Mountain Spirit Resort & Spa

Many people know of Kimberley for it’s great golf courses, or the fun ski resort. Once you get to know Kimberley and the area around the city, you’ll discover a variety of beautiful lakes to enjoy. The selection below is not exhaustive by any means. These are a few of my favourites and all within a one hour drive from Mountain Spirit Resort in Kimberley.

Lazy Lake – this is a great lake for swimming, the rope swing, rock jumping, fishing, kayaking, canoeing and watching for turtles (45 mins away).

St Mary’s Lake – look out for beavers here. This lake is popular for fishing, kyaking and canoeing (20 mins away).

Wasa Lake -this lake is known for its warm water and sandy beaches (30 mins away)

Premier Lake -a beautiful large lake on the edge of the Rockies with superb fishing plus a swimming area and beach (55 mins away)

Lake Koocanusa – this lake is a very large body of water great for wake boarding, waterskiing and sandy beaches (60 mins away)

Moyie Lake – another large lake about 50km from Kimberley. Moyie is great for all water enthusiasts!

Jimsmith Lake – a smaller lake great for swimming and wildlife spotting (40 mins away).  There is even a rowing club on this lake – The Rockies Rowing Club!

If you decide on a real estate purchase in Kimberley, the condos at Mountain Spirit Resort will provide the ideal base from which to explore and enjoy Kimberley.

At the Canadian Rockies International Airport on June 15th, Integra Air’s first flight on the new scheduled service from Edmonton arrived. The flight from Edmonton takes just one hour and five minutes. Passengers on the inaugural flight included a guest bound for Mountain Spirit Resort. This is no surprise and the first of many, as Mountain Spirit Resort is located just 20 minutes from the airport.

Brent Gateman (left), President of Integra Air, and Dave Macfarlane, Director, are pictured in the cockpit of Integra’s Jetstream 31, at the Canadian Rockies International Airport Tuesday. Integra’s regular air service launched out of Cranbrook on June 15.

Integra comes across as a fun airline offering Wine Wednesdays and Beer and Pizza Fridays on board. The guys at Integra also know how to provide excellent service, distinguishing themselves from other larger airlines. Free parking is available to Integra’s passengers at the Canadian Rockies International Airport, as well as at Edmonton International. Unsecured boarding (meaning passengers won’t have to go through security), is also offered – for the convenience of passengers who are flying into Northern Alberta for work.

Flights are scheduled to run Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays leaving Edmonton in the late morning and arriving in Cranbrook in the early afternoon. The second flight of the day will leave Cranbrook at about 3 p.m. arriving in Edmonton at about 4:20 p.m.

Integra Air will provide commuter services to northern Alberta tourists and workers to the East Kootenay region via Edmonton and on to Fort McMurray and Grande Prairie in Phase II of the project planned for the fall of 2011. This schedule has been designed to provide optimal connections to key connecting flights to locations such as Fort McMurray and Grand Prairie. Prospective purchasers of real estate at Mountain Spirit Resort are scheduling visits from both Edmonton and Fort McMurray following the launch of this new service.

Click here to visit IntegraAir.com and click here to read more on the DailyTownsman.com

An exciting new Black Knight design by Gary Player has opened to golfers. Wildstone claims to deliver one of the finest golf experiences in the Kootenay Rockies. The course is laid out over gently rolling terrain and measures over 7,000 yards from the tips.  It is also home to an excellent practice facility and stunning views of the Rocky Mountains.  Gary Player’s quote says it all, “This is the most beautiful site I’ve ever had the privilege to design a golf course on.”

This ads another fantastic course to the existing range of great courses in and around Kimberley. Golfers visiting the area can enjoy Trickle Creek, Bootleg Gap, Shadow Mountain, Kimberley, St. Eugene, Way Lyn, Mission Hills, and now Wildstone.

