Not a skier? Not a problem
Stay overnight at a ski resort where you can mountain bike and take a walk suspended 70 feet in the air among the treetops. You find that combination only at the Big Mountain Resort in Whitefish, Mont., where you can enjoy off-season rates at the Kandahar Lodge, one of several lodges, condominiums and cabins found below the ski runs.
It seems strange to be mounting a mountain bike as a beginning to something called Walk in the Treetops but biking is part of the attraction. The participants gather about two blocks from the lodge at the bottom of ski lift No. 1 whose chairs, even in summer, will take tourists to the summit overlooking Glacier National Park.
Each participant is paired with a suitable bike and helmet for the ride, about a mile long and mostly down hill, to a canvas wall tent where safety instructions are given for the treetop walk.
Harnesses are distributed and everyone picks a partner. Knotted ropes are attached to the harness. The ropes have heavy metal clips called carabineers. Cables are strung overhead across the inside of the tent and each pair practices connecting and watching their partner properly clip on and disconnect from the steel cables.
The instruction and the practice give confidence that this will be a safe and sane experience. Wearing the safety harness, the group begins a walk through a pine forest with stops along the way while a guide describes the plants and animals found in the Glacier ecosystem. Wildflowers such as Indian paintbrush, queen’s cup and thimbleberry, are pointed out and their medicinal and other uses are described.
Reaching the suspended wooden walkway, each pair attaches their ropes to the overhead steel cables and begins their passage up into the tops of the trees. Overhead, the two safety clips slide along a cable. As a tree is approached, each carabineer must be transferred to the next overhead cable. The walkway eventually will attain a height over 70 feet above the ground.
Surprisingly, there is little concern about the elevation because of the safety harness and the cable handrails that steady the wooden walkway. Before descending, there is a wooden platform which offers a view overlooking Whitefish Lake and the surrounding terrain.
The walk is a half-day, three-hour activity with one tour scheduled in the morning at 9 a.m. and another at 1 p.m.
Kandahar Lodge can be used as a base of operations for your visit to the Glacier/Whitefish area. Built in the style of European ski lodges, the lodge contains 50 rooms with four styles to choose from: hotel, studio (with kitchenette), loft and kitchen loft. Each room is finished with pine, tile and granite. Leather furniture, down comforters, microwaves and refrigerators are found in all the rooms. There is a wellness center that includes an indoor hot tub, steam room and dry sauna. There is also an exercise room, outdoor hot tub and massage spa.
Kandahar Cafe offers seafood and wild game every night as well as chicken and lamb choices. A small room just off the lobby contains the “Snug Bar” where favorite drinks can be ordered. Skiing and sailing photos decorate the walls.
A summer visit to Big Mountain allows recreation other than skiing that might include mountain biking, hiking and riding the gondola, and, of course, a Walk in the Treetops. It’s an upscale getaway package at off-season rates.