Each year, we offer women's vacations in Alaska and Canada and the American Southwest desert. We invite women of all ages and levels of experience to join us in the embrace of wild country on river rafting, canoeing, hiking, backpacking, and sea kayaking trips, as well as women's ski and snowshoeing trips in the Whistler-Sea to Sky Region of British Columbia and, new for this year, a nordic ski week in the beautiful Methow Valley, surrounded by the North Cascades in Washington State. Also new for this year, after two exploratory trips to Ecuador, we've come up with a great multi-sport trip for active women that offers a mix of challenging hiking and stays at unique ecolodges. For more information on any of our women's trips than is found below, visit our sister company, Skigrlz.com

Our trips are small (4-7 participants), allowing us to move across the landscape quietly. Women of all ages who have a yearning for adventure can join us. Moms, daughters, grandmothers, friends, couples and solo travelers are all welcome. Make new friends and challenge yourself, discovering the unparalleled beauty of wild landscapes that few have explored.

Any camping trip into wild country offers personal challenge. On any given trip there may be a wide range of abilities. Some will climb to the top of every peak; others will choose to sit beside a moving stream. As long as you have an adventurous spirit, and a tolerance for the unexpected, you?ll enjoy our trips.

On our women's river rafting and sea kayaking trips, no paddling experience is necessary. We'll teach you to paddle. Our backpacking trips are more strenuous, and are designed for fit women with previous experience. We hike cross-country, climbing over mountain passes, and fording streams. Our canyon-country backpacking trips in Utah are appropriate for hikers in average shape who can carry a 30 lb. pack.

Join us for weekend and week-long lodge-based hiking, ski and snowshoe trips from our base near Pemberton, British Columbia!

Start with morning yoga and a gourmet breakfast at our lodge, and then spend the day hiking, skiing or snowshoeing up a nearby peak to enjoy the view of alpine lakes and hanging glaciers. In the evening, relax by the wood stove, roast marshmallows over a campfire, or soak in beautiful natural hot springs. We are only a short drive from Whistler, and we can book custom dates and private itineraries to suit your group.

This year marks the opening of the new 2010 Olympic Nordic Ski venue in British Columbia. We skate ski on world-class groomed trails through the forested Callaghan Valley. We can pick you up in Vancouver, or rent a car and join us.

Join us and discover the absolute joy of skiing in British Columbia's Coast Range! In the camaradarie of like-minded women, strong beginners, intermediate, and advanced skiers will enjoy a week in mountains that consistently receive record snowfall, as you work on your ski skills, and simply have fun.This intermediate tour is moderately strenuous, and requires a reasonable fitness level as we travel for most of the day through the wild country to beautiful alpine lakes and mountain cirques in search of the best backcountry powder.

Snowshoers and skiers will form separate groups with a guide, according to ability. This trip is appropriate if you have experience in snow travel. Each day we travel to a different locale to find the best snow conditions. We plan to spend at least one day on the new 2010 Olympics Nordic ski trails near Whistler. Play in fresh backcountry powder during the day, and at night, check out Whistler night-life, or enjoy gourmet dinners and relax by the fire, and soak in natural hot springs. Return to Vancouver International Airport by late afternoon of Day 5, in time to catch your flight home, or we will drop you at a Vancouver hotel. This trip includes transportation to and from Vancouver, all accomodations, meals, hot springs fee, park fees, guide services.

Come explore the mountains near Whistler! Spend a weekend snowshoeing and ski touring in easy rolling terrain, with mountains and glaciers as a backdrop. In the evening, enjoy dinner at the lodge, before relaxing around the fire or soaking in natural hot springs.

THREATENED RIVER!
The Hulahula River is one of Equinox Wilderness Expeditions' most popular arctic rafting adventure trips! High peaks, glaciers, expansive vistas, exciting whitewater, and the summer explosion of life in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge--the Hulahula River has them all! From origins in the Romanzof Mountains, the Hulahula flows between the highest peaks in Alaska's Brooks Range, crossing a vast wilderness of mountains and foothills, and across the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge's coastal plain to the Beaufort Sea. The river offers the best whitewater in the Arctic Refuge, as well as a good chance for seeing Dall sheep, musk oxen, snowy owls, golden eagles, wolves, grizzly bears, and bands of the Porcupine caribou herd on their summer migration. In fact, in recent years, we've encountered tens of thousands of caribou on the river!

Our trip begins with a 300-mile flight across the Brooks Range. This flight is a journey in itself, as we leave the "big city" of Fairbanks in a small commuter plane, arriving in the Gwich'in Native settlement of Arctic Village, and board a small bush plane for the Hulahula's headwaters. Alternately, we may fly by commuter plane to the Inupiat village of Kaktovik, and begin our journey there.

The Hulahula River offers great hiking, including a trek to a glacier, and 90 miles of premier Class II and III whitewater. The river is swift, wild, and exhilarating--it keeps us busy paddling for its entire length. Haunting in its beauty, the Hulahula traverses rugged mountains, rolling tundra, and coastal plain, with the full complement of arctic flora and fauna, including caribou, musk oxen, Dall sheep, wolves, red and arctic foxes, barren ground grizzly bears, moose, foxes, wolverines, marmots, and a host of migrating birds. Wildflowers are at their peak, birds are nesting, musk oxen are nursing their calves, and caribou are on the move. River days alternate with a few full layover days to explore side canyons, peaks, and glaciers under 24 hours of daylight. On this year's special 14-day trip, we extend our hiking days to hike into remote side valleys, and explore the interface between the mountains and foothills, where wildlife activity is high, and we an expect to have direct encounters with wildlife.

The glaciated peaks of Mts. Michelson and Chamberlin add grandeur to a sweeping valley. Participants with energy will find endless hiking opportunities every day, with ridges to climb and valleys to explore. The Hulahula embraces huge country, with immersion in true wilderness.

On the lower river, loons, geese, and mergansers are our constant companions, as we near the coast. Amidst tundra wildflowers, we may spot snowy owls perching on nests or tundra hummocks. Our trip ends on the coastal plain, or takes us out to the coast, across the flats of the Hulahula River Delta to an island on the edge of the Beaufort Sea. Standing on the edge of North America, with the Brooks Range as a backdrop, is simply awe-inspiring. We fly to Barter Island at trip's end, and then back to Fairbanks to share a celebratory dinner.

No prior paddling experience is required for joining this paddle rafting adventure; paddlers who choose our canoeing option must be advanced intermediate paddlers.

Strenuous backpacking in alpine wilderness near Whistler. From Vancouver, we drive north to the mountains, and head up with backpacks into the alpine where we will camp below glaciers on a high alpine lake. We will spend three days exploring the backcountry, and at the end of the trip, enjoy a relaxing soak in a natural hotsprings.

Are you interested in working to portect wilderness? Here are a couple groups that have organized the power of women to create change: Women Protecting Wilderness and Great Old Broads for Wilderness.

If you are looking for a yoga women's retreat in Todos Santos and San Jose del Cabo in Baja, Mexico, we recommend Milagro Retreats