Holden Village Ski Retreat

Headed north from Leavenworth, WA to Blue River, BC, an epic backcountry skiing adventure awaited me, until the Canadian Border Patrol decided to step in and make things difficult.  Happily driving on my own through Canada I was supposed to meet the Powderwhore Productions team in Kamloops at 7pm, then we were to drive together to ski at the Snowy Mountain Lodge for a week.   To make a long story short, the boys didn't make it across the  border (too many cameras) so I turned around and drove back to the US,  but not before picking up a fellow skier chic at the airport in Kamloops.  In hopes of still making some sort of adventure happen we drove the six hours back to the US border and headed to Lake Chelan to meet everyone else for plan B.  

Holden Village.  A old mining town turned Lutheran retreat, only accessed by boat. 

I had heard of the Holden Village Retreat before and I know of the epic mountains surrounding the west end of the lake, so I was pretty excited about our new plan.  There wasn't  any snow on the ground in Chelan and that left a little question in everyone's mind.  We loaded up the ferry with ski gear anyway and took off on a two and a half hour boat ride up lake in hopes of finding that secret pow stash high in the alpine.

The view back towards Chelan

There was a posse of people and a school bus waiting on the dock to greet us.

Allison and the skis

We arrived in Holden Village around 1:30 in the afternoon and got right to it.  We hiked up into the trees to get a feel for what we were going to ski for the next few days.  We found some great snow and equally great views of the huge peaks all around us. 

Jim and Neil putting in the skin track.

Bonanza!

For the next few days we hiked and skied into the valleys surrounding the village and found some pretty awesome stuff.  

The village itself was really cool.  They have a dinner bell that they ring three times a day as soon as the food is ready! The rooms are dorm style and they have a wood fired sauna equipped with a cold pool.

The people at Holden Village are amazing!  Everyone here was so welcoming and kind to us.  Thank you Holden Village for an incredible time.  

Some Links for your enjoyment:
Powderwhore Producitons
Perpetual Weekend
Neil Provo