrictions#

Meals are provided by Barrier Lake Station. From their website:

The dining room is nut-free, and caters to vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free (please note, gluten products are used in the kitchen). We are unable to cater for Kosher or Halal, air-born allergies, and extreme dietary restrictions.

We will reach out to Barrier Lake to inquire about their ability to accommodate any dietary restrictions listed on your application form. If you are accepted and have complex dietary needs, we are happy to put you in contact with the venue to discuss your needs with them directly.

Accessibility#

Barrier Lake will do their best to accommodate accessibility needs. We will put accepted participants with accessibility needs in contact with the venue directly to discuss their needs prior to the acceptance deadline.

Alternative accommodations#

Participants are welcome to look for alternative accommodation nearby, at their own cost. Please note that if you do so, you will need a car, as there are no public transportation options to Barrier Lake in the area. The workshop accommodations fee is just to cover the costs of accommodations and meals at Barrier Lake, so if you are staying at an alternative site then your accommodations fee will be prorated to the cost of the meals you have at Barrier Lake.

Here are some possible alternative venues:

• The closest and cheapest hotel is the Stony Nakoda Resort & Casino, only 10 km from the Station. Booking directly on their website is expensive, but third-part websites (e.g. Expedia, Hotels.com) have lower rates.
• The next closest options are Kananaskis Village (18 km by car) and Canmore (39 km by car).

This area is a popular tourist destination in the summer, so booking early is strongly recommended!