It’s not every day we ride in a private chopper.

Unless we’re hiking with the pioneers of the heli-adventure, that is. Canadian Mountain Holidays runs guided heli-hiking treks through the stunningly beautiful Bugaboo Mountains just outside Banff. There, we walked in the hoofsteps of mountain goats, summited thousand-foot peaks, and dipped our toes in alpine lakes before returning to the lodge for massages, whirlpools and the most gourmet fare we’ve ever been served in the backcountry.

Now that’s what we call roughing it. —Kelsey Dundon

From $2,490, www.canadianmountainholidays.com

We trekked to a tiny mountain town in the middle of a national park and found no shortage of cosmopolitan experiences.

stay
Check into Brewster’s Mountain Lodge for its just-off-Banff Ave. location and its very of-the-moment Navajo decor.

shop
Try on a couple pairs at Bison Courtyard’s Avanti, a shoe shop that carries nary a hiking boot and instead offers stylish footwear fit for city slickers.

eat
The Banff Springs Hotel is a stunning fortress in the forest so ditch the dudes on the golf course and head indoors for high tea with your girlfriends.

see
Feeling really creative? Apply for a residency at the Banff Centre. Or just revel in others’ creative genius and take in a performance there instead.

do
Nothing, really. Let your masseuse take on the hard work while you relax on the massage table at the soothing Red Earth Spa.  —Kelsey Dundon