People & Places: Appalachian Chalets (Allan Kendall)

 To kick-off the People & Places feature, we had an opportunity to chat with Allan Kendall of Appalachian Chalet & RV (Corner Brook, NL)...here's how the conversation went.

So Allan, how did the idea for Appalachian Chalets & RV come about?

My family and I have always been outdoor sport enthusiasts and took for granted all of the great sporting options we had in the Corner Brook area.  From a winter perspective, we could snowmobile from our backyards or be skiing on a world class ski hill within 10 minutes from home.  We were used to having a great network of groomed snowmobile trails and mind-blowing back country powder terrain at our disposal.  One day it dawned on me that we didn’t have many accommodations in the Corner Brook area that could accommodate all of the equipment that those visiting us from out of town, or province, brought with them. Nor were there accommodations that were close to the trail network.  That meant when coming to Corner Brook to snowmobile on our trails or sled in the Lewis Hill/Blow Me Down Mountain area, you had to trailer your machine from your accommodations to and from an access road.  Who wants to be losing valuable play time transporting your machine?  We owned a 30-acre property on the outskirts of Corner Brook adjacent to the groom trail network.  When we thought about it, having accommodations in that location seemed to tick a lot of boxes for what I look for in a snowmobiling home base.  

For a winter fan, why is Appalachian ideally situated as a staging and stay place?

With our chalets, you can setup basecamp operations and sled right from your chalet door.  You don’t need to be packing your trailer with extra gear for the day or lose time driving to an access road and finding a reasonable place to offload.  You wake up, cook a hearty breakfast, and head out on your sled.  We have a groomed trail leading directly from our chalets to the Snowmobile Federation of Newfoundland and Labrador’s groomed trail network.

After a fun day on the machines, snowmobilers can choose to cook a nice meal in the fully-equipped chalet or let our staff do the cooking and dine at our fully licensed on-site restaurant, Wayward Spruce.  At Wayward Spruce you can choose from a variety of local home-style Newfoundland cuisine.  We pretty much have all the major meal options covered from fish, chicken, turkey, burgers, sandwiches, and salads. Or if you want to check out other dining or recreational evening options you are merely 6 minutes away from downtown Corner Brook.

We also have a large sliding hill adjacent to the chalets for anyone who wants to unwind with some simple childhood sliding.  And of course, we have a convenience store in our check in area in the Wayward Spruce building for all the snack and beverage needs.

On those days when guests want to take a break from holding on to handlebars, Appalachian Chalets & RV is only minutes from downhill skiing at Marble Mountain, or snowshoeing or cross country skiing at Blow Me Down Trails, or winter zip lining at Marbel Zip Tours.

When you designed/built your facility, how did you have snowmobilers in mind?

In our design work we located the chalets for quick easy access to the trails and constructed the infrastructure to accommodate an easy expansion down the road.  We also ensure that we had driveways large enough to accommodate a pickup and trailer.  In fact, two units can fit side by side.  We also constructed access roads and a turnaround so that they are wide enough to accommodate the equipment that comes with snowmobiling.  And if there isn’t enough parking space at the chalet for all of the motor vehicles, there is ample equipment parking in our main lot.

We also equipped the chalets with amenities that would ensure a restful relaxing space to kick back after a hard, fun day sledding and recharge the batteries for the next day.  Our chalets are fully-equipped with all that a snowmobiler needs for a comfortable relaxing stay. 

We have 2-bedroom and 1-bedroom chalet options.  All of our chalets have queen beds, a full kitchen with full size appliances, mini-split heat pump, private WIFI network (each chalet has its own WIFI; so no sharing of bandwidth), and HD Smart TV.  Barbeques are available as well upon request. 

Who’s typically staying with you during the winter?

We have a mixture of people staying with us during the winter.  We have snowmobilers of course but we also have downhill and cross-country skiers stay with us.  We have hockey families and other sporting families stay with us during their competitions.

And we have guests who come to just enjoy the winter wonders of the West Coast of Newfoundland and Corner Brook/Bay of Islands area.  

Anything new for the 2024 season?

We have been focused on constructing some mini cabins in our RV site which will be a nice addition to our spring through fall accommodations offering.  We are hosting another snocross race in partnership with Western Sno Riders on our sliding area and we hope to soon be able to host multiple races each year.

To learn more about Appalachian or to book, checkout their site