Mountain Trek Fitness Retreat and Health Spa 2022: Luxury Hiking and Wellness Retreat - British Columbia
Alex Timmons, Owner of Mountain Trek Fitness Retreat and Health Spa, reveals to us the wonders of this to-die-for retreat in British Columbia and explains why people keep coming back for more.
When and how was Mountain Trek first conceived?
Mountain Trek was founded in 1991 by a burned-out Toronto Stock Broker. Her hippie sister was living in Nelson at the time—and clearly on a much happier and more sustainable path—so she quit her job, bought the farm that the lodge now sits on, and started Mountain Trek. She quickly brought on a team of health experts, including our current Program Director and now part owner of the business, Kirkland Shave, to create a program that would help exhausted people like herself. 31 years later, the Mountain Program has been rated the #1 Health Retreat multiple times by both Travel + Leisure and Condé Nast.
Would you describe VITALITY to be the foundations of a happy life, and does Mountain Trek guarantee this to their clients?
Balance is the foundation of a happy, and long life. Our program equally values physical, mental, and emotional health, and teaches our guests how individual components of each can work in harmony to have a compounding effect. Exactly how we do this, including the world-class, immensely nurturing staff that deliver our program, is our secret sauce.
We don’t make any guarantees, but our 40% repeat rate and unbiased testimonials on TripAdvisor and Google speak for themselves.
What can you tell us about your program and what clients can expect to walk away with?
Guests will treat their body like an Olympic athlete, moving daily with morning yoga, guided hikes, and functional fitness classes, fueling with clean and local nutritionist-designed, chef-prepared cuisine, and restoring nightly with therapeutic massages and time in our state-of-the-art spa featuring four treatment room, infrared sauna, steam room, and outdoor jacuzzi and cold plunge which overlook the surrounding lake and mountains.
The program isn’t easy, but nothing worth fighting for in life is. Guests can expect to be guided and encouraged to reach a level of health they never thought possible, walking out after a week or even better, two, feeling 10 years younger.
What would you describe the retreat’s main focus to be?
Helping our guests rediscover the happiest and healthiest version of themselves and educating them how to make sustainable changes once back home.
Would you say that Mountain Trek appeals to a specific demographic group?
Yes. Mountain Trek appeals to those who feel like they are just barely keeping their head above water with their physical, mental, and/or emotional health, and are ready for a change; ready to remove the suffocating weight from their shoulders and regain control.
This typically manifests itself in people with a highly demanding career that results in constant sacrifice to their sleep, nutrition, and movement, subsequently wreaking havoc on their stress and anxiety levels, mothers who have given themselves for decades and finally have a chance to be selfish with their health, and those at a crossroads in life, whether that be a big career move, a retirement, or the passing of a loved one, and want to start the next chapter of their life on the right foot and with confidence they are doing the correct things to ensure both lifespan (duration) AND healthspan (quality).
What percentage of your clientele are regular visitors, and is most marketing achieved by word of mouth?
Every year, we see about 40% of our guests are returning, 20% are referral, and of the remaining, 95% come via organic search. We pride ourselves on creating a genuinely life changing experience, and when those are done correctly, people tend to talk.
Want to find out more about Mountain Trek, visit https://www.mountaintrek.com/
