Looking for ideas on BC cat skiing

[SB]

So my buds want a BC cat trip, they have retarded planning abilities at best. I can not get my passport/card b4 the end of Feb anyway.

I have about a dozen web pages marked for reading soon.

What operations and locations have you been to and how was your experience?


THX

[whyturn]

Big red was laid back and fun. Not super steep but great crew. They have a cabin w for bigger groups.

[moose pit]

Figure out where you are driving or flying to then sort from there. Short notice bookings might really limit your choices.
White Griz, Relletak, Monashee, Mustang, North Rockies... there are lots of options.

[IVplay]

What is your price range? Wildhorse= best value
What type of terrain are you looking for? Bowls=chatter creek, glades= Valhalla
How good are you guys? Mustang= serious, serious steeps (think like 4000 vert of 40 degrees) sign up for the small groups, steep chutes if your really hard charging
Most snow? Monashee powder cats
Best all-around? Really matters upon the eye of the beholder but I'd say Selkirk wilderness IMO
All of them are great depends where you are need more info.

[XXX-er]

Also look carefuly at what the weather/snow is doing where you might wana go?

[lemmycaution]

for this year what is going to be the deciding factor is who still has seats. you're prob going to begin by clicking on their "availability" buttons.

[SB]

THX everyone! Leaning toward BRC.

[The Duke of Hurl]

Baldface.

[Shorty_J]

Valhalla has pretty rowdy and fun terrain, but I've had some sketchy guiding there.

K3 (between Revelstoke and Sicamous) is really good, and they tend to have single-day availability (or at least they did last time I was looking into it in years past).

I've heard good things about Wildhorse but haven't been.

If you're up for more than one day (since they only book multi-day trips), and you're OK with tight trees (VERY tight in some places, less so in others), White Grizzly is a very professional operation with very comfortable accommodation, super professional guiding, and fucking FANTASTIC food (you're eating the during the entire day on the cat, and meals at the lodge). It's a little off the beaten track in a town called Meadow Creek (about 1.5 hours north of Nelson), but that's part of it's appeal, IMO. Highly recommended.

Check out the videos on their website...
http://www.whitegrizzly.com/Media/Videos

[IVplay]

THX everyone! Leaning toward BRC.

Do the two days at brc and the two days at Valhalla if you have the cash.

[3W MO7B]

Has anyone viewing this thread done Island Lake? (I've searched TGR, but haven't seen a whole lot about IL). I'm headed there later this week and freaked that it hasn't snowed in a couple weeks.

[garyfromterrace]

I did Wildhorse and had a good time. Terrain wasn't that rad, but guides had to make it work with some skiers that weren't that great and avy conditions that were a bit touchy. I just dropped in for the day with a girl and she paid though, so it was a great day.
Cat skied on Mt McKenzie at Revvie before there was lifts to near the top. The terrain around there is pretty damn good, and the snow is generally reliable.

[marmot mb]

Cariboo cat ski in Valemont was great, no accomm or food makes for cheap riding. Meet at their Lodge / home safety yada then drive up mountain yourself or with them / others enjoy some quality terrain nothin too extreme on our trip but uber satisfying.

[Shredhead]

Has anyone viewing this thread done Island Lake? (I've searched TGR, but haven't seen a whole lot about IL). I'm headed there later this week and freaked that it hasn't snowed in a couple weeks.

It's a good operation and Kujit's a really good guy. You'll be fine, plus you've already paid, so what good will freaking do?

[3W MO7B]

It's a good operation and Kujit's a really good guy. You'll be fine, plus you've already paid, so what good will freaking do?

It's just the snow snob in me. Hard to spend $$$ for tracked out snow. I've never been catskiing, so I don't know if there's typically plenty of terrain where there's untracked 2+ weeks after the last storm. I'm sure it'll be fun... but it could always be funner-er

[bdmrad]

I have done Island Lake Lodge. Definitely the Cadillac of snowcat operation. Great terrain and guiding. Plush accomodations.

Valhalla had great terrain too. I lucked into a few days of incredible snow, thoough there was a partial burial in an avy on that trip. That operation also had fatalities last year with their heli op the same week I was at Island Lake Lodge. ?Bad luck or aggressive guiding.

Big Red Cat - good operation but terrain not as good as Valhalla (at least what we skiied.)

I would like to try Baldface out of Nelson, BC.

I have poked around several of the websites and don't see much availability except late season. Here is a convenient link:
http://www.catskiing.ca/cat-ski-operations-map

[AlexC]

Has anyone viewing this thread done Island Lake? (I've searched TGR, but haven't seen a whole lot about IL). I'm headed there later this week and freaked that it hasn't snowed in a couple weeks.

It's supposed to snow this week, so you should be ok. More worrisome than the lack of snow is the fact that winds have absolutely hammered the alpine area. It was almost like skiing groomers up there this weekend.

