BC Snowcat (& Heli) Skiing 24/25
- Thread starter ChrisC
- Start date
tseeb
Well-known member
From post by @ChrisC
"We have one seat available for our February 15th to 17th trip, with arrival to the lodge of the afternoon of February 14th." I have skied Mustang in mid-Feb 7 times and plan to go one more time in 2026 when I will be 70. It's hard (or costly to make up for it) to be away from your significant other on Valentine's Day, but it looks like I will be in 2026 when our Mustang skiing dates are February 14th to 16th. It sounds like there could be at least open 2 spots in 2026 and maybe 3 or 4 in 2027 with 1 or 2 maybe being one year only assuming @flyover is done skiing Mustang in 2025.
"We have one seat available for our February 15th to 17th trip, with arrival to the lodge of the afternoon of February 14th." I have skied Mustang in mid-Feb 7 times and plan to go one more time in 2026 when I will be 70. It's hard (or costly to make up for it) to be away from your significant other on Valentine's Day, but it looks like I will be in 2026 when our Mustang skiing dates are February 14th to 16th. It sounds like there could be at least open 2 spots in 2026 and maybe 3 or 4 in 2027 with 1 or 2 maybe being one year only assuming @flyover is done skiing Mustang in 2025.
Why do we think flyover is done with Mustang after 2025?
I doubt that. I went to Mustang in our time slot for 8 years and the ski dates were never earlier than Feb. 17-19. Those were the dates in 2024 so they should have reset forward to Feb. 22-24 in 2025. Two of my trips were Feb. 23-25.
It shouldn't be. March is Telluride's best month, while past first week of March you have to be concerned about sunny exposures for Canadian cat skiing.
tseeb
Well-known member
@flyover said they almost did not renew this year and a couple of posts later said he and John "are starting to feel ready for other adventures. In my case, my daughter goes to college in the fall, which, in theory, means next winter I may have more flexibility and time over which to spread my ski vacation dollars."
It looks like Mustang should have reset forward after this year, but AFAIK the dates for upcoming winter are (from Mustang's email)
"Feb 15, 2025 To Feb 17, 2025" which means you go in on Valentine's Day.
Dates I've gone are:
Feb 21-23, 2015
Feb 20-22, 2016
skipped a year due to March EpicSki Whistler trip with my wife
Feb 17-19, 2018
reset forward
Feb 23-25, 2019
Feb 22-24, 2020
skipped two years due to COVID
Feb 18-20, 2023 (too deep?)
next two are not me
Feb 17-19, 2024 (@EMSC used seats, worst of years since I started going)
should have reset
Feb 15-17, 2025 (I'm not using my seat so Adam's friend can go with him)
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That's why any annual trip like this has to reset to stay periodically within a time frame. My Iron Blosam Week ranges between March 5-12 and March 11-18 and has since my first time in 1996 except in 2000 it was March 4-11.
Adam has confirmed that the Mustang dates are Feb. 15-17 in 2025. I'd still guess the dates will move forward in 2026 but someone needs to call Mustang and ask. Note the reset tseeb posted between 2018 and 2019.
ChrisC
Well-known member
La Nina seems to be showering BC with precipitation/snow after 2 somewhat mediocre years (for BC).
Another blast from Mustang.
If weather patterns continue, they should be running above their averages:
Not sure why OpenSnow uses a weather station at 1000ft, but things look historically promising:
Another blast from Mustang.
If weather patterns continue, they should be running above their averages:
Not sure why OpenSnow uses a weather station at 1000ft, but things look historically promising:
ChrisC
Well-known member
I don't really have anyone to ski with in February—who would want to invest $ or would like to go backcountry BC cat-skiing?
My brother finds it easy to do Alaska in April because he can close down his business and do the books before he leaves Colorado. Late January is another sweet spot.
Some of his friends at other ski resorts can be available during 'low' ski season time periods. Many of my California can ski powder/freeride terrain, but only in a controlled environment. I doubt they would want to help dig a heli pit so a helicopter could land, and you board it.
Telluride has a sweet spot from mid-February to late March, but the western exposures are not as impacted in February if there is no new snow. However, mid/late March allows more Gold Hill Chutes to open (relatively easy 10-15 min hike and 5-20 minute traverse) and Bear Creek slackcountry to stabilize.
Ah, the conundrum of most of my ski career! My skier friends who had the ability were usually not the ones who were willing to spend $$$.
Through 2014 half of my 90 cat/heli days I was completely solo on the trip(s). I did not think this was a big deal as camaraderie in cat/heli lodges is usually good. On those trips I was solo for a few days of car rental, hotels and lift served skiing also.
This pattern changed mainly after I got tseeb, flyover and John into Mustang in 2015. Also Liz was with me for Arctic Heli in 2015 and 2018 and Island Lake in 2022 and 2024.
Alaska is a better fit for ChrisC than it was for me.
I have the impression that the relatively high proportion of skiing that I have done solo is unusual. When Jimmy Petterson was out here for the recent Dodger postseason, he said he had no recollection of skiing without friends.
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^^
Being from Brisbane Australia makes it hard to find people to ski with. My wife likes to ski but her willingness to be out of her comfort zone does not match mine. I find the group guiding in Europe is a good fit for someone like me who is certainly not every but wants to get adventurous.
I’m wondering if BC cat skiing would be above my pay grade?
Being from Brisbane Australia makes it hard to find people to ski with. My wife likes to ski but her willingness to be out of her comfort zone does not match mine. I find the group guiding in Europe is a good fit for someone like me who is certainly not every but wants to get adventurous.
I’m wondering if BC cat skiing would be above my pay grade?
Some places yes. It's best to start with a day operator like K3 or Valhalla.
K3 doesn't have availability while we are in BC early January but Big Red Cats do. Have you checked out their operation and terrain?
Big Red Cats is a quality operation but in a questionable climate zone. I would personally book there only on short notice. They are more reasonable than most places about making you ski in bad conditions. But if they cancel for bad conditions you get a rain check to use for another date. That's not a viable option if you traveled a long distance for a limited time frame. I have not skied there.
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ChrisC
Well-known member
I think Valhalla is more advanced. Getting there is not simple, and bus/staging is time-consuming. The terrain is also more difficult than average.
I would love to return to the combination of Red Mt, Whitewater, Valhalla snowcat-skiing, and Stellar heli-skiing.
I would highly recommend K3 for intro snowcat skiing. I had a VIP tour with the owner driving the cat and one of his oldest guides leading. However, I think they are trying to transition to primarily lodge-only skiing.
I also had two excellent experiences with Big Red in mid/late January and would highly recommend them, especially when starting out. They try to create intermediate, advanced, expert, and pro groups. There is an extensive tenure, not too many and even selectively gladed sections. I know the founder of BRC unexpectedly came down with cancer and had to sell not long ago, but I expect the operation to be maintained well.
Excellent idea and definitely the way to do it.
Thanks. Sounds good.
You’re rubbing it in with the exchange rate though. At least it’s not as painful as the USD