There is no question that between the staff knowledge here and the gear on hand at this store, you…read morewill be taken care of. This store has everything you could need from a week long track to an afternoon hike. The staff here have such a depth of knowledge that they can not only help with picking gear but local locations to explore the sights. If you are in the area definitely stop in!!

This is a great store to drop in and shop for your outdoor gear and apparel. Staff are always very…read morepleasant and helpful as well as knowledgeable. If you hunt around you may find some real bargains. I have when I took the time to check out everything they had. Good selection and quality products. Lots of recognizable brands. Check it out you won't be disappointed.

Real deal customer service without the holier-than-thou attitude found at many resort area ski…read moreshops. Had such a refreshing experience getting fitted for boots by PJ @ Monod's. Usually whenever a ski shop employee hears that I'm not planning on hucking cliffs and skinning up to hit the gnarliest chutes, they lose interest and then comes the rude attitude. NOT the case here at Monod Sports. PJ took all the time needed to make sure this Jerry was fitted with boots that were both comfortable and appropriate for the level of skiing that I'm accustomed to. He even took the time to heat up and bend one of the inserts so that I didn't have pressure in a troublesome area of my ankle. If you're in the need of ski/snowboard gear, this is a fantastic shop with a huge selection and a great staff. A++ would send it again.

Great service and excellent prices! Fun to shop there, especially coming from the US.read more

Our family wanted to hike in and around the area in April, which meant beautiful vistas along with…read moreabundant snow and ice on the trails. This meant renting crampons for our party of four. The first place that we went, Outside Bike & Ski ---- while they did not rent them, Paul sent us over to the nice folks at Gear Up. Cara (hope I am spelling that right!) took her time with each of us, explaining how they worked, showing how to adjust them, and then making sure that each of us newbies had our gear squared away so tht we were ready to go! It was also explained that "down days" would be allowed when we were not hiking with the crampons, so no charge there (yes, Canada is awesome!), which spared us the hassle of having to hustle back to the shop on the days we were not hiking. Much appreciated, Gear Up! So, given the amount of snow and ice on the trails, the crampons were life savers, and allowed my family to spend more time enjoying the great outdoors standing upright, rather than lying flat on our backs on the ice, looking dizzily up the sky as cartoon birds flew in circle chirping over our slipped-and-fallen bodies. oofah. Just to reenforce how necessary the crampons were: on this trip, we returned to Johnston Canyon, which is not hike as much as a walk long a path overhanging the canyon and water. Well, this time there was a lot of ice, making it a wee bit treacherous...people hiking in their sneakers were slipping and some falling. We must have had ten people point to the crampons we were hiking in and say "You've got the right idea there! Wish we had those!!" etc. The highlight for me was watching a guy in sneakers holding a cup off coffee sliding down an incline in the path like he had those shoes with wheels in them, maybe 15 feet total, coming to a perfect stop, with his coffee and dignity intact. Olympic Gold medal winner, fer sure!! Maybe not everybody needs crampons, like that guy, but we sure as heck did! We had a great time hiking Peyto Lake, Lake Minnewanka, and more! Thanks, Gear Up, for the great service and gear which added so much fun to our trip!!!!

Amazing staff, affordable prices and great equipment! Usually rental skis, boots, poles, and even…read moreice skates have a terrible look or feel to them but the ones at Gear Up were in good condition and performed great on the mountain! The skates however are standard hockey skates so don't expect too much from those. The man that helped us was super chill and provided us with some pretty great skis. Definitely recommend renting from this place during your stay in the Banff ski area!

Had exactly what I wanted, huge selection and super friendly. Reasonable priced to top off the…read moretrifecta

As a bargain fiend, I usually purchase most outdoor gear online, but I was recently in search of…read moresome hiking shoes, and decided to hit up this shop on Banff Avenue. It can be quite mobbed, but I was still impressed with the personalized service from the staff member who patiently brought out different sizes and varieties of shoes. The people who work here seem to own a lot of the gear that they sell, so I felt like I was getting helpful insider knowledge about the products I was looking at (i.e. this style of Salomon shoe tends to run large, etc). In general the staff are really well informed and friendly, and I never felt pressured into making a purchase. Prices aren't bargain basement, but they do run some decent sales. I also regularly consult several independent gear review sites, and this store seemed to stock many of the top ranking styles and brands. Atmosphere is actually a chain, with an online shop as well, so apparently you can even make purchases on their website and return them to the store. I ended up with some killer shoes, and would happily shop here again.

We had such a lovely experience from the get go. Eva was delightfully welcoming and…read moreenthusiastically charming. Our bikes felt like new and performed perfectly. We saw stunning panoramas from the trail and during our picnic lunch. We brought our panier along so we could bring lunch and extra clothing (call this a pro tip if you wish). PS not all bikes have a rack so you might want to reserve ahead if bringing your own panier, otherwise bring a backpack. Eva provided the best customer service and was the friendliest person we have met in Canada ever. Thanks.

The staffs are super nice and professional. Price is very reasonable. Certainly will come back if…read morewe have next vacation in Banff.

This place is the bomb! Very high end, excellent condition (many NWT) used coats, sweatshirts,…read morecycling gear, hiking shoes, and new items as well. Really good selection of sizes and brands. Got a like new zipper jacket for $30. Really nice employees. They were buying things on consignment- climbing gear, skiwear. Just wow. 10/10 all around.