[Buster Highmen]

It ain't Brutish Columbia, but Mt. Bailey in S. Oregon is a worthy spot.

http://www.catskimtbailey.com/

We've had a blast w/Nick @ Monashee, but they now run Mustang Powder: http://www.mustangpowder.com/ .

A nod to Retallack for their terrain.

[GoldMember]

I would probably agree with Buster on terrain in the interior. Of the trips we've done, Retallack probably stands out the most for terrain. Steep and plenty of features to play on. Mustang also stands out for having us into some very good terrain. Big Red Cats has some nice terrain but I think it's a little limited compared to the other two if simply due to not getting as much snow and not being quite as high. BRC goes to about 7,000' where Mustang and Retallack both get a bit higher and get more total snowfall. A huge advantage to BRC is accessibility as they're based right at Red Mountain. All are pretty great, depending on snow conditions at the time. Here are a couple videos to give you some idea of what you're looking at:

Retallack:



Mustang:



Big Red Cats:

[Ferniefreeheels]

It's just the snow snob in me. Hard to spend $$$ for tracked out snow. I've never been catskiing, so I don't know if there's typically plenty of terrain where there's untracked 2+ weeks after the last storm. I'm sure it'll be fun... but it could always be funner-er

The Lizard Range is severely wind hammered in the alpine, was out touring a couple bowls down from Island Lake on the weekend. Island lake has lots of terrain below treeline, so I'm sure they will find you some good snow. I don't think anything will be tracked out, wind is burying tracks almost as quick as you make them. Island Lake is a first class outfit, skiied there earlier this year, it was stellar! Steve Kuijit is no longer there BTW.

[IHaveBD]

I've always had a ton of fun at K3.

Revelstoke is always skied out by lift skiers.

I haven't skied Mustang, but Nick is a great guy.

[skibee]

Has anyone viewing this thread done Island Lake? (I've searched TGR, but haven't seen a whole lot about IL). I'm headed there later this week and freaked that it hasn't snowed in a couple weeks.

Island lake is the highest end of the cat ski operations in the biz. Best food, best accom, all super high end with a swanky spa and more than one bar... the operation is top notch and they have been in the biz for long enough to have written the book on how to do it. Mulitiple zones, aspects for quality snow even if they have been dry for a while.

The Lizard Range is a unique little patch of rock in the southern rockies that behave kinda like a Kooteny (lots of snow) but the snow tends to be dry like the Rockies... and snow is forecast for the next few days so don't worry... they will deliver.

Mntlion and I skied there two years ago... great day of skiing, excellent guiding, great accom and food. THey feed you beer on the last run of the day! How can they go wrong! It is expensive tho... would I go back?... probably not if I could get more skiing for the same $$ rather than have the uper fancy accom and high end food... I'd rather ski than eat ... I'd be happy with basic food and have more days.

Enjoy yer trip, stop and ski the resort on your way ... Fernie is pretty good and the town is cute too!

[IVplay]

Island lake is the highest end of the cat ski operations in the biz. Best food, best accom, all super high end with a swanky spa and more than one bar... the operation is top notch and they have been in the biz for long enough to have written the book on how to do it. Mulitiple zones, aspects for quality snow even if they have been dry for a while.

The Lizard Range is a unique little patch of rock in the southern rockies that behave kinda like a Kooteny (lots of snow) but the snow tends to be dry like the Rockies... and snow is forecast for the next few days so don't worry... they will deliver.

Mntlion and I skied there two years ago... great day of skiing, excellent guiding, great accom and food. THey feed you beer on the last run of the day! How can they go wrong! It is expensive tho... would I go back?... probably not if I could get more skiing for the same $$ rather than have the uper fancy accom and high end food... I'd rather ski than eat ... I'd be happy with basic food and have more days.

Enjoy yer trip, stop and ski the resort on your way ... Fernie is pretty good and the town is cute too!

I'd give the "best" award to Selkirk wilderness and saying otherwise is well... Just dumb.

[GoldMember]

This was shot at Selkirk Wilderness and IVplay makes a pretty good case based on this:

[gramboh]

Retallack has awesome terrain, laid back vibe and good guides who are happy to let you step up to cliffs/pillow lines if you are a decent skier (and hit them along side you). We had really good snow stability when we were there though. Definitely not a 5-star lodge/food situation, still good food and clean but basic lodging (which is fine by me), good deals to be had if go late March, I think we paid $500/day, still good snow on North slopes, more daylight and better stability. South faces were cooked though. Cat loads out of the lodge in the morning at highway elevation, so decent climb to first run.

White Grizzly has awesome tree skiing. Unfortunately, avalanche conditions were horrible when I was there a few years ago with Moosepit, and it hadn't snowed in a while and temps/freezing level went sky high. Still had fun though and want to get back there in better conditions. As said above, food and lodging are top notch, and has a more cozy feel since they only host one group at a time (12 people, one lodge/cat). Short drive to staging area in the morning but not a huge deal. Amazing food/drink in the cat, and also really plush setup with convertible top.