About Northern Rockies Adventures

Founded 1981 by Bushpilot Urs, his goal to share Canada's wilderness and natural beauty with guests seeking quality fishing and outdoor adventure experiences. Today the tradition of adventure tourism is continued by Urs and his sons Michael and Daniel by leading exclusive group adventure tours into Canada's Muskwa Kechika, Nahanni and other remote provincial parks.

Over the last 40 years the exclusive fly-in fishing and Adventure tours, the family business on Muncho lake has attracted guests from all over the world. Many of whom have annually returned ever since their first trip. The Northern Rocky Mountains are truly the last untouched natural preserves of North America.

With over 70 lakes and streams for guests to choose from, adventure abound in the Rockies! Each offering a unique experiences, fly or spin casting fishing, outpost cabin overnights, hiking, paddling, biking and wildlife viewing all in the natural splendor of the Northern Rocky Mountains. Urs' modern fleet of turbo prop powered floatplanes offers front row access to this vast and virtually unexplored fishing territory. Encompassing numerous provincial parks and protected areas including the Muskwa-Kechika.

The Family Story

Urs and Marianne Schildknecht immigrated to Canada in 1979 as a young couple from Switzerland. Urs has the flying bug. After obtaining his commercial pilot’s license in Switzerland his first job took him to Libya to fly a Pilatus Turbo Porter in the oilfields of North Africa. This taught him a great deal about operating airplanes in harsh climates and allowed the Schildknechts to save money to start their own air charter business on April Fool’s Day 1981 in Fort Liard, NWT.

Marianne and Urs lived for 5 years in this remote community while the Liard Highway was being built. The experience of witnessing the transformation of a community which was only accessible by air to road access was remarkable. Urs and Marianne made many good friends in the local community. After successfully operating the Air Charter business in the NWT, getting to know many of the great fly-in fishing lakes in the area, Marianne and Urs decided to develop a fly-in fishing business. In the heart of the Northern Rocky Mountains they found the Highland Glen Lodge on Muncho Lake (Mile 462 Alaska Highway). This unique property would make an ideal base for their floatplanes to continue flying into Nahanni and to access the fish and game rich Northern Rocky Mountains.

Marianne and Urs purchased the Highland Glen Lodge late in 1988, they soon realized that the existing buildings no longer met the expectations of many Alaska Highway travelers and growing number of fly-in fishing guests. The paving of the Alaska Highway was completed in 1992. Vast improvements to the highway conditions changed travel patterns. Taking advantage of this unique opportunity, the family decided to build the new 14,000 square foot Northern Rockies Lodge in 1995 which to this day is the largest year round hotel and RV operation outside of any town on the Alaska Highway.  

Urs’ passion for flying in this beautiful and remote country is as strong as ever. 2019 marked Urs’ 44th year of being a pilot. He loves showing his guests the beauty of Nahanni National Park and the Northern Rocky Mountains from the comforts of his floatplanes. Marianne and Urs have two sons, Daniel and Michael. Daniel completed a 3 year chef apprenticeship in Adelboden, Switzerland, with a knack for culinary creativity and adventure Daniel loves to call the rockies home. Michael is a certified electrician, a skilled tradesman and bushman with a passion for the outdoors. Both boys are following their fathers footsteps into aviation and are constantly growing with the business, Marianne and Urs are proud parents, happy to see their sons take over the family business .

Marianne and Urs thrive on taking on the challenges of operating in the North and turning them into opportunities. They would like to thank their countless guests over the last 40 years for helping make Northern Rockies Lodge one of the most successful businesses on the Alaska Highway. Urs, Marianne, Daniel and Michael look forward to sharing their paradise on Muncho Lake with their friends and guests for many more years to come!