Sheep Industry News June 2022

Peak Mountain Offers Luxury In The Form of A Sheep Camp M embers of the Wheeler family readily admit they are not great salespeople. Fortunately, the high-quality sheep camps they build at Peak Mountain Camps sell them Dubois, Idaho. "Part of the deal was we had to take three old camps on trade," David recalled. "One was a 1970 and the other two were 1988. I sold all three on the phone. We fixed a few things in them – but not much – and sold them for $11,000 to $15,000 each. They did not cost $5,000 to $6,000 brand new. Sheep camps really hold their value, more so than a standard RV."

selves. Mike Wheeler had approximately 10 years of experience design ing sheep camps when he left the old Timberline company to start Peak Mountain Camps with his brother, David, and their respec tive sons, Weston, Kyler and Brady in 2017. Without a building in the early days of the company, the family focused on RV repair work that was performed mostly at night and on weekends while working other jobs until they were able to shed those and work for themselves full-time. Once they had a building in place, they set about producing custom sheep camps. The first model rolled out of the workshop in 2018. It is still proudly displayed in front of the shop, except when family members borrow it for a weekend of off-grid fun. "My brother, son and nephew had all worked for Timberline," said David Wheeler. "I'd been in the restaurant business for 35 years, but they came to me and asked if I'd like to be a part of this. I did not really need to do this, but I looked at it and thought about how I would like to see my kids stay in this beautiful valley where they were raised. Starting this business provided an opportunity for my family to work here and stay in this valley. We love this area. We love to hunt and get outdoors here. "It's a lot like farmers and ranchers who want their children to be able to stay on the land they've grown up working. For a young kid today, they cannot afford to do that unless they inherit the land. So, we're building something that will allow our kids to stay here." Admittedly, many of these camps are custom built and not what most sheep producers would purchase for their herders to live in on a mountain top all summer. They are aimed more at the producers themselves, as well as outdoors men and women who like the sheep camp concept but want more of the comforts of home from their camping experience. "We can put in furnaces along with the traditional wood stove. We have put TVs and recliners in them, and most of our models have a bathroom," David said. "We can do just about anything the customer wants, as long as it doesn't compromise the integrity of the trailer." Peak Mountain Camps also builds many camps that are strictly for the agriculture industry on two styles of wagon frames. The company has produced 45 trailers since 2018 and each one was dif ferent with one notable exception. Peak Mountain produced three identical sheep camps for the U.S. Sheep Experiment Station in

Peak Mountain's camps are well insulated – with all water tanks and lines built into the camp itself – and can be used in extreme cold with only a furnace or wood stove for heat. Customers have come from across the West – from Texas to Arizona to Alaska – and have routinely put the campers to the test in all sorts of weather conditions. With less than a half dozen companies in the United States producing sheep camps – including Western Range Camps, which is located just down the street from Peak Mountain's location in Spring City, Utah – getting word out about the new company was not particularly challenging. Weston began producing videos for social media and the company's following on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram grew exponentially in the first few years. "We have a waiting list now," David said. "We're 14 to 15 months out on orders. The lady at the bottom of the waiting list right now won't see her camp until July of 2023." That has partly been by design. The company boasts just eight employees – six of whom are related in some fashion. And a couple of them don't work full-time. Kyler, for instance, has built a thriving business training hunting dogs that shares time with his commit ment to the shop. And while the COVID-19 pandemic might have spurred de mand a bit, the ensuing supply chain problems have created new challenges for Peak Mountain Camps. "We used to buy appliances and materials we needed a few weeks before we started on a camp," David said. "Now, we have to inven tory enough stuff for 10 camps at a time just to make sure we have what we need when we need it." The financial commitment for buying a Peak Mountain Camp is substantial – $40,000 to $75,000 – but the company is building camps that it believes will still be in use 100 years from now. "And we're often competing with an RV market where their trailers might only last five years," David said. "Most of our custom ers are older folks who are tired of the RVs. They're tired of things falling apart, so they're ready to buy something that is going to last a long time." For more information, visit PeakMtnCamps.com.

14 • Sheep Industry News • sheepusa.org