Snow Cat Suggestion for BC

[powpig]

I've ski'd White Grizzly, Retallack, Mustang & Island Lake. WG is a smaller 1 cat operation while the others all run multiple cats. If you hit it right with conditions, any cat-op can deliver some of the best skiing of your life.Be sure to give that magic 8-ball a good shake when choosing your dates.

[beeeom]

Great Northern has been in consistently great for me plus the lodge doesn't have a liquor license so BYOB to your hearts content! Big savings!

[AlexC]

Mustang has a beautiful lodge and great tree skiing.
K3 is great for early season because a lot of their best terrain is on solar aspects. Their best north-facing runs are easily-accessed by ski tourers if the Gorge Road is being plowed.
I've heard Chatter Creek is a great option in the spring because it's further north and a little bit higher than most other ops.
Retallack has great terrain and it's mostly north-facing. Their lodge is just off the highway and a fairly low-elevation, which is a plus and minus.

[singlesline]

Chatter Creek, Fernie Wilderness Adventures and Island Lake Lodge are fantastic. Big fan of FWA.

Does island lake lodge have higher elevation than Fernie/FWA? I had a great time doing a last minute FWA booking, but I'd be a little hesitant about booking far in advance given the Fernie area's tendency for the snow line to push up and make everything wet and heavy.



But if you can get a last minute seat and conditions are good, I'd say go for it. The terrain we got to ski wasn't crazy, but my group of randoms was all able to keep up. I felt like our run selections were made more on the basis of conditions and visibility, and not to keep the weaker skiers/riders alive.

Still somewhat terrified of the potential to book a longer lodge based trip and then get stuck with a bad group...

[DanoT]

I once read an article in a ski mag where the author had visited several Cat Ski ops. He reported Island Lake had some of the steepest runs but it was springtime and those really steep runs were closed. Retallack had the most number of steep runs. I have skied Retallack and K3; both great but at Retallack I felt like I had to have my A game on every run...not really a bad thing. The Retallack lodge is drive to valley bottom which means about a 40+min cat ride each morning to get to the skiing to start the day. Other ops with a remote lodge, like Mustang, its away you go skiing out the door first run.

[Kenny Satch]

Thanks for the addition insight. Been getting "bad gateway 502" messages for a couple of days.

[muted reborn]

I'm taking all this great advice to book a trip myself but I'm finding everyone's favorite places are already booked for next year from Jan 1st to April 1st give or take a week. I wasn't expecting that.I'd guess they all give first dibs to previous customers and a huge majority come back year after year?

[GoldMember]

Yes, they all lock in repeat customers for the same times for the next season. Its sometimes hard to find slots unless the customers elect to pass. You really need to try and get a spot for the following season if possible or go somewhere else.

[muted reborn]

Crazy. That's a good business to have! I was thinking of treating the wife to a snowcat trip but a road trip to ski areas in that region would be a sweet Plan B for a lot cheaper. I signed up for a few mailing lists in hopes for 2025-26.

[jackstraw]

Crazy. That's a good business to have! I was thinking of treating the wife to a snowcat trip but a road trip to ski areas in that region would be a sweet Plan B for a lot cheaper. I signed up for a few mailing lists in hopes for 2025-26.

My friend looked at Valhalla when it was for sale before Baldface purchased them. The numbers were black, but a long way from a home run. Factoring in all the unforeseeables and projecting growth it was too much risk and work for the reward at that point in his life. So he remains just a customer. And I met the original owner a few times via a friend and I never even knew he founded the place until much later. He sold it right after he lost a client to an avi. Clearly that devastated him as it would me also.

[Shredhead]

PreCovid, I was always able to surf seats in January. I think the PostCovid travel surge is waning.

I would book a loose Powder Highway road trip, with the ability to cancel everything.

[el hefe]

Follow the cat ops on social media, they regularly post last minute seat openings for cheap.

[dan_pdx]

Tried to get in to Selkirk Snowcat in late March / early April for a trip with my sister, but it was already too late to book for 25/26. Thanks everyone for the good beta, I'm going to do like el hefe said and follow some ops on social media