It may only look like 3cms overnight but it definitely felt like more when enjoying some turns on the runs in Kimberley Alpine Resort this morning. Fresh snow combined with warmer temperatures meant for a fun morning today. I tested out these runs for you today:

• Rung – felt a little windswept but not bumpy as it had been groomed recently
• Caper – floaty fast fun
• Dean Left – yummy; floatier faster fun
• Flapper – also groomed recently, no bumps and I found myself able to go extremely fast in one direction
• Dean Right – great as usual
• Flapper – had to do it again as it was so good the first time
• Magma – similar to Flapper, fast fun with one or two bumps forming
• Tramway – the base still hasn’t been skied out and with the warmer weather and new snow the bumps were all soft and move for you when you need them to
• Windfall – like Tramway!
• Twilight – there seemed to be more snow had fallen on Twilight, which made for lots of fun and some air time off those rollers (by choice!) – yeeha!
• Midnight – like Twilight (airtime wasn’t as big!)
• Lower Main – softening up nicely with the fresh snow and warmer temperatures.

What a super morning!

I also discovered last week (when it was about -16 degrees) that the outhouses at the top of the Easter Chair are now heated and extremely comfortable. They even smell great!

Get out and enjoy that fresh snow!

I arrived at the office at Mountain Spirit Resort this morning. There were some golfers hanging around the surface parking area. Nothing unusual, we’re across the road from a top golf course. But why were they all right outside my office door – to see the buck with the massive rack lying down enjoying some shade! It may not be an unusual sight when you live and work here but the guests definitely get a kick from it!

Next time I’ll have my camera!

Kimberley might be known for awesome skiing and world class golf. It’s also a very cultural little city, with lots of local art, theatre and music. Last weekend saw “Arts on the Edge” in Kimberley. We currently have the Art Walk throughout Kimberley and up here in the Alpine Resort, showcasing fine works from local artists. What really took my breath away recently was the “Soprano in the Platzl” series performed by Tanya Siega.

How spoiled we are to have an extremely talented opera singer in our community. Tanya has launched the Soprano in the Platzl this summer and is performing in the Platzl bandstand every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 12pm for about an hour. Seats are provided so you can sit back, relax and get the goose bumps from the amazing sound of her voice. She sings a variety of classic areas interspersed with stories from the people who settled in Kimberley from diverse cultural backgrounds. Having the background orchestral music played through speakers is the icing on the cake.

Don’t miss this touching performance. Running July 13 to September 2, 2010.

You can also join the “Soprano in the Platzl” facebook page here.

So far I’ve visited quite a few hot springs from our base in Kimberley: Radium, Halcyon, Ainsworth & Lussier hot springs. My hubby told me stories of cross country skiing to Ram Creek as a teenage but hadn’t been back since. Being a fan of the natural and odourless hot spring BC has to offer, I was pretty excited to experience another hot springs close to home.

One of the creeks we passed on the way from Moose Lake to Ram Creek.

Before you drive off in a regular car, here are some tips:

First of all, don’t attempt to go to Ram Creek hot springs unless you have four wheel drive. Seriously. That’s probably one of the reasons why there was no-one else there when we visited on a sunny Wednesday in July.

Also, don’t attempt to go to Ram Creek hot springs from the Moose Lake direction. The road is closed. Well it’s closed unless you have the guts to want to check out what “road closed” means… and drive over a couple of barricades, drive across a creek, drive through a large pond… need I write more. Just take the road from the Premier Lake direction if you don’t want a major 4×4 adventure!

The road that was “closed”

Do bring a camera. This location is spectacular and the pool itself looks almost too good to be true. If Canada produced it’s own version of “Irish Spring” soap, the commercial should be shot here! These hot springs aren’t as hot as the usual so it was the perfect way to while away a couple of hours on a sunny day in July!

Directions from the Hot Springs in BC website: http://www.bchotsprings.com/

Ram Creek Hot Springs
From Lussier, you can reach Ram Creek Hot Springs by way of back roads in approximately 45 minutes (Spirit’s comment – this road is closed!). Alternatively, you can travel to Skookumchuk and watch for the sign to Premier Lake. Head up Premier Lake Road and pass the turnoff to Premier Lake after 8 km. Continue travelling straight, now on the gravel Sheep Creek Road North. Following the main road for approximately 12 km, the road curves right and up the hill. There is room to park on the left hand side. You will see hot springs trickling towards the road, and a path up a slope to the springs, which are located in an ecological reserve. The luke warm Ram Creek Hot Springs are clear and odourless, with an average temperature range from 30°C to 35°C (86°F to 95°F). The pools are not accessible by vehicle during the winter months – snowmobile or cross-country skis required.

