Amazing Race Canada - Season 1 airports recap

With Season 2 upon us, we thought we would recap the airports that the Amazing Race Canada teams visited in Season 1.

We started with our Amazing Race Canada - Season 1 Airport Quiz. Did you try it out? How did you do? If not, take the quiz now and check your memory!.

In Season 1, The Amazing Race Canada's visited 12 Canadian airports (the links below go to our transportation guides for each):

Air Canada is The Amazing Race Canada's lead sponsor

• Calgary International Airport (YYC)
• Edmonton International Airport (YEG)
• Halifax International Airport (YHZ)
• Iqaluit Airport (YFB)
• Kelowna International Airport (YLW)
• Montreal Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (YUL)
• Quebec City Jean Lasage International Airport (YQB)
• Regina Airport (YQR)
• Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ)
• Vancouver International Airport (YVR)
• Whitehorse International Airport (YXY)
• Yellowknife Airport (YZF)

As Season 1 unfolded, we blogged about the visits, and a bit more about the airports themselves. If you'd like to read up, here's a link to all our Amazing Race Canada Season 1 blog posts.

We also did a little feature on Toronto Billy Bishop City Centre Airport (YTZ) as, while the teams didn't visit the airport, they did visit the Toronto Islands, in the city centre, where YTZ is located (read it here).

We hope you will follow along as we blog about the airports visited on Season 2 of The Amazing Race Canada. We'll even tell you about the best ways to get to/from each, in case you are inspired to visit!

Related resources:

• 5 Busiest Airports in Canada 
• Canada's Story - Airport Councils International
• End of Days - YYZ to discontinue bus service 
• Do we really hate taxis?

Amazing Race Canada - Week 5: YXY, YVR, YEG, YYC, YQR

Air Canada was one of The Amazing Race Canada's sponsors

Lots of airports touched on the way to the destination for this week's installment of The Amazing Race Canada:

The Douglas DC-3 (CF-CPY) that now serves as a
weather vane at Whitehorse International Airport (YXY).

Whitehorse International Airport (YXY) in the Yukon - we didn't get to say a lot about Whitehorse last week, and the teams left this important Klondike Gold Rush town so quickly this week, but we'd like to recognize Whitehorse Airport as being one of the most interesting northern airports in Canada. Did you know that you can fly here from Frankfurt? Or, better yet, people fly to Whitehorse from Frankfurt?!? Kind of exciting stuff for an otherwise pretty small airport. Oh, yes, btw, the airport's official name is Erik Nielsen Whitehorse International Airport.

Vancouver International Airport (YVR) - from Whitehorse, on their way to Regina, teams flew through Vancouver, yet again, this time with two possible itineraries:

A few teams flew via Edmonton International Airport (YEG)

Edmonton International Airport (YEG) - as the race spent so little time here, we thought we'd pause to talk about this airport a bit... This is now Edmonton's only airport: the previous Edmonton City Centre Airport (YXD) has pretty well ceased operations, and will be a museum site only. So, if you fly to Edmonton, leave time for the 25 kilometre trek into the city. The good news is that there is now a 747 Airport Bus that runs to YEG - if you take it, you'll be helping the locals, who are at risk of losing the service if there aren't more users.

Calgary International Airport (YYC) - the teams have been here before...

Regina Airport (YQR) - Regina, Saskatchewan was the destination for Week 5, and eventually everyone turned up here to begin the challenges.

A vintage RCMP Crown Victoria restored and on display at the
RCMP Heritage Centre in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Fortunately, the teams had vehicles waiting for them, as Regina Airport has a severe taxi shortage (take heed, if you plan to travel here!). After racing off from the airport, here's a bit of what the teams had in store:

• Digging for Sgt. Bull Moose stuffed toys in rail cars at Saskcan's lentil splitting facility
• Laying out a Mountie's "kit" at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)'s Heritage Centre and training facility
• Training as cheerleaders and football players at Taylor Field at Mosaic Stadium, home to the Saskatchewan Roughriders!
• Then it was a race to the Week 5 Pit Stop.

Taylor Field at Mosaic Stadium in Regina, Saskatchewan
- home of the Saskatchewan Roughriders!

It was an exciting week, with all sorts of surprises in store. We won't even attempt to summarize what happened with the teams (so many others are doing an amazing job at that) - our emphasis on the race is really the airports and the destinations.

