The Big Beautiful Badger 2026

The Big Beautiful Badger is a self-supported bikepacking challenge beginning in Coleman, Alberta, on September 5, 2026. Riders will roll out together at 7:00 a.m. on two demanding routes through the rugged landscapes of Crowsnest Pass and the southern Canadian Rockies. There is no entry fee, no prize money, and no podium—just a group start, live tracking, and a shared appetite for a serious backcountry adventure.

Choose the Baby Badger, a formidable 361-kilometre route with approximately 7,481 metres of climbing, or take on the Big Badger, a 637-kilometre backcountry beatdown with roughly 11,650 metres of ascent. Both routes combine remote mountain roads, rough doubletrack, singletrack, hike-a-bike, and long stretches between services. Riders should expect steep climbs, fast-changing mountain weather, wildlife, and enough adversity to make finishing genuinely meaningful.

This is an independently organized, self-supported event. Riders are responsible for their own navigation, food, water, shelter, repairs, safety, and decisions in the backcountry. A capable drop-bar mountain bike or flat-bar mountain bike—ideally a hardtail with generous tires and low gearing—is recommended. These are not gravel-bike routes, and riders should arrive prepared for rough, technical, and occasionally unridable terrain.

The Badger is meant to be challenging without taking itself too seriously: ride hard, look after one another, make questionable snack choices, and return with a good story. Come for a long weekend with friends, leave with tired legs and a lasting affection—or healthy resentment—for the mountains. For anyone who finds the Big Badger suspiciously reasonable, rumours persist of a considerably less sensible route known as the Rocky Mountain Murder Pancake.