The Owners
Paula & Jeff Pensiero, Jim Fraps, Rob & Mary Loughan, Henry & Nan Fischer.
The Timeline
In 1998, the idea of Baldface Lodge was conceived in a conversation between Jeff and Jim at Jim's restaurant in Lake Tahoe. At the time, Paula was living in Nelson. Jeff asked her to go to the government offices to pick up a map of the area, and the rest is history. After a lot of hard work, Jeff and Jim submitted our first tenure application to the government early in 1999. The application was approved in November of 1999.
1999-2000 was Baldface’s exploratory season. Jeff and Jim introduced the media to our terrain’s epic powder peaks and gullies. Articles and photos appeared in Powder, Blue, and Snowboarder magazines.
The First Season — 2000-1
Our first guests stayed at a local hotel, met at 7 a.m., traveled across Kootenay Lake by boat, transferred to a 4WD chained Ford and bumped up the road to a waiting snowcat. They spent the day skiing and riding untracked powder then did the entire transfer process in reverse. Our thanks to the adventurers who supported us and kept our spirits up during this exciting year!
The Second Season — 2001-2
We purchased another snowcat, Alpine Annie, and built a new cat barn. Baldface experienced extraordinary growth as increasing public awareness, the support of Craig Kelly, and real-deal brochures brought lots of reservations and rave reviews.
The Third Season — 2002-3
The road to the lodge was built in early fall and the timber frame for our lodge was raised in late October. For the first time we offered two, three, and four-day trips and guests flew to the lodge by helicopter (a ten-minute transfer by air instead of a two-hour journey by boat, truck, and snowcat).
Our biggest challenge was surviving the loss of our good friend and proficient guide Craig Kelly, who was buried in a Revelstoke Avalanche in January. He was heart and soul and graced our presence with his love of the sport and the great outdoors. He changed our lives and taught us to appreciate what we have—his playground. We continue to move forward with the inspiration he has left us.
The Fourth & Fifth Seasons — 2003-4; 2004-5
We strove to refine our systems. Guests enjoyed new terrain, and we continued to cultivate friendships with our clientele.
The Sixth Season — 2005-6
Seven timber frame chalets were built for guest lodging. We added a new commercial kitchen, a larger dining area, and spruced up the main lodge sleeping quarters. We expanded our terrain by 30%, acquired a brand new Pisten Bully, and for the first time had three operating cats and the ability to accommodate 36 guests.
The Future
Baldface now offers a full range of summer and fall services (July through October) from corporate retreats and weddings to mountain bike camps, women's retreats, and heli-hiking adventures.