Are you as excited as we are about Week 6 and the visit to beautiful Quebec City?

Amazing Race Canada - Week 4: YYC, YZF

This week on The Amazing Race Canada, it was off to Yellowknife, in the Northwest Territories!

The teams took off from Calgary International Airport (YYC) - which we wrote about in our Week 3 Recap - and flew to Yellowknife. Brr!

The Bristol Monument - on display near Yellowknife Airport.
This Bristol freighter was the very plane that was the
first the land on skis at the North Pole in 1967.

After landing in Yellowknife at the Yellowknife Airport (YZF), the teams had to find Pilot's Monument.

The Bush Pilot's Monument in Yellowknife pays tribute to
the bush pilots who opened up the far north. Bush pilots still
provide essential service to Canada's remote communities. 

Then, the teams needed to find Great Slave Lake. Humorous, as it was frozen over, and more than one person missed the fact that they were just looking at it from atop the Bush Pilot's Monument (great view from up there!).

Then, it was time for an ice cold dip. Yikes!

After a flight in wee teensy planes to Carcross, in the Yukon, the teams had to try their hand at activities related to the Yukon Klondike gold rush. No gold, but a Duchess! (she's a train).

Yes, it's a desert in Canada's North!

Then it was a race across the Carcross desert to the Week 4 Pit Stop. Wow, what a whirlwind!

Image source: wikicommons

Amazing Race Canada - Week 3: YVR, YYC

The Amazing Race Canada is ticking along, and just gets more exciting (click this link to watch past episodes, if you missed any).

In Week 3, the teams began at the Vancouver Convention Centre (with the amazing living roof, which we wrote about last week), made their way to an internet cafe on Robson Street, used aircanada.com to book their flights.

Then it was off to Vancouver International Airport (YVR) again.

Welcome to Cow Town!


View of Calgary from the airport

Just a short while later they landed at Calgary International Airport (YYC), Canada's 4th busiest airport. Welcome to Cow Town!

Bronc Twister statue, by Rich Roenisch
Calgary Tower in background

After they landed, the teams hit the ground running. After finding Outlaw, and visiting a cookhouse, the teams learned just how tricky line-dancing could be (aka the dance of death)! It was an exciting segment, as the leaders dropped back, and teams that were behind danced their way into the lead. Fun stuff.

Who do?

Hoodoos in Drumheller Alberta

Then it was off to the Hoodoos outside Drumheller in Dinosaur Valley, Alberta.

Despite it's legendary status as the dinosaur capital of Canada, only one team spent any time with the ancient beasts ("bone by bone") - the doctors assembled a skeleton at the Royal Tyrrell Museum, Canada’s only museum dedicated exclusively to the science of palaeontology (this is a seriously cool website, check it out!)

All the other teams chose to ride Linda to the old Atlas Coal Mine National Historic Site, in nearby East Coulee, to get a back-breaking workout ("lump by lump") - and to get all sooty!

If you watched the show, you already know that they made their way to Horse Thief Canyon (how's that for a name!?!?) and the Week 3 Pitstop.

T-Rex flew Air Canada?

Want to visit Drumheller? If you want to visit Drumheller, there is no airport (what, you think T-Rex took a plane?!). So here are your options:

• You can do it as the teams did, by flying into Calgary International Airport (YYC), then driving 135 kilometres (85 miles) northeast.
• You can fly into Saskatoon Airport (YXE) and drive west.
• It's a bit far from Edmonton International Airport (YEG), but if you were headed that way anyways, you could drive south from Edmonton, through Red Deer, then southeast.

Final thoughts on Week 3

A few notes as we wrap up this post:

• The race buzz on Twitter is pretty interesting. The busiest hashtags are: #AmazingRaceCanada and #RaceCDA
• If you find yourself with time to kill before a flight from YVR, escape to Chester Johnson Park between the International terminal and the parkade, no more than a minute's walk outside. Or, explore the outstanding First Nations art collection, including the famous The Spirit of Haida Gwaii: The Jade Canoe by Bill Reid.
• On an human note, as the episode was recorded before the Alberta floods that hit the region  recently, the show finished with a segment on what happened, and what people could do to help. We were hoping they'd do that.
• If you find yourself at Calgary Airport on a layover one day, here are some things you can do, depending on how much time you have: Calgary Airport Layover Ideas
• There are also good resources on the Travel Alberta website.

All images: wiki commons