We are miles from nowhere. 2,040 m above sea level. 20 km from the nearest building. It is a ‘back country lodge’. Ha!
We have all the amenities. Indoor toilets. Yes, I don’t have to go outside, risk my neck trekking up a slippery path, and stand in the night cold to have a pee at night. They are composting toilets and the compost has to heli’ed out but is completely decadent.
There is electricity. A small generator on a mountain stream feeds a bank of batteries and the entire cabin has 12V electricity. The light is LED and it provides more than adequate illumination for any activity we wish to engage in. There is a 110V converter and some of the outlets provide power to charge camera batteries and the ubiquitous computer.
We have as many bedrooms as we need. Separate spaces to sleep and snore and talk in our sleep without disturbing our cabin mates.
The kitchen has a fridge for the things that need to be cold and handy. There is a cold room/pantry for the storage of dry goods but it is cold enough to be fridge for the stuff you do not need often. The freezer is ‘outside’ and the temperature is controlled by the environment but it too is accessible from the interior. The commercial stove/oven is powered by propane and although aging is completely suited to the preparation of gourmet meals prepared nightly by one of our skiing buddies.
There is running water, both cold and hot, throughout. Both indoor washrooms and the kitchen are connected.
Heat is provided by a single Franklin stove that is kept burning all day. The cabin stays warm all night and is only cool at 6 am when I get up, the fire has burned out and has not been relit yet.
There is a sauna 15 m from the main building that Dave lights every afternoon and when we return from skiing it is warm and ready for use. There is a system for heating water on the stove, we fill a 5 gallon bucket with the heated water, temper it with a bit of cold, carry the bucket to the shower stall, place a small submersible pump into the bucket, turn on the pump, and voila! a real, but somewhat quick, shower.
This is not 5 star accommodation, there is no fancy lobby, no bell boys, no spas, but this is luxury. Near the top of the mountain it is silent but for the wind. There is no ambient light, no urban odors, we do have way more amenities than would be envisioned for a ‘back country lodge’, all we really have to think about is skiing, sleeping and eating.