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!

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!!

I recommend this business if you make over $400K per year…read more Very expensive! Even for the on sale items. In their defense they focus on high-end name brands that are trendy and label lookers.

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.

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.

Great store and selection of climbing gear but the staff felt a bit condescending when asking…read morequestions about some of the different shoes they have in stock. Overall I would recommend the store if your looking for gear in the Canmore area but just be aware that some of your questions might be dismissed.

Legit telemark store. The only downside to telemark skiing is the challenge of finding a store to…read morecheck out gear. Vertical Addiction is a solid spot.

Amazing service! It's my first time visiting Banff and I forgot my fishing gear. I went here to get…read moresome things and they went above and beyond to help me with licensing, getting the right gear, and letting me know the best places to catch fish. I went from having no idea where to go, to having confidence I was in the right spot with the right gear. I ended up catching a nice brown trout because of them. Highly recommend this shop!

Canmore is pretty much the only city you can get gear for fishing near Banff as the outdoor stores…read moretypically cater to hikers/climbers/bikers/runners. The crew at Wapiti were generous in recommendations for our light spinning set up and were able to help me get my permits for fishing for Banff and a day license although my son and I were only catch and release fishing. They sell lead free lures suitable for Banff and gave recommendations for locations along the Bow River in both Banff and Canmore although they have a variety of fly fishing and outdoor paraphernalia. Our first day we got skunked at Banff on the Bow River and snagged but we eventually were able to hook up to trout in Banff in Lake Moraine and along the Bow with new gear on a separate day and different spots along the other pedestrian bridge. Make sure to buy multiple lures if you're spinning cause there are a lot of trees and rocks to get snagged which are the structures that the trout tend to congregate. One thing they might not be able to help you with is FINDING PARKING near certain spots.

I needed to get hiking boots for my son last minute and some warm weather clothes for my daughter…read moreand the selection was great and the staff was very helpful. I even left my son's shoes in the store after he left wearing the boots and they kept them for me for several days until I could come pick them up. The clothes are really nice and the brands and prints are on point.

I came to buy my grandchildren socks and gloves. The staff member Maureen was very helpful and I…read morewas able to accomplish everything in less than 15 minutes. The store was packed with goods. If you go there definitely ask for help as they know where everything is located Their stock levels are usually always high so at times can look a bit junky but it's because they stock so much. They carry mostly anything you could want in toddlers to children's wear. No trouble in recommending this store.

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!!!