This year Kimberley welcomed 198 bocce teams, 62 soccer teams, 41 parade entries, 21 runners in our Nature Park Race, dozens of volleyball players, many brave skateboarders, dozens of kids of all ages at the KidsFest with Rainbow the Clown and of course hundreds of homecoming reunion participants and countless additional folks who just came to enjoy all of the activities!

The Bocce Pits were alive with music featuring: The Hollers, Surf Dragons, Counterweight (shown above), The Moonshine Reefer Band and Slackjaw.  Thank you as well to our intrepid MC Hushton Bryant.

The Saturday Night Disco extravaganza with Billy Jive and the Funktastics had everyone dancing and cheering as their images were projected on the big screens.

Congratulations to all winning bocce teams and a Huge Thank You to the draw-masters Brock McClure and Jeff Kiever and their team!  The skies opened up during the final play-downs on Sunday afternoon but the teams and referees valiantly played on through the rain and hail to complete their games.  Only at JulyFest!!!!

Photo credit Francesca Royall and Steve Blake.

What an exhilarating way to spend a day. My hubby and I got our towel and change of clothes ready and met the rest of the rafting adventurers at the building with the fish on the roof – the home of Kimberley Raft Company. We clambered aboard their big blue bus and set off at around 9am, driving past St. Mary’s Lake and onward into the pristine wilderness of the Purcell Wilderness Conservancy. When we arrived at Dewar Creek, I didn’t realise just what all would be provided as the guides fitted us out with wetsuits, jackets, wet boots and helmets. They even packed lunch for everyone.

Next, everyone grabbed a paddle and we had a thorough briefing prior to setting off to ensure everyone was prepared to follow the commands together and make sure our adventure would be as safe as we could make it, regardless of what the river willed!

Setting off, the guides ensure all commands are practiced on the water, not just on land. Everyone was confident and prepared for the whoops of the gentle rapids, and those to come later. We made our way down Dewar Creek, sticking close enough to the other raft to allow us some laughs at their expense: getting their raft stuck on a rock for a few seconds allowed us to sneak past and lead the way at one stage!

Lunch time came and we had time for a break and devour some tasty wraps and delicious chocolate chip cookies. The guides got everything ready and served up the buffet on an overturned raft – perfect. We ate perched on the edge of a spectacular canyon and watched the water crash against the rocks.

Energy levels topped up, we were now ready for the 2km of Class 3 rapids we’d been building up to. We boarded our rafts and got stuck in, attacking the rapids in the centre of the river and hitting all the “niggies” we could! Our guide Dan steered us into the best rapids, almost too well at one point when he was catapulted out of the boat! The pre-departure training paid off as we stayed calm and had him back on board and back in control within seconds.

After the adrenaline of the rapids, we enjoyed some beautiful natural scenery until we reached the end of this trip. But all was not over – the guides offered us the option of “swimming” across the river in what looked like fairly gnarly rapids to me. Again, training was given on which direction to swim to start, when to go from front crawl to the “defensive” position on your back with feet in front. Over half the group gave it a go and gained one more final thrilling experience before relaxing on the big blue bus and returning back to Kimberley. Thanks to Craig’s team and having another awesome experience with the Kimberley Raft Company!

Well it’s time to put the spotlight on the spirit blogger for once… This summer the spirit tied the knot! If you live in Kimberley, you really don’t have to go far to find a spectacular location for a romantic summer wedding – Lazy Lake. Friends and family travelled from near and far (including Taiwan, England and Ireland).

The spirit stayed with family at Mountain Spirit the wedding eve, and set off with dad to Lazy Lake in a 1967 Wild Cat!

Being a rower, it seemed only natural to arrive by canoe rather than walking up an aisle! The geese came long to watch too.

Guests watched from the beach, from kayaks, and from sailing boats!

Len Robbins married us with 60 guests to witness – all with this fabulous view!

It was truly a beautiful day!