The snowcat skiing at Island Lake was much better than I expected after our day at Fernie. The alpine dropoffs are as high as 7,000 feet, which gave us nearly 2,000 vertical of good quality snow. On the first day (Monday) we usually started as high in the alpine (tree line is about 6,000 feet) as possible, with pickups around 5,300, just at the start of Friday's rain crust. The Friday crust layer was thin, and if undisturbed recrystalizes on cold nights into a more pliable surface. Pickups on Tuesday and Wednesday were usually around 5,000 feet.
The more severe Super Bowl Sunday rain crust was buried under at least 8 inches of new snow, but that rain had served the useful purpose of stabilizing the entire snowpack, which has not happened up at Revelstoke and Rogers Pass.
On Tuesday we had 2-3 inches of light new snow added to the heavier 8 inches from the past Thursday. This made for easier skiing than Monday. We alternated runs between Wolverine, Island Lake's westernmost bowl in the Lizard Range, and Baldy, a separate fully gladed peak at about 6,100. The Baldy runs were more variable due to partially sunny exposure. The shaded side of Baldy is excellent as I remember from 1997, but there is not yet enough low elevation coverage to build a snowcat road to its pickup this season.
Wednesday we were back in the alpine, this time with 4 hikes above the cat dropoffs to reach the best snow. Some people in our cat were there for only 2 days and were replaced by 3 local women from Fernie. One of them had formerly been a cat driver at Island Lake, and thus the pace today was faster despite the hikes. Some of the bowls had a covered rock or two, perfect for Adam and some of the other younger guests to launch some good air into the open powder below.
On this trip I skied 38K vertical, 30K of it in powder. This probably represents about the 10th percentile of Island Lake conditions, but was still a quality ski experience. The guides make a great effort to find the good snow, and the service and dining are excellent.
There is at least 1,000 vertical of normally outstanding tree skiing below our pickups which could not be used during our trip. On my 3-day trip in 1997 I skied 46K vertical, 44K of it powder, evidence of Island Lake's greater efficiency relative to most cat skiing operations.
The more severe Super Bowl Sunday rain crust was buried under at least 8 inches of new snow, but that rain had served the useful purpose of stabilizing the entire snowpack, which has not happened up at Revelstoke and Rogers Pass.
On Tuesday we had 2-3 inches of light new snow added to the heavier 8 inches from the past Thursday. This made for easier skiing than Monday. We alternated runs between Wolverine, Island Lake's westernmost bowl in the Lizard Range, and Baldy, a separate fully gladed peak at about 6,100. The Baldy runs were more variable due to partially sunny exposure. The shaded side of Baldy is excellent as I remember from 1997, but there is not yet enough low elevation coverage to build a snowcat road to its pickup this season.
Wednesday we were back in the alpine, this time with 4 hikes above the cat dropoffs to reach the best snow. Some people in our cat were there for only 2 days and were replaced by 3 local women from Fernie. One of them had formerly been a cat driver at Island Lake, and thus the pace today was faster despite the hikes. Some of the bowls had a covered rock or two, perfect for Adam and some of the other younger guests to launch some good air into the open powder below.
On this trip I skied 38K vertical, 30K of it in powder. This probably represents about the 10th percentile of Island Lake conditions, but was still a quality ski experience. The guides make a great effort to find the good snow, and the service and dining are excellent.
There is at least 1,000 vertical of normally outstanding tree skiing below our pickups which could not be used during our trip. On my 3-day trip in 1997 I skied 46K vertical, 44K of it powder, evidence of Island Lake's greater efficiency relative to most cat skiing operations.