Deep Snow Mountain Riding At the Glacier House Resort with the Great Canadian Snowmobile Tours, Revelstoke, British Columbia
By Scott A. Sumner
www.slednews.com
As long as I can remember, snowmobiling in the deep powder snow of the mountains was a dream. This past January, 2005 I was able to find out first hand what this type of riding is really like. The short answer is FANTASTIC! I got the chance to travel to Revelstoke, BC and experience snowmobiling at its finest at the Glacier House Resort.
The blue skys and peaks are spectacular at Revelstoke!
My day began on a cool crisp Thunder Bay, Ontario morning. "Its minus 40 degrees celsius." an Air Canada employee announced on the speaker system. I noticed steam coming off the road on the drive out to the airport. Travelling west on West Jet seemed like a good idea. After about a 1/2 hour delay, presumably due to the cold, I was off at 10am for quick touchdown in Winnipeg and then on to Calgary. With a short stop it was on another plane complete with TV screens in each seat and 25 channels to watch. The pilots had made up any lost time and we arrived at the Kelowna airport right on schedule. Lia Altena, co owner of the Glacier House Resort with her husband Alex Szirmai, was there to pick me up in her 4 wheel drive Ford Diesel, complete with studs. Our 2 1/2 hour drive to Revelstoke allowed me to ask many questions about our destination, the Glacier House resort and Great Canadian Snowmobile Tours. Lia and Alex came from Holland to begin a tour company and soon saw the need for winter activities to offer their largely European clients. It was then they started the snowmobile rental business. A few years after that they knew their clients would enjoy a first class resort and the 16 room, 9 cabin Glacier House Resort was constructed in 2000. The main lodge has large stone fireplaces, sledders pub, dining room, jacuzzi, pool, meeting rooms all in a beautiful setting. Right adjacent is a snowmobile shop complete with quality clothing sales like Reima, repair area and twenty six 2005 mountain sleds. This was heaven for a snowmobile addict like myself! Long tracked high performance sleds from Arctic Cat, Polaris and Ski Doo were all here.
Lia and Alex from Glacier House
Lia Altena is the Manager of Glacier House Resort. Alex Szirmai leads Great Canadian Snowmobile Tours. The operations managers of Great Canadian Snowmobile Tours are Amber and Jamie. "Alex and I own the majority of shares but there is also a group of Dutch investors involved as well. We have been here since 1989 and came from just north of Amsterdam, Holland. We came to Canada to start a receptive tour operator business," states Lia Altena. "We package Canadian products for people from overseas, usually from 1 week to 3 week tours, anywhere in Canada as well as Alaska. The clients could be Americans, Australians or Europeans."
The 2005 mountain sleds were great. Quite a change from my 2005 F7
Alex and Lia, husband and wife are a good a team. The tour operating company had mainly summer clientele. "After a while we said it would be more interesting if were had something to do in the winter time as well. We looked at skiing but opted for snowmobiling and then grew into a bigger business," smiles Lia. "We wanted our clients to stay in a good hotel, so we ended up building our own, the Glacier House Resort. We started the snowmobile company in 1995 and in September 1999 started building the hotel. It was completed in June 2000."
"At that time no one had done the snowmobile rental business on a professional level. We looked at the heli skiing companies as a model, where they offer an all inclusive service to their clients for a week at a time. They house them, feed them and give them a good outdoor experience. We took that model and applied it to snowmobiling and it was a very successful model that attracted a lot of people from the east of Canada, US and Europe as well." states Alex Szirmai. "We always have snow and can run a long season. The snow, 50 to 60 feet is a large part of the success. We just came out of 10 days of nice weather, a blue sky high pressure system."
Guides Jeff and Myles were excellent riders and made our days fun!
Glacier House Resort has 16 rooms in the lodge and 9 cabins for a total of 25 units. The main selling feature of the lodge is they are right on the snowmobile trails. You can ride your snowmobile to the trails and then at the end of the day park it at the cabins.
"We are 6 kilometers off the Trans Canada HWY so it is a safe location to be, with little worry about theft. In our second year of operation we were awarded the Platinum award by SnoWest magazine, which is their highest award for best snowmobile resort in North America. We have received it every year since then, so we must be doing something good. It is an ward that is done by people who stay with you. The magazine publishes a questionaire that the readers can fill in."
