Mica Heliskiing has spent the last several months building a gorgeous new lodge above Kinbasket Lake in the wilderness north of Mica.
The 13,500 square-foot facility, designed by CEI Architects our of Kelowna and built by the Vic Van Isle Group, can accommodate 16 guests in eight single bedrooms and four doubles and it boasts 16 staff who will ensure the guests’ stay is a memorable one. And it should be. The views from the lodge are incomparable and the facility boasts a bar, kitchen, dining room, massage therapy room and hot tubs. It also has a business centre with Internet service and contact with the outside world by radio-telephone and satellite phones. In addition, the lodge has been decorated with original art, picked by Revelstoke artist Tina Lindegaard.
Of course, none of this is cheap. When it opens next month a one week stay at this multi-million-dollar lodge will set you back about $12,000. But it looks like it would be worth every penny.
Mica Heliskiing Marketing Manager Darryn Shewchuk graciously gave me a tour of the lodge earlier this autumn. Here are some of the photos I took as well as, at the end, a video he produced in October:
Getting to Mica Heliskiing’s lodge on Kinbasket Lake north of Mica without a helicopter is something of an adventure by barge. David F. Rooney photoThe company’s lodge is perched on a ridge above the lake with superb views of the surrounding peaks. David F. Rooney photoVic Van Isle’s workforce of up to 60 workers was hard at work all summer and autumn building and completing the new 13,500 square-foot lodge. David F. Rooney photoWhen The Current visited the site this fall there were workers, ladders and tools everywhere. David F. Rooney photoHow’s this for a view? David F. Rooney photoThe new lodge has 12 bedrooms — eight singles and four doubles it will accommodate 16 guests. With 16 staff if offers one-to-one parity of staff to guests. David F. Rooney photoA worker applies varnish to woodwork. David F. Rooney photoIt’s overcast now, of course, but summer bright blue skies made working on the roof a pleasurable task. David F. Rooney photoAn elevator shaft. David F. Rooney photoWorkers take a break for lunch. David F. Rooney photoMica Heliskiing Marketing Manager Darryn Shewchuk negotiates a ladder from the second floor to the ground floor. David F. Rooney photoWith in-floor heating the lodge won’t rely on the fireplaces for heat but they will look cheery and enticingly warm once the snow flies in earnest. David F. Rooney photoYou don’t often see cranes like this in the woods. David F. Rooney photoDarryn Shewchuk shoots some panoramic video from the basket of the work site’s crane. David F. Rooney photoShadows swing over a rubble field below the lodge. David F. Rooney photoHere’s another view of the lodge and the lake from the basket high above the worksite. David F. Rooney photoThe barge crawls across the surface of the lake on an afternoon run to pick up workers from the lodge. David F. Rooney photoAnother view of the lodge. David F. Rooney photoThis shot shows the new lodge and its relationship with the original lodge. David F. Rooney photoLooking north from high in the sky. David F. Rooney photoThis shot shows a storage and fuel site as well as the workers’ barracks in the background. David F. Rooney photoThe original lodge. David F. Rooney photoAll of this work is now completed and the nw lodge is being readied for its first clients this winter. David F. Rooney photoBack on the barge for the return trip to Mica and then Revelstoke I snagged a last image of the lodge. David F. Rooney photo
