The latest news from the catskiing / snowcat industry. Where to ski, who has snow, whats happening. We also post reviews of the latest gear, skis, and some general interest stuff. Be sure to check for last minute deals to make your winter vacation the best.
Because a day without sunshine is like, you know, night.
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We are up at Selkirk Wilderness Skiing for a few days this week and if day one is any indication, we are in for a treat. We arrived Sunday evening to a brown and Spring-like valley bottom. We were assured that just a few hundred metres higher that the landscape was very much winter. After a short cat ride we realized they were right.
Day 1 - Monday morning we woke up to fresh blue skies with a dusting of 6cms on top of another 20cm up high. Did I mention it was sunny? After another fantastic breakfast prepared by Melissa and her kitchen staff and we were off.
The day brought turn after turn of fresh powder with an epic sun drenched Selkirk backdrop. The one thing we just can't get over here is skiing incredible terrain with unparallelled views every run we skied.
Now we are getting ready for another freshly cooked and locally source meal from the SWS kitchen. Tonight we will make new friends up here at the lodge and all try to figure out how much snow is going to drop over the next couple of days...
What's better that Super Natural? Ultranatural of course!
Red Bull Supernatural is back! Same riders, same location, different name. Red Bull Ultra Natural leads the evolution of ultra-progressive snowboarding as 16 of the world's best snowboarders compete in a one-day, big mountain freestyle snowboard competition.
The event, held at Baldface Lodge in Nelson BC, has now concluded and the new champ is Gigi Ruff! This is an inspired event from the mind of Travis Rice and we are sure it will be back bigger and badder than ever for 2014.
Check out this super cool event poster from the event. Get your limited edition by following the link.
We got out on some of next year's gear and there are some good ones!
Last week we were invited by our friends at Freshair.ca to come out and test some of the 2014 powder skis at Big White Ski Resort. So like good little powder freaks we dropped everything and headed up to see what is what for the 2013/2014 ski season.
Unfortunatley there wasn't much powder to be found that day but the skis were tried more than made up for the lack of fresh pow. We tried more than 30 pairs of 2014 skis from several different companies and there were a few that stood out in the crowd....
2014 K2 Annex 98, 108, 118
The K2 Annex is a refreshed version of the current SideStash. What the 'stash was missing was a longer tip rocker and a flipped up tail. Both of these features have been perfected in the new K2 Annex series. The tip is a longer and lower rise giving the ski a more comfortable and controled feeling while touring. Don't be led astray though, the Annex has ample edge grip with skiing in the crud or hard stuff. The new tail design allows the ski to break free a little more easily too.
2014 Head Flight Series - Turbine, Cyclic, Collective and Venturi
These skis are a total reversal of everything we have experience from the Head freeride offerings in years past. The are lighter, more nimble and transfer from edge to edge with ease. In years past, the Head powder skis felt light wider GS skis. This is good for some but it really narrows the market for the skis. For 2014 the Head Flight series blew us away. We can't wait to get out and test them in the powder.
2014 Volkl Katana VWerks
The Volkl Katana has always been a solid ski since it first debuted. We always liked it and recommended it for all-round aggressive skiers. For 2014 the Volkl Katana VWerks is insane! It comes in a full carbon design that is ultra thin, ultra light and ultra fast! It isn't going to be cheap and it isn't for everyone, but it you like to ski pedal to the medal all the time and especially enjoy crud-busting then these skis are for you. Your cheeks will ache from smiling so much!
2014 Salomon Rocker 2 122
Unchanged from 2013 the Salomon Rocker2 122 still is a stunner. It is confident, light and can handle anything you throw at it. We have liked this ski since it was introduced and still do. We were looking forward to an evolution to the Rocker but I guess we will have to wait until next season.
We are going to post reviews of all of the 2014 powder skis we tried at the intro but for now we have some skiing to do!
Click Contine Reading to Check out all of the pics
Massive powder makes this a video you have to watch.
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Watch as Armada team riders Riley Leboe and Nick Leboe hit Selkirk Wilderness during guides week. Normaly the snow is decent during the early season but this edit proves otherwise. The BC interior got smoked with massive powder accumulation allowing these two to make the most of their 2 day catskiing trip. Deep powder and awesome pillow lines - what else do you need?!
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on Thursday, 14 February 2013.
