Is this the future of backcountry skiing in summer?

For many of us backcountry skiers, the off season is spent whiling away the hours flipping through back issues of ski porn mags, attending the occasional CrossFit class and dreaming of the white stuff. But for others, the summer and autumn months are an opportunity to take part in another sport that has us climbing peaks and tearing back down them.

Mountain biking is what has brought the Backcountry Ski Canada crew to Sol Mountain Lodge on the southern border of Monashee Provincial Park near Revelstoke, British Columbia. (That and the opportunity to scope out the winter terrain.) It enjoys excellent tenure (30,000 acres), epic snowfall (up to five metres a season) and, importantly, road access in the summertime.

All mountain riding in the foreground, Fosthall Mountain in the background.

(click photos for larger views)

Owners Aaron Cooperman and Paul Person are banking on that road access to help increase their off-season offerings and have spent the past two summers building a 14-km network of mountain bike trails that are literally on the lodge’s doorstep. “It’s great because we go biking in areas that we never ski,” says Aaron, who built the lodge back in 2004. “We have the two things that I think are needed to be successful in this market: access and terrain.”

Owners Aaron Cooperman (in red) and Paul Person on a post-workday ride.

Sol Mountain Lodge is about a 2.5-hour drive from the mountain biking Mecca of Revelstoke (part of the route is on logging roads so a 4WD vehicle is recommended) and the trail network offers a few days worth of enjoyment. There’s everything from beginner trails, such as “West Loop” and “Pussy Toe,” which take you through flat, meandering meadows to black diamond downhill blasts like “Ridge” with its armored bridges and technical slabs.

Some of our favourites included the 1.8-km “Beacon Check,” with its kickers, step-ups and fast turns and “Park N Ride,” a 1.9-km straight-shot from the lodge that is fun in either direction. Then there’s the 1.4-km machine-built “Sassy Toe” that parallels “Park N Ride” but throws in a lot more jumps and berms.

The “Beacon Check” trail was one of our favourites: jumps, step-ups, berms and alpine meadow blasts.

This map shows the “Beacon Check” trail loop to the north of the lodge that takes in “East Loop” and “Dirt Farmer.” The southeast loop shows the new machine-built “Sassy Toe” and the “Park N Ride” trails. For all the specifics on these trails check out our Suunto Moves Count page here.

The map below shows the Ridge trail past Sol Lake, click here for all of the details.

Riding past Sol Lake.

To give you an idea of the type of investment Aaron and Paul are throwing at off-season biking, the “Sassy Toe” trail required four machine days and 20 man-hour days to build! “This is a business model,” says Aaron. “It’s expensive putting in trails but it’s worth it… applying to a wider market of cross-country and all mountain riders.”

Unlike heli-access backcountry operations, Sol Mountain Lodge doesn’t require a large transportation investment so the owners are banking on the fact people will make the journey to the lodge, enjoy its amenities (see list below) do a few days of riding straight out the door and perhaps hike in the Provincial Park. And they’ll pay $95/night for the pleasure.

“People are crazy about alpine riding but for most of us, we start in town, drive to the access point, ride up through the trees and then finally access an alpine ridge. We drive a long way just to get on our bikes,” Aaron says. “The beauty of this lodge is you can come up, stay for a few nights and literally ride on the door into an alpine meadow.”

“Next year we’re going to have a chef available,” Paul says. “That way people can continue on their holiday from Revelstoke and not have to bring secondary camping gear. They just arrive with their bikes and we’ll take care of them.”

Enjoying the views from the “Crazy Train” trail.

Trails are well-marked and easy to follow.

Both Paul and Aaron have been mountain biking since the late ‘80s, but it wasn’t until last year that they decided to bring the sport to their lodge. When asked why the would put so much time and effort into building trails for a business model that hasn’t been proven yet, Aaron replies, “It’s funny because you put a bunch of energy into building a mountain bike trail and you know what, it’ll be there next year. How many hours do you spend putting in an up track and around here it’ll be gone that afternoon!” He goes on to say, “But really, it’s all about getting people up here. Once they see how great the lodge is and the excellent terrain, they’ll want to return in the winter.”

Needless to say that side of the business is booming. “Demand is getting demandier,” says Paul. “You gotta book early. And I mean that in terms of all BC lodges in general, not just us. BC is definitely putting itself out there as the best when it comes to authentic backcountry skiing.”

And if Sol Mountain Lodge has its way, it’ll also be the best for authentic backcountry biking.

Sol Mountain Lodge Amenities:

- 3-story, 3,500 sq ft, lodge

- 10 bedrooms that sleep 18 comfortably

- Commercial-sized kitchen with 2 propane stoves and ovens

- 5 bathrooms with flush toilets

- On-demand hot water

- Yoga room

- Large, west-facing living room

- Stocked bar

- 12×12 ft sauna

- WiFi

- All-mountain full suspension bike rentals

At 3,500 sq ft, Sol Mountain Lodge is one of the larger backcountry lodges in the province.

Enjoy expansive mountain vistas through every window at the lodge.

The Winter Terrain:

Backcountry Skiing Canada is hoping to return in the winter to report back on the quality of skiing but in the meantime, judging by the terrain we scoped, this is a family-friendly zone that offers everything from cross-country skiing and mellow bench runs to expansive gladed trails through the trees and expert-only steeps. Paul says he even builds a mini terrain park near the lodge for kids.

If you missed our first post check that out over here and if you want to get in touch with Aaron and Paul at Sol Mountain Lodge then have a visit to their web site.