Jeff our guide shows how the Avalanche beacon works
Glacier House Resort is kind of a casual but nicely high quality, service oriented resort which caters to the snowmobiler. There is a bar, a restaurant, fuel on site and some parts. You can pull your snowmobile inside to get it fixed The terrain of Revelstoke requires you to have a sled that is useful. There are 26 new 2005 high performance mountain sleds including the Arctic Cat M Series 5, 6 and 7, Ski Doo REV Summit 600 and 800 in 141 and 151 track versions and Polaris RMK 600, 700 and 900. I would get to try out many of them in my next four days of riding the 7000 feet elevations of Boulder and Frisbee and the trails to Wap Lake. A great feature of snowmobiling at Glacier House Resort is you can have an experienced guide ride with you each day. The guides are Alex, Amber, Jamie, James, Myles, Jeff and Don. 85% of the Glacier House clients are return clients that book again each year. They come from Alberta, Washington State, Idaho , BC and Montana. There are also a lot of international overseas clients from Andora, South Africa, the UK, Germany and France. Some have snowmobile experience from Europe, but many don't . At the Glacier House Resort you can go for a rental of the snowmobile or you can book a package that comes with a guide, the snowmobile and accommadation, meals and fuel. The all inclusive tour packages are well priced. See www.snowmobilerevelstoke.com and www.glacierhouse.com for full details. Remember to book in advance!
Second Day Guide Jeff and fellow rider Pat Jamieson
Each day at Glacier House Resort and Great Canadian Snowmobile Tours we would start with a large buffet breakfast, get our packed lunch for the trail and then meet up with our guides, either Myles or Jeff. My co riders included Pat, an avid motorcyclist from Ireland and Rob, a fifth year medical student from France. A significant portion of the clients of Great Canadian Snowmobile Tours come from Europe to experience snowmobiling I found out. Our days included riding in some deep powder up and down the mountains, many times in a standing position on the sled. It made me feel somewhat like a snocross racer, and soon I was going places I never thought I could. You could also use a sit down riding style with some weight transfers to glide the sled into some tight places. I t was excellent riding and quite a learning experience even for this 35 year experienced snowmobiler!
The first day we got 60 cm of snow - 2 feet in a 24 hour period. They usually get about 50 to 80 feet in a good year which compacts down to about 14 feet. After this day five riders from Saskatchewan got too aggressive in their choice of riding locations. They chose to drop down in the wrong location near Frisbee and couldnt get out. In blowing snow conditions close to dark, they were forced to spend the night outside. Five guides were out looking for them from 9pm to 1am but it was a fly over RCMP helicopter that located them about 10 am the next morning. They got home minus their 5 sleds, including two rental units from the Great Canadian Snowmobile Tours. They were so buried they were to be flown out by helicopter when conditions were right, which wasn't 3 days later when I left. Incidently avalanches are a constant thing to consider in this area. You have to really know what to expect here and even then mother nature has the ultimate say.
Our French rider Robert
The guides at Great Canadian Snowmobile Tours are full time snowmobile professionals that ride 5 days a week. They have indepth avalanche training as well as first aid training which is mandatory. The first thing the guides do is go into a briefing before they meet with their clients to discuss weather, snow routes and where they will take avalanche riding skills. Everything of influence for that day will be discussed. "Safety is Number 1. We may have to take an alternate route and change your schedule, depending on the conditions," says Lia. "There is the Canadian Avalanche Association and they produce bulletins every day. We follow those closely along with our day to day observations, putting into place the knowledge you have accumulated during all your training. It is based a lot on experience. Our aim is not endanger our clients. Safety is number one, so we will always try to pick safe routes. You cant make a client fully avalanche trained in 1/2 hour. You need experience and it tales years. The trick is to give them good areas to ride in that are safe. Some riding groups have been in the mountains many times while other people rent sleds and are on their own. Others are with the guide and the guide provides the safety. They know what you are doing. We try to give the client what they are looking for within their riding capabilities and the avalanche situation."
The favourite approach at Glacier House Resort and Great Canadian Snowmobile Tours is the all inclusive package You get up and have breakfast between 7 30am and 930 am. The snowmobile guides want you at the shop from 830am to 930am and they go over the day. On the first day they do a more involved briefing and sign waivers. They suit you up with what you need if you dont have your own suit helmet, boots and gloves. You pick up your packed lunch for the trail and come back by 430 to 5 pm when it gets dark. You get rid of all your clothes, go in the hot tub, have a drink in the Sledders Pub, watch some DVDs and then have a nice dinner.
The average sis 4 days but if you come further, say from Europe it's usually a week.
The guided tours give people a much more enjoyable experience, especially of you are not used to riding. You get to do a lot more things you felt you weren't capable of. The guides will teach you how to do things like riding up a steep hill, side hilling and off trail deep snow riding.
Scott got buried on his first riding day. You have to get totally stuck at least once per day!
The Great Canadian Snowmobile Tours start about mid December. "We use the first two weeks of December for guide training and want to see snow on the ground at the resort before we get going. By April 15 when the snow disappears at the lodge, we stop for the season You could ride easily to the end of May higher up, but in the spring time people can lose interest and go golfing." notes Lia. How do you like working at Glacier House and Great Canadian Snowmobile Tours? "I think it is great. Everyday is different. You get to meet people from all over the world. It is a challenge to work with people and to provide them with a really good service. I think that is the most satisfying. People are so happy and have had a great experience. To see them back the next year is like seeing old friends." smiles Lia.
