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.

Photograph of Barrier Lake main lodge

About the venue#

Accommodations#

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

Each dormitory (up to 16 people) has a shared washroom. Each bedroom in the dormitories has one bunk bed. We hope the beautiful scenery makes up for this!

View of the mountains from Barrier Lake Field Station

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.

Accessing Barrier Lake Station#

Barrier Lake station is in a remote area. The closest airport is Calgary International Airport (YYC). The venue is less than 1h30 away by car 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 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.

Child care#

We are applying for funds to help cover child care costs for participants with children. Depending on the age of your children and venue space, this could mean offering reimbursements to offset childcare costs, or having your children and a caregiver stay at Barrier Lake.

As we have not received a decision on all funding applications yet, we cannot make any promises about childcare yet. If you are considering attending the workshop and will require support with childcare, please contact us at sagedays.westerncan@ucalgary.ca as soon as possible.

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 venues#

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 registration fees are just to cover the costs of accommodations and meals at Barrier Lake, so if you are staying at an alternative site then your registration 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!