Holiday shopping for the adventure-loving people on your list is tough. Many either already have all the outdoor gear they need or are too particular to let anyone else shop for things like skis or running shoes. Instead of one more pair of wool hiking socks or yet another headlamp, how about giving an outdoor experience? Nowadays, you can find gift cards for things like cool guided trips, credit toward campsites and off-the-beaten-path vacation housing, or a chance to learn a new skill.
For Foodies
Need a gift for someone who loves food and travel? Check out . On its guided backpacking trip through California’s Sierra Nevada foothills ($400), a wilderness chef leads you on farm tours, serve up multicourse meals, and do cooking demonstrations on hand-built backcountry stoves.
Or give an Heirloom Mail subscription () from the Recipe Hunters. Every 30 days, a box will arrive containing one surprise ingredient from around the world, along with stories, traditional recipes, and cooking techniques.
For Hikers and Campers
The National Park Service may be increasing entry fees to some of the country’s busiest playgrounds starting next summer, so a gift card to enter national parks isn’t a bad idea to help loved ones offset the price spike. An ($80) lasts an entire year and gives access to more than 2,000 federal recreation sites, including all national parks. Or pick up a gift card to (from $75), and friends and family will be able to book unique campsites on private and public land around the United States.
For World Travelers
Give the gift of travel by starting with an , which recipients can use to book lodging in any corner of the globe. For full-service trips, leads everything from rafting in Costa Rica to kayaking in New Zealand to hiking through Arizona’s Sonoran Desert. You can purchase an to cover all or part of any of those adventures. For the women on your list, consider a trip with a mother-daughter-run company that leads all-female trips like biking in Chile, trekking in the Himalayas, or skiing in Montana. Give yourself peace of mind with a membership (from $99), which offers travel protection for medical emergencies that’ll ensure your loved ones get transportation to a hospital, no matter where in the world they are.
For Water Lovers
For the surfers or aspiring surfers on your holiday list, score a gift certificate in any amount to Tofino, British Columbia’s , a plush waterfront hotel with a surf school in Cox Bay that offers instruction and surfboard rental. Or spring for an (from $25), which can go toward more than 100 guided river trips, from Green River to Grand Canyon.
For someone who has always wanted to learn to scuba dive, you can now give an that marks the first step in completing the dive certification process. PADI’s eLearning program (from $179) can be taken at any time and any pace. Once the recipient is certified, you can start chipping in for to places like Tahiti, Thailand, or Hawaii.
For Skiers
Nothing beats freeskiing, so consider a gift card, which can be redeemed for lift tickets at more than 250 ski resorts across North America, including spots like Aspen, Snowbird, Jackson Hole, and Big Sky. For a gift no skier or snowboarder will ever forget, purchase a pass good for one run of at Colorado’s rugged Silverton Mountain ($179), or splurge for a full day of six runs of heli-skiing ($999). As far as heli-skiing goes, that’s about the most affordable you’ll find.
The Winter Nights and City Lights package at Denver’s upscale Crawford Hotel (opened in 2014 inside the city’s restored Union Station) is ideal for folks who want to stay the night before jumping on Amtrak’s Winter Park Express for direct service to the base of the ski area. The offer includes accommodations for two, two winter-themed cocktails, breakfast credit at Snooze, and two travel coffee mugs ($269). Buy a Crawford Hotel to cover the package.