This year has probably been one of my best skiing/snowboarding years in memory. I’ve spent countless days inbounds, had amazing powder, dropped some great chutes, thrown myself off jumps, cliffs and every other sort of huck in the area. The inbounds never really compares to out of bounds riding though. There’s nothing like the feeling of being alone in an area, no lifts pushing more people down the hill behind you, big mountains everywhere you look. Beautiful snowy features all around you, feels like paradise. The only problem I have with my out of bounds riding is that I don’t get enough runs in!

If I take the lift all the way to the top of my favorite resort I can put my skins on and start climbing up the next ridge, by the time I get to the very top  I’ve already lost enough time for a few runs. As soon as I drop in I forget about the long skin up and how tired I am and start feeling the euphoria of riding powder once again…. but now I’m at the base. DAMN! Time to slap those skins on for another ascent. The tours are beautiful and I love being in these areas with my friends, if only we could get some more runs in!

What about heli skiing you ask!? This would seem like the obvious choice for many, and if I ran a hedge fund or a celebrity plastic surgery clinic this is what I might do. Unfortunately for guys like me the use of a chopper is a little out of my snack bracket. There are some clear advantages of helicopters though. No skinning up the hill, luxury accommodations, great meals, wicked snow and knowledgeable guides to show you around the area and keep up to date on the avalanche conditions. If only I win the lottery this year! This all sounds great, but I’m a little scared of falling out of the sky first of all, and what if I pay all the money to get up there and the chopper can’t fly due to weather conditions…. this is starting to seem like a very risky vacation. Mother nature never seems to cooperate with me.

Now if only there was something in between the hardships of ski touring with the catered heli ski life… let’s think for a minute. Ahhh so this is where cat skiing comes in.

  • Beautiful fresh untracked snow
  • Deeeeeeep powder!
  • Affordable, even for a guy like me? YES!
  • Cats operate in fog, snow, high winds…. got you this time Mama Nature!
  • All the luxuries of Heli Skiing

Now this seems pretty good, what’s the downside you ask? Well… the only bad part is that your vacation might be a little more relaxed because you aren’t rushing around to try and get into the chopper that’s costing $2000 an hour to run.  Is this a downside? Well the only one I can find.

Why do I want to go cat skiing?

Why wouldn’t I?

If you’re looking for some cat skiing try Mustang Powder located in the Monashee Mountains between Revelstoke and Kamloops.

Cat Skiing at Mustang Powder