AmSnow.com is now SnoWest.com
New attitude, new ideas
Last year the Thunder Mountain Lodge (formerly the Spruce Lodge) was bought by Mark Stewart, a Wisconsin businessman who has been coming west for months at a time for 30+ years. After years of near total vacancy in the winter months Stewart is reversing that trend and turning this place into snowmobile heaven. Full occupancy was the norm every weekend this year and Stewart is already planning major expansions.
Stewart’s passion for snowmobiling, hunting and enjoying the outdoors in Colorado led him to buy this pristine lake-front property with 11 separate cabins and sleeping space for 60+ winter enthusiasts. There’s also a big lodge that’s under renovation at the center of the complex, complete with a full-service restaurant and bar, a lobby and a gift shop with a huge old-style fireplace.
Thunder Mountain has dozens of snowmobile rentals and personal guided tours available. Stewart and his staff will be offering both subdued on-trail tours and more aggressive off-trail, or guided deep-snow excursions, as well. We suggest the latter as the Mesa averages more than 400 inches of powder every year. However, if fast, fun, scenic trails are more your style, well the local trail groomer sits right at the lodge so you are sure to have smooth access to the 100+ miles of snowmobile trails around Grand Mesa.
Stewart has big plans for this snowmobile haven and he has the tools to do it. As a custom home builder and contractor by trade he knows what it takes to have a top-notch facility. The restaurant in the lodge had already been remodeled when I visited last March with a new professional-grade kitchen. Several cabins, including the largest 3-bedroom cabin are getting a lot of cool upgrades including free WiFi. There’s now even a big outdoor hot-tub with gazebo on-site so you can relax your muscles at day’s end.
Most importantly Stewart is building a massive climate-controlled storage facility on-site with dry-dock sled storage and walk-in closet-like storage lockers for guest’s gear. Imagine, you are sitting at your house in Milwaukee and can get a $250 flight to Grand Junction, Colo., where the guys from Thunder Mountain Lodge will pick you up and drive you, chauffeur style, to the lodge.
When you arrive at the lodge, the sled you had them store in their climate controlled dry-dock (similar to what marinas do with boats) is ready to go! And you didn’t even have to pack anything but a carry-on because you have a set of gear in your personal heated storage locker! Pretty sweet we think, and Stewart would be one of the first to pull this off in the snowmobile world.