James And The Giant Trip
Words and photos by Ben Gavelda
Something big is brewing in the Kootenays. Retallack Lodge, widely known for its powdery snowcat skiing and snowboarding, has been putting in work on the dirt side of things over the last few seasons. With a few private flowing trails that spit back to the lodge, to the dirt jumps and pump track that surround the campfire, you could say it’s a prime, private mountain bike haven. Besides the local samplings, Retallack’s access to epic riding in the Kootenays in and around the areas of Kaslow and Nelson, British Columbia further cements the place as a premier mountain bike destination.
Video by Chris Grundberg
In celebration of our issue 4.2 release, we gave away a three-day trip at Retallack to one lucky subscriber. And it wasn’t just your average lodge retreat. We partnered up with Rocky Mountain to corral the likes of legendary riders Wade Simmons, Brett Tippie and Ritchie Schley (even though he rides for Rotwild bikes now). Local ripper Garrett Buehler happened to be around the lodge filming as well. A lively crew for Seattle based cabinetmaker and long time mountain biker James Wanamaker, who happened to get the golden ticket.
“I didn’t even know that I had entered a contest.” James remembers. “My wife bought me a subscription for my birthday and this was my birthday gift I guess [laughs]. We both got the email and were like is this bullshit? So we sat on it for a day or two and called back and Freehub broke down the particulars, the lodge, the helicopter, the mountain biking [laughs].”
After a few technical issues that involved a bit of metal work and a beer transaction near the Pinkbike office, the Freehub crew along with James, ripping Aussie/Whis loc’ Matty Ryan and Shoreplay founder/lead guide Mark Wood, all piled into one big-ass flaming van (no joke) and hit the road northeast.
Albeit hesitant jumping in a strange rig with a strange crew, James went with it. “There was no way I was going to pass this up.” He says. “I didn’t even know about the place and I didn’t think about what it was like. There were no preconceived ideas, it was more like I’m going on this adventure, let’s see what this is all about.”
Over the biking-crammed three days we rallied numerous shuttle laps from the local goods to rogue-now-acknowledged trails and even an exotic heli assisted drop on Powerslave trail outside of Nelson. James was lucky enough to get laced up with a 2014 Rocky Mountain Altitude to rip over the few days, too. “It’s just so…the whole idea of this heli drop was so foreign. I didn’t even think that existed.” James recalls. “Each section of that trail was something different and to be greeted at the parking lot with beer and food with a bunch of awesome people was something else, something you can’t describe.”
Gourmet meals every evening after a long day’s shred, suds, the hot tub, no cell service, Jenga, piling nails into the table like an ape for Nagel—lodge life rules. The handful of other daring guests who made the trek onlt further fueled the fire. “The food, the combination of people, it was just this culture of like-minded people.” James says. “People that have this love for biking, this sport, this lifestyle and it all kind of culminated there.” We couldn’t agree more.
Big thanks to the Retallack and Rocky Mountain crews for making it happen. Until next year…