"If you dont like it you shouldn't be doing it. The sledding is great. We live in a beautiful mountain environment here. I could ride every day if I had the time, but I do get out 3 to 4 times per week. I's a lot of of fun. Everyday is different because you have different conditions and different snow packs. I love to ride when we have fresh snow and in the spring when you can go many places and explore. Its always a challenge to find new routes," smiles Alex. In Holland I was a flatlander. You can't compare. Holland is overpopulated and there are no real winters. To come here and have real seasons is great. In British Columbia our number one industry is tourism because we have beautiful mountains, great lakes and forests. BC is very concentrated with nature."
Hot Springs are snowmobiler favourites at Revelstoke!
"Glacier House has been quite successful. Our aim is to be the number one snowmobile destination in North America. We have corporate partners to help us run a quality operation. One of the projects is to build an additional 24 to 30 units on the property. We are using permission to build a cabin on Frisbee Ridge where we will be able to sleep people over night as well," states Alex. "There is always something new. If you are from in Europe you realize pretty quick there are a lot less people here and a lot more space and so you realize it is worth something. You have clean water fresh air, space a home with a backyard. Try getting that in Europe."
The original Glacier House was 60 Kms east of the current location on the top of Rogers Pass. It was the second CP Hotel built in Western Canada. Canadian Pacific Railroad came through in the late 1800's and built Glacier House because they had no means of pulling their dining cars up the steep grade. They had to create a restaurant style facility. When they put the original Glacier House up there were no sleeping acommadations, but many of the travellers asked if they could stay here as it was such a beautiful spot. That really marked the beginning of tourism in the area. Alex and Lia found out the name wasnt protected so chose it and can draw on the history a little bit. Many of the tour groups at Glacier House go down to the hot springs. It's a neat experience. There are 23 natural hot springs in the area. You go 50 km south on hwy 23 south and take a ferry across the Arrow Lakes and the hotsprings are just beyond the ferries on the road. It's a nice thing after a days sledding to sit in the hot water.
Our Guide Myles Digs Me Out!
My first day of my riding was at Boulder Mountain and the second and third at Frisbee Ridge. The last day was on the trails at Wap Lake. You can also ride Mount Hall (Mount Hall has a big plateau about 20 km long with beautiful scenery), which is south Wap Lake, and the Applocolpa, and Mt McCrae. The first two you can ride from the Glacier House while the others you trailer.
Pat Jamieson from Ireland was a fellow rider during my trip. "I found out about the Revelstoke operation through the HC travel of Europe website I'd already read about it extensively in a motorcycle magazine from England. So many motorcycle people love this kind of sport. They are petro heads so to speak, speed freaks. My idea to come here was to learn how to ride the sleds with some degree of profiency, particularly in the soft snow. I've ridden motorcycles for 30 years a t least .- off road and on road. During ski trips in Europe I hired snowmobiles for 1 hour at a time in Andora, and Northern Italy. That was my only previous experience," notes Pat Jamieson. "It's superb here. The guides are brilliant. Very patient."
" I was able toget up to top speed fairly quickly. This week I've come on by watching the guides and trying to copy them. A lot of the snowmobiling is if you have the confidence, the same as trials riding in motorcycling. You need the confidence to know the machine will do what you ask it to do. You look at some slopes that seem impossible, but actually you can get up it. It's all in your mind if you get the mental thing right. Keep you momentum, dont over rev the sled. Do what they tell you." Our guide Myles was a huge help during my trip to Revelstoke. His upbeat, positive, fun personality was very evident. Also his riding skill helped me learn a lot. Avalanche training is extremely important here and we learned a lot about that from our other guide Jeff. One night we had a steak barbeque at the cabin at Frisbee. It was delicious. Our guide Myles proved to be a great chef. Riding down the mountain at night was also exciting.
This was his no 1' Revelstuck' of the year said Myles. When I looked down the right running board I saw a 15 foot drop to a creek below. Yikes!!! After returning to Kelowna with Alex in the big diesel four wheel drive it was a night stay at the Best Western Kelowna Executive Tower. It was a beautiful room in a area of fantastic growth in Kelowna. There are retails stores galore, popping up here in the city of 101,000. It really looks like a model, brand new development. If you are traveling east it may be likely you have to stay over in Kelowna on the way back and I recommend the Best Western Kelowna. It is close to the airport with a shuttle service available.
My snowmobile trip to Revelstoke and the Glacier House Resort with the Great Canadian Snowmobile Tours was fantastic. I want to go back! Special thanks to Alex, Lia, Myles, Jeff and all the other staff who made my trip so enjoyable. For further information on booking your trip there visit www.glacierhouse.com and www.snowmobilerevelstoke.com. Also see www.bestwesterninnkelowna.com for help with your stay in Kelowna.
