MONTANA Famous explorer, Captain Lewis Meriwether, best known for his journeys around the American West with Bill Clark, was said to have visited this breathtaking Montana wilderness in 1806.
Centuries later, the landscape that he saw remains virtually the same, but with the addition of a unique property offering the perfect base for groups to experience nature at its most untamed.
The Resort at Paws Up, a former cattle ranch, specialises in intimate corporate conferences or incentive programmes, capitalising on a set of onsite purpose-built – and cleverly named – spaces to hold various events.
These include:
• The Bull Barn (pictured above and function rooms in succeeding images below) with two meeting rooms, accommodating up to 80 persons theatre style in the first and up to 25 in the second, plus a spacious patio for socials.
• The Cook Shack, 1.54-metre dining house that features a variety of meeting facilities such as the Tour Office Boardroom, a 10-seat circular boardroom above the Cook Shack with expansive views, two restaurants and an open-air deck from where to enjoy the surrounding gorgeous scenery.
• Lewis & Clark Reception Barn, which features an auditorium seating 200 persons and a lobby to hold cocktails for up to 100. Here, there is also an exhibition hall that can accommodate a car show.
• The Saddle Club, a 23.16-metre equestrian centre that features a variety of meeting spaces able to take groups between 30 (in the Skybox) and 300 (in the arena).
• The Bunkhouse, once a hayloft, will appeal to small meeting groups that want a higher level of togetherness. This traditional barn has been converted for that purpose, boasting a 24-seat conference centre with a lounge that features a living room, dining room, fully equipped kitchen and big-screen TV. The open-air deck invites conference participants to come out and take in the bracing Montana air.
Definitely, it won't be all work and no play at Paws Up. The great outdoors awaits guests and there is plenty for them to do. Besides saddling up any of the resort's resident horses to go on exhilarating excursions, there are other activities such as fly fishing, clay shooting, bird and wildlife watching, swimming, boating, hiking, mountain biking, kayaking, rapelling and golf.
In the winter, the fun doesn't stop with challenges such as cross-country skiing, snoeshoeing, dogsledding and snowmobile rides.
According to John Romfo, Paws Up Resort director of sales and marketing, four nights is typically the length of stay of most groups, with packages of longer duration possible depending on the client's requirements.
Paws Up Resort derived its name from the dogs of the owners, the Lipson family, who used to greet them when they arrived home with "paws up".
For more details, visit www.pawsup.com
Margie T Logarta