I was introduced to this business from my friend Sheila, who is a long time volunteer with the…read moreCalgary Search and Rescue. As someone who is outdoors for her passion, she is a long time fan and customer of Switching Gear. On our road trip to Jasper, she asked me if we could stop in, so she could see what was available. Switching Gear is a consignment store for outdoor equipment and clothing and man, they are stacked with stock! When we pulled up, they were just opening, and they were moving racks and racks and RACKS out into the parking lot what were full of back packs and outdoor clothing and jackets for men, women and children. As we wandered around, it appeared that there was a little big of everything! They had footwear, skis, poles, hiking poles, sunglasses, bikes.... really... anything yoiu can imagine if you are an outdoor enthusiast. If you are looking to purchase something used instead of new, this is definately worth the drive from Calgary.

FUN store with the neatest display of backpacks I had ever seen. I was drawn in from the street…read morelike a kid in a candy store while walking along Banff Avenue. Yeah, the prices are high - but it's a boutique store and you're in a touristy town so what do you expect? They sell mens, womens, and kiddo outdoor gear ranging from your daily wear to an ultra warm and expensive parka in the $700 price range (no, that's not a typo). The quality appears second to none and the staff are knowledgeable and friendly. I had to google their company after returning home to learn the origin of their name. "Fjällräven means Arctic Fox in Swedish, honoring the small and highly adaptable predator that lives in the Swedish mountains under the harshest conditions." Cool, I totally dig this. A company committed to giving the best to their customers while protecting wildlife and nature - Yes, yes, I can get behind you Fjällräven. I am sooooooooooooo coming back here on my next visit to Banff and I think I will get myself one of their signature Kånken backpacks as a treat! But which one? They now have 9 styles from the Mini to the Big to the Laptop to the original Kånken to the Kids. There's some pretty neat history behind it as well - being created in the late 1970's to help alleviate the problem of an increasing number of kiddos with back/shoulder pain from over the shoulder bags which was the dominate fashion at the time.

Great quality clothing, super helpful staff. Had a beer while shopping. The clothing here is pricy…read morebut is super durable. Really cool atmosphere!

This rental shop is hidden from the street, but there is a sign directing you to it. They have…read morecamping and trekking equipment, but we only rented bear spray from them. It's $9/day plus $50 if you end up using it. (Banff Convenience Store sells bear spray for $50 and provides $25 refund if unused.) So bear spray costs more here depending on your number of days, especially if you end up using it, but the location was convenient to where we were staying in Canmore. Chances are that you will not need to use bear spray. Actually the staff said that if we end up using the bear spray, we would be the first customers who this happens to. It's only for those of us who like to have it as if it's insurance. Staff was easy-going and the rental process was easy peasy. We picked up the bear spray at the close of business and weren't charged for that day.

Great experiences here twice so far on our visit to Canmore. Got some coats at end of season prices…read more- still with good selection. Came back the next day with a broken ski break and the pro shop team went out of our way to get us back and running in minutes with some product scoured from the shop. Very pleased with Sports Experts.

Absolute nasty business, and I wish I could give them -100 star…read more Their name is sports experts but they are actually the expert for rip you off. We rented a few ski sets and when we return it, they claim the ski is cracked and charged me $350 for it. The "crack" is almost invisible, and more importantly, it could totally be a normal wear and tear. The "expert" Keiran admitted we are "unlucky" that the ski broke on our hands, totally despite the fact that the ski could reach its lifetime. If they rented out the ski out 20 times and it broke at the 20th customer, the unlucky 20th customer must replace the whole set? What a business! And despite they claim they are the "expert", they messed up my daughter's snowboard, and give her (10 year old) a snowboard for 5 year old, according to the snowboard instructor at sunshine village ski site, however they gave me refund at last. I bet that's the reason that they claim the ski is broken and charge me for that. The refund is like 20 somthing and the charge of the ski is $350, and tax on top. Generally, nasty place, if you don't mind to be ripped off, please continue to shop there.

Renting a mountain bike was a to do while visiting Canmore/Banff…read more After looking at a few places I came across Rundle Mountain. Their website is fairly easy to navigate and calling for inquiries was seamless. The bike trails (especially the Legacy Trail that starts in Canmore) is 26km one way. I bike for leisure and knew my 20-mile roundtrip ride would be challenging. I opted to rent out an Element ebike and it was the best choice to spare my legs while still getting a robust workout. The ebike rode like a dream! Acceleration was smooth on pavement with a touch of a button and I enjoyed covering a lot of ground/taking in some pretty amazing sights. Rentals are available for a full or half day and parking is free onsite. The bike company is located at the Rundle Mountain Lodge in Canmore.

Rundle Mountain Bike Rental is awesome!!! So affordable for the price, and such amazing workers…read more They were so responsive over text initially, and then were great as well over phone and in person. Ben was such a wonderful help - he explained how to use their e-bikes for us who didn't know how, and made sure to help change our gears for our bikes before we started our journey. We got to test the bikes in the parking lot before starting, and he helped ensure all the bikes were safe and at full battery. They also test the bikes everyday themselves doing the Banff legacy trail (27km) to ensure all the bikes will be safe when people rent it themselves. He also told us how to get to the Banff legacy trail, and good rest stations along the way. It was so easy to pick up the bikes, and start our journey. We will definitely rent from here whenever we are back in Canmore!!!