Kicking Horse River Lodge adventure

The alpine terrain surrounding Kicking Horse River Lodge offers a great variety of activities for the outdoor enthusiast

1 of 3Kicking Horse River Lodge is a popular home base for adventure tourism near Golden, B.C. — Kirsten Armleder photo

2 of 3Kicking Horse River Lodge is a favourite among visitors enjoying adventure tourism in the vicinity of Golden, B.C. — Kirsten Armleder photo

3 of 3Alison MacIsaac is the general manager of Kicking Horse River Lodge Golden, B.C. She has been with the lodge since it opened in 2005. — Photo courtesy Alison MacIsaac

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Kicking Horse River Lodge (KHRL) in Golden, B.C., is a popular mountain lodge where you can choose your type of accommodation from family loft rooms, dormitories and traditional hotel-style rooms. It has kitchen facilities where you can cook your own meals and there's a wide selection of restaurants just a 10-minute walk away. There's not much turnover among the staff, so you see familiar faces every time you visit.

We spoke to Alison MacIsaac, general manager at KHRL, about why the lodge is so popular.

Readers of Kootenay Business magazine love KHRL. Tell us what makes it so special.

It’s very laid-back and homey. It’s family friendly and group friendly because of our different kinds of accommodation, and adventure tourism friendly because of our wonderful location in Golden. There are so many activities available: paragliding, mountain biking, hiking and rafting in the summer and all kinds of snow sports in the winter.

We have a great atmosphere where our guests can meet and mix and feel comfortable, with deep leather couches and a big rock fireplace and a wide-screen TV in the common room. It’s very social. People meet and play together and share stories and eat together. They feel safe and comfortable and even wander around in their pyjamas sometimes. It’s like a giant sleepover. Once they come in the door, they usually become repeat customers.

Can you tell us about your own history with the lodge?

I’ve been at the lodge since the day it opened in 2005. A lot of my staff has been with me almost as long. That means that our repeat guests see mostly the same staff from year to year, and they like that.

What’s the secret to hanging on to your staff in an industry known for frequent turnovers?

Everybody here is cross-trained, so they have a chance to do all kinds of fun stuff and keep their earnings coming in year round. We make sure the staff gets time to have fun during the season, and they appreciate that. We look after each other, and that’s why people don’t leave.