For the last few months I’ve had a picture in my head… of three ski-in, ski-out treehouses nestled in the woods, on a slope on Whitefish Mountain Ski Resort, directly adjacent to the Chair 3 lift, and less than 15 seconds from the front door to the slope.
We gathered together a team and through dreaming, visualizing, planning and drawing, Snow Bear Chalets was created.
We broke ground on this unique property in August, but last weekend it really began to feel real, when the steel beams were set on two of the initial three treehouses. These structures are being built in an area where we receive 8’ of snow, must meet seismic requirements, and where we have to deal with wind sheer. Oh, and they’re more than two stories off the ground!
In order to ensure safety, we opted to build with steel moment frames and place the treehouses in the forest, surrounded by trees, and cover the steel supports with real hollowed out tree trunks to intensify the treehouse feeling of their design.
I’ll never forget watching the crane lift the huge beams, stand some beams upright vertically, and then precariously put the cross beams on the top- some more than 44’ long! I was watching grown up “boys and their toys”- just like they were playing with a giant erector set.
I was filled with gratitude for the team that made this project possible so far… Joyce Mitchell, our broker, Mark with A2Z Engineering, AJ King at Three Rivers Bank and Max, Kristan, and the team at Razorfrog Web Design. A great big THANK YOU to all!
Watching this steel be placed made our dream real, in a very tangible way. Now others can SEE what I’ve seen in my head for months!
Here are some photos so you too can follow the progress. I’ll continue to write a construction update weekly, so that you can watch these incredible treehouses come to life.
Remember, Snow Bear is perfect for a winter or summer getaway. You can book it now at Homeaway: Ponderosa Chalet, Tamarack Chalet, and Cedar Chalet.