Posted in Powder Skiing
Powder skiing in burn areas is a euphoric experience
Salomon Freeski TV has done it again. This latest installment of season 3 has left us drooling on our keyboards again. Some of our best days of catskiing have involved a burn area of some kind.
I remember the first time in 2003 in the original Valhalla terrain. 85cms had fallen in two days and all we wanted to ski was the burn area. You see, the thing with burnt tree runs is that the snow is more stable than open slopes, the snow that usually is on the branches is on the ground and you can see every hit in the terrain!
In the years since that first burn experience we have had the pleasure of skiing these wide open deep trees at K3 Catskiing, Valhalla Powdercats, Big Red Cats among others. This particular Salomon Freeski episode has shots from Monashee Powder.
Forest fires are a scary thing and can be very damaging to the lives of people who live in or near them. But there is always some part of me that thinks about what new runs there might be somewhere in the backcountry of BC when it's fire season...
Outdoor Research is giving away a crazy trip for TWO to Grand Targhee
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Fresh snow, new gear and Teton views, all up for grabs. Outdoor Research and Grand Targhee Resort want to send you on a four-day, five-night ski or snowboard adventure at the home of Wyoming’s deepest snow, Grand Targhee.
We’re talking two round-trip tickets, ski or snowboard apparel for two, two days of cat skiing, two days of lift-accessed skiing and five nights lodging at the resort. So if deep snow and untracked lines are on your wish list for 2013, enter now to win a trip to Powder Paradise.
The first trip of 2013 has come and gone for us. We have been left with some amazing memories of skiing powder, finding cool terrain features and making more good friends out in the deep. This trip was especially fun for us because we had so many different lighting conditions that allowed us to get so many different styles of photos. We had a dark and cloudy day on Friday so we broke out our lighting set up and got creative. Sunday brought fresh snow and welcomed sunshine and, well, powder and sunshine! What more can we say?
As many of your know, BC has been hammered with some incredible early season snow. Even this week we are getting puked on. The larger amount of snow has given Valhalla an unprecedented early deep base that gave us the opportunity to ski deeper into their terrain than ever before. This opened us up to finding new terrain features that we didn't even know where there.
We were thinking back on our years at Valhalla and came to the consensus that we have been hunting down powder there for the past 11 years. Every year brings something new and exciting. The guides and staff are always top notch and the terrain keeps blowing us away. Hopefully we get to visit again later in the season to explore their newly expanded terrain in the Caribou Bowl. Until then, enjoy this gallery below.
A crew from Armada Skis was up at Selkirk Wilderness Skiing and they sure hit it right. SWS had just done their guides training week on top of a 2 metre base with another 100cms that fell during the week! You can see there is no exageration here when you watch the video of the sweet Selkirk Wilderness pillow lines.
One Part Sunshine, Two Parts Powder = Epic Catskiing
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At the end of our second day catskiing at Valhalla Powder Cats, the snowfall that the weather forecasters had promised started to fall. The town of Nelson was serene and silent as the snow came down and our anticipation of the next day started to grow. We woke up to about five centimeters in town which translated to much more in the alpine.
We made the trek up to the Valhalla weather plot where each day is started and to our delight there was what looked like 15-20 cms of fresh Kootenay powder...and the sun came out! The first few runs were mayhem, we felt like kids in a candy store. Our guides Josh and Caleb made sure our group made the best of the sunshine taking us to runs where we could shred the fresh pow while basking in the sun glowing overhead.
Mid-day the 'Kootenay Ocean' grew larger and consumed the Valhalla's. It then started to snow a little which quickly turned into alot. As the flakes got larger we got deeper and deeper into the terrain and explored further than we ever had this early in the season. The features we saw had our heads spinning looking at all of the options. The Valhallla catskiing terrain is so varied giving every ridge line and aspect a different feel and vibe. We left the day completely satisfied and stoked to come back and see what else we can find waiting for us deep in the Valhalla's...
Thanks to all of the guides, staff and the rest of our catskiing group for an amazing experience at Valhalla Powdercats!
Stay tuned for more pictures from our 3-days of powder skiing at Valhalla Powdercats.
Fresh snow, new gear and Teton views, all up for grabs. 
For a birds eye view of where we were skiing, check out our Valhalla Photo